The Cougar Question: Have You Seen One?
by Phil Brown
Several months ago, I confessed here on Adirondack Almanack that I once saw a cougar—or thought I did. I say “confessed,” because if you tell people you saw a cougar in the Adirondacks, some of them will look at you funny.
Others will tell you about their own cougar sighting.
I’m bringing up cougars again because the Adirondack Explorer recently received an interesting letter from Don Leadley, a longtime outdoorsman from Lake Pleasant. Leadley responded to an Explorer column written by our publisher, Tom Woodman, discussing our endless fascination with the possibility that cougars may be living in our midst.
In 2008, Leadley says, he followed cougar tracks for over a mile on Otter Mountain near his home. He took photos of the tracks and made plaster casts (shown above).
Years earlier, as part of the Adirondack Coyote Forum, he sent out a questionnaire to Adirondack hunters and received eighty-six replies.
“Eighteen percent said they saw cougar tracks and 13 percent said they saw a cougar, and 13 percent said they saw a timber/gray wolf,” Leadley tells us. “I now have a list of nineteen-plus local people I personally interviewed who have seen a cougar or tracks.”
The state Department of Environmental Conservation insists that the big cats are not living in the Adirondacks, though agency officials concede that cougars once kept as pets might be seen on rare occasions.
As to the numerous sightings, DEC says nearly all of them are cases of mistaken identity. That may have been the case with my sighting.
What do you think? Do cougars still live in the Adirondacks? Have you ever seen one?
Phil Brown is the editor of the Adirondack Explorer newsmagazine.
14 Comments:
As much as I'd like to believe they were here, I'm not going to believe it until someone hits one with a car, one shows up on a trail camera, or someone sees one and takes a picture.
Even if I "see" one, I'm not going to believe it unless it is standing there with its long, thick tail in full view, and/or I manage to snap a shot before it gets away - way too many times I have been SURE that I saw one thing, only to have it turn out that it was something else.
I would have to say they are here. I know people that have given very detailed descriptions when they were sighted. In an area where I hunt, on seperate occasions, two different people that I know who would be cosidered reliable, saw a cougar. Just because DEC says they aren't here does not make it true. A dead cougar would be concrete evidence for the skeptical. A coworker of mine had a relative that worked for I.P. Woodlands. He said DEC quietly contacted him telling him not to be alarmed if he saw a cougar in the woods where I.P. was logging. They informed him that DEC let a few free to see if they would repopulate in the Adirondacks. Maybe somebody could file a FOIL request to find any relevant documents on this. I believe DEC is sticking to the old CIA mantra of Say nothing. Deny everything and make counter accusations.
Eventually the proof will be revealed in the form of a dead mountain lion. There are just to many sightings from reliable sources with very good descriptions of what they saw. Of course nothing compares with concrete proof. I'm sure some of the sightings were not cougars. But many others have very good evidence. Long tails,large cat tracks that do not reveal claws. Also, just because DEC denies thier existence doesn't make it true. Thier motives could be suspect. I heard from a reliable source that had a relative that worked for I.P. woodlands that was quietly contacted by DEC. DEC told them don't be alarmed if you see a cougar in the woods in the Adirondacks. A few have been released to see if they could be reintroduced to the park. Maybe somebody could request a FOIL on any relative documents. I believe DEC will stick to the tried and true CIA mantra. Say nothing. Deny everything. Make counter accusations.
@TiSentinel65 Considering the very public process that possibly the re-introduction of wolves in the park went through, I am very suspicious that the DEC would just let a few cougars go with a "see what happens" mantra. That said, you are right, the first one that turns up dead and its a whole new ballgame.
I lived in Malone (Whippleville) 1994-1995. One night coming home from the store I was pulling into my open garage when a mountain lion ran out...NOT a lynx. He was beige with a white chest and a long tail with a black tip. He was quite large...bigger than my German Shepard. My sons were in the car with me. The lion stopped breifly staring into the headlights and then took off. It was an amazing sight...and all three of us saw it.
A friend of mine who has hiked just about every Adirondack high peak has LONG maintained there is a presence of mountain lions...or at least some form of large cat in the park. A natural skeptic, he's had a number of instances in the forest that have him convinced the cats are in fact roaming wild.
Now consider this description of mountain lions: "A capable stalk-and-ambush predator, the cougar pursues a wide variety of prey. Primary food sources include ungulates such as deer, elk, moose, and bighorn sheep, as well as domestic cattle, horses and sheep, particularly in the northern part of its range. It will also hunt species as small as insects and rodents. This cat prefers habitats with dense underbrush and rocky areas for stalking, but it can also live in open areas. The cougar is territorial and persists at low population densities. Individual territory sizes depend on terrain, vegetation, and abundance of prey. While it is a large predator, it is not always the dominant species in its range, as when it competes for prey with other predators such as the jaguar, grey wolf, American Black Bear, and the grizzly bear. It is a reclusive cat and usually avoids people. Attacks on humans remain rare, despite a recent increase in frequency."
Let's back up a second. It competes with the wolf and black bear, two things that are prevalent in the Adirondack park. It feeds on deer(there's a HUGE deer population), and avoids humans at all cost...Yet some of you won't be convinced until 'someone hits one with a car?' Really?
Folks, we're not talking about Big Foot here. We're talking about a cat that was INDIGENOUS to this area and basically hunted out of existence...or into hiding, depending on how you look at it. I've also heard there HAVE been confirmed sightings of big cats in the Green Mountains, which aren't too far off from the Adirondacks. It astounds me there are still people(including DEC) who honestly think because we haven't found a corpse, there aren't any in one of the largest swaths of untamed forestland in the northeast.
My mom took pictures of one in our pasture (Grafton NY) DEC said it was a house cat (not) and my husband had one cross in front of him on route 40 (Greenwich NY). They are all around us, just very elusive. I too have photos of prints, but at the time had nothing to measure it, so could not use it for verification. They are out there. DEC is in denial. We all can't be seeing "things".
I saw one crossing route 30 outside of long lake. Long ropelike tail, tan fur, large head. I don't know what else it could have been. It must of weighed over 80 lbs.
They are here without a doubt. I know people, my father included that saw one run across the Knox cave rd in Knox. I have seen several trail cam pics also. The fact is they are here. The problem is they are being covered up by the DEC because the DEC released them here in the first place. The DEC denies them being here but when my uncle asked if it's illegal to shoot one, a DEC officer said, "No thats illegal" lol. If they are not here, how is it illegal?. There was 2 sightings, one fairly recently in Altamont,NY.
Just to clarify: the Phil who posted at 2:31 is not me, Phil Brown, the author of the original post.
I know that some Lynx were released into the Adirondacks over 10 years ago as part of a reintroduction project. I have never heard about any cougar reintroduction.
Realize what a state biologist's definition of "population" is, people. Population, to them, indicates a reproductively successful, viable group of individuals. They are not denying the presence of the cats. I have heard testimony from state biologists, who have worked with cougars in Colorado, who say a kill sight they observed in NYS could have been nothing but a cougar.
On the way to our camp in the Saranacs my husband and I sighted a bobcat sitting on a hillside along Rt 3. There was no question or doubt that it was a bobcat. Bobcats and cougars don't look alike. The DEC's lame assertion that most cougar sightings are mistaken identity is ridiculous. How insulting.
yote hunters outside of burlington flats running yotes with dogs treed 2 last year alone. on the same hill. now it might have been the same one twice but still.
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