mountain lion in NH

[Battis]

There have been hundreds of mountain lion sightings in NH but the Fish and Game dept says it ain't so - they've been "extinct" in the state for hundreds of years. Well, today at around 5:15 PM (daylight), up near Mt Washington in NH, a mountain lion ran across the road in front of the car in front of me, less than 50 yds from me, leaped up the opposite banking and ran into the woods. Not a bobcat, or coyote, or dog or family cat - a big mountain lion. No mistaking it. I'll report the sighting tomorrow but apparently, without proof, it didn't happen, even though they've found tracking evidence around Mt Washington.
A mountain lion was hit and killed by a car in CT. They did whatever testing they do and determined that it walked from South Dakota.

Anyways, I saw a mountain lion today and that's pretty cool.

[lefty o]

if it dont exist, hunt it down and kill it. cant be illegal, as it didnt exist!

[Battis]

From what I read, the Fish and Game dept. doesn't admit they exist because people would freak out, and then the dept. would have to come up with a management plan.

[Omega]

Took years, and videos from a game cam before the TWRA admitted there were big cats out here, now bears are moving in to areas they hadn't been in.

[Battis]

Those that believe the mountain lions are here have two theories: the big cats are from other parts of the country, or the extinct eastern mountain lion was never extinct.
A mountain lion was spotted several times in northeastern MA where I live, about 130 miles from where I saw the lion today. A local farmer found a dead calf up in a tree, which they say is a good sign that there's a mountain lion in the area.

[Stephen Cohen]

My you Americans live in a dangerous place, lions bob cats bears and such, all we down under have is Drop bears wombats snakes and bloody socialists and the odd Kangaroo. regards Stephen

[fn1889m]

...and bloody socialists and the odd P---- off Kangaroo. regards Stephen

Socialists are far more dangerous than mountain lions. Herds have been sighted in urban areas, and are no longer an endanger species. Several have been seen in Massachusetts.


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[Battis]

Several have been seen in Massachusetts.
They run Massachusetts and are working their way into NH.

There were two black bears (mother and cub) in a tree in my town last week and it made the news everywhere. Helicopters flying overheard, news trucks and reporters, onlookers with cameras. I felt bad for the bears. They drugged them and carted them off to somewhere "safe".

[Echo]

They run Massachusetts and are working their way into NH.

Working their way into EVERYWHERE!

[Traffer]

A mountain lion killed in Connecticut was from South Dakota.
Incredible range!
https://abcnews.go.com/US/conn-mountain-lion-made-long-journey-south-dakota/story?id=14169829

[LUCKYDAWG13]

One was killed in Chicago a few years ago and test showed that it was from South Dakota also

[kens]

How would they know it didnt walk up from Florida, with all the hurricanes, global warming and such??

[LUCKYDAWG13]

How would they know it didnt walk up from Florida, with all the hurricanes, global warming and such??

They tested the DNA

[FISH4BUGS]

I have also seen a mountain lion here in NH. Inland about 25 miles from the Seacoast. Crossed in front of my car at about 50 yards away. There have been many sightings here in NH. F&G DOES admit their existence but claims they are simply "passing through".
There is no mistaking the profile of a mountain lion.
But telling people you have seen one is like telling them you were abducted by aliens in UFO's. :)
But they are here. No doubt about it. This one has a range of about 10 miles square.

[Hickok]

From what I read, the Fish and Game dept. doesn't admit they exist because people would freak out, and then the dept. would have to come up with a management plan.We have them here in WV also. The reason I was given for the DNR denying their existence is because the mountain lions are on the endangered species list, any habitat they live in would become highly managed and restricted from private and commercial usage.

[redhawk0]

My hunting partner and I were talking about this just last weekend. We hunt near Center Harbor, NH...anyway...I asked him about Mt. Lions in the area and he said the same thing. NH doesn't recognize them as a native animal in the state. Funny thing though...VT, ME and MA all have Mt. Lions....Whatever borders NH has put up...We need them along Mexico....hahaha

redhawk

[William Yanda]

We have them here in WV also. The reason I was given for the DNR denying their existence is because the mountain lions are on the endangered species list, any habitat they live in would become highly managed and restricted from private and commercial usage.

If that is the case, I hope the New York Dept. of Conservation continues to insist that they are not here.

[GhostHawk]

Way I figure it the Eastern Mountain Lion may have gone into hiding for a century or so.
But it has recently figured out that most of those humans are no longer carrying guns out east.

So it is safe to go back to their old hunting grounds and they did so.

A large deer population probably does not hurt any either.


Where I live on the Minnesota North Dakota border we are getting bears where there never were bears.

There were no bears in the squirrel woods I hunted as a young man.
But there are now. They are learning they can live on the edge of contact with man.


Like the squirrels, coons, turkeys and deer did 30 years ago.

[Rick Hodges]

Michigan denied having them for years, stating it was people's pets that escaped whenever one was found. Finally, with the advent of game camera evidence they relented and admitted that they live and breed here. Not in large numbers to be sure but they are here in the wild.

[Johnch]

Here in NW Ohio
Not 4 miles from my house a mountain lion stayed in a old barn , up in the hay loft
Ohio DNR said ... no chance it was
It stayed around the Genoa Ohio area for 2 years

I had a chance to look at the trail camera pictures the land owner got from 2 cameras he put close the the barn
A guy from the Toledo Ohio zoo came out and looked at the scat and pictures and laughed
As that mountain lion was not the first wild one he had looked at pictures of and checked the scat
The next spring a mountain lion was spotted several times by a school by Port Clinton Ohio .... they also had pictures and tracks
Ohio DNR then had to admit it was a mountain lion , but claimed it had to be a tame one that had gotten away from someone

They kept it quite about it , but had several live traps in the area
They never would admit they caught it , but after the Ohio DNR had the live traps put out
The Mountain lion was never spotted again

So IMO a lot of state DNR people don't want to scare people , or have someone hunting it down for a ego trip

John

[jmort]

Claim here in Missouri is no breeding pairs. Just lone males except for a single female. The story is that they were all killed in the 1920s and thus extinct in Missouri. I am just waiting for the return of the wolves.

[mold maker]

There are lots of common things that didn't exist here a few centuries ago, including white men, politicians and there are also many things now missing that were once common. It's not evolution, just that not everything follows modern mans rules.
It's a darn shame that common sense is almost extent.

[St. Hogustine]

I wonder how many states have both mountain lion sightings and a "no mountain lions here*" policy. Arkansas is another one.

My grandfather told us "If you can hear the scream, head the other direction. If you can hear the sound he makes after the scream, you're too **** close."

[Geezer in NH]

Several have been spotted in my town of Sandwich over the last 20 years or so.

By the way it is against the F&G law to shoot one unless it is attacking livestock or a human.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

We had a guy shoot a timber wolf about 10miles from my house a few years ago and put it up on Facebook big mistake for him I don't think that he had jail time for it but got a hefty fine for it

[Dieselhorses]

How would they know it didnt walk up from Florida, with all the hurricanes, global warming and such??

It probably did as many are migrating North. There was a special on TWC a while back about it.

[Walks]

Here in the City of Los Angeles,

The Black Bears go swimming in people's pools.

Mountain Lions, they eat the trail bikers & hikers.
Had one cruising the Santa Monica 3rd Street Mall a few years back.

Coyote's will come in a doggy door and drag out people's cats & small dogs. At LUNCH TIME.
That appropriate I guess.

Glad I DON'T live in the City of Los Angeles.

[robg]

if they treat them like londoners treat foxes youll be knee deep in them till someone gets eaten then the idiots will scream blue murder and want them eradicated.

[RU shooter]

I wonder how many states have both mountain lion sightings and a "no mountain lions here*" policy. Arkansas is another one.

My grandfather told us "If you can hear the scream, head the other direction. If you can hear the sound he makes after the scream, you're too d**m close."

You can add Pa to that list. Only one that's credible and seen by thousands every weekend is the Penn State Nittnay lion

[PaulG67]

Have heard or but not seen lions or bob cats in my area of Ma. But bears, yes we do have bears, have been many seen around here, had one on my deck one evening 4 feet from my door which was open, makin a snack of the bird feeder.

[MUSTANG]

They tested the DNA

Must of been the same company that did the Pocahontas (Sen. Elizabeth Warren) DNA Testing.


We had a set Cougar prints out back of the house (Kalispell house) last week. Didn't get into the Chicken pen, Rabbit hutch,. or bother the horses so all is well.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

Must of been the same company that did the Pocahontas (Sen. Elizabeth Warren) DNA Testing.


We had a set Cougar prints out back of the house (Kalispell house) last week. Didn't get into the Chicken pen, Rabbit hutch,. or bother the horses so all is well.
LOL maybe https://abc7chicago.com/archive/6158309/

[cas]

If that is the case, I hope the New York Dept. of Conservation continues to insist that they are not here.

NY says "You didn't see what you saw."

Okay... what about these photos?

PETS! NY claims they're all illegal pets that were released into the wild.
Yeah oaky.. New York, leading the nation in released pet mountain lions. :neutral:

[woodbutcher]

[smilie=s: Don`t know about mountain lions in Florida where I grew up.But I know for a fact of two Jaguars(and no not the stick shift dual OHC type).One was shot by a trapper out in the Fellsmere area,and the second trotted across the road in front of me out West of Ft Pierce Fl.Absolutely beautiful animals.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[Three44s]

...............A local farmer found a dead calf up in a tree, which they say is a good sign that ..............

............ the calf simply climbed the tree it self and cut it’s own throat!

We had a major kill by a Tom several years ago. The area Game Warden said the scratches on a two year old horse were from a lion. When his Sgt. came to confirm it the next morning the tune changed somewhat ......

The good Sgt. told us that the horse “ may have scratched itself in the bushes”!

Three44s

[Battis]

I called the Fish and Game department and filed a sighting report. The questions they ask obviously try to rule out other animals but there's no mistaking what I saw. It passed in front of the car in front of me (it almost got hit). I even bragged about my great eyesight (20/15).

[Hickok]

Reminds me back about 30 years ago, a group of us were at the local bow shooting store/gathering place and in comes the game warden. We start telling him about the coyotes we had seen while hunting.

"There are no coyotes in WV, and what you are seeing are wild or lost German Shepherds or stray dogs."

All of us had grown up in the woods, hunting, fishing and camping, and this didn't set too well being told we didn't know what we were seeing. The argument/debate got pretty heated. The warden quickly left. He was a college educated city boy and we were just a bunch of dumb coal miners and timber cutters!

I guess we have a lot of stray dogs and wild housecats roaming the woods of WV, and we are just too dumb and ignorant to know the difference between them and coyotes and mountain lions.:redneck:

[condorjohn]

Last month, here in Oregon near Mt. Hood a hiker was attacked and killed by a Cougar. I thought it was odd when they interviewed the local sheriff he said "We're still investigating the crime scene". Crime Scene?

[redhawk0]

Last month, here in Oregon near Mt. Hood a hiker was attacked and killed by a Cougar. I thought it was odd when they interviewed the local sheriff he said "We're still investigating the crime scene". Crime Scene?

Feeding the wildlife illegally maybe?

redhawk

[Texas by God]

Myself and my SIL have seen a mountain lion 20 years apart on the back side of the farm. It is legal to kill mountain lions in Texas, but the parks and wildlife department wants you to call them and report it if you do. They have a special phone number to report kills or sightings. They know better than to attack people here, we will shoot them!
I remember hearing one scream when we were having an outdoor fish fry when I was a small child. My grandfather explained to me what it was and I was terrified.
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[poppy42]

[smilie=s: Don`t know about mountain lions in Florida where I grew up.But I know for a fact of two Jaguars(and no not the stick shift dual OHC type).One was shot by a trapper out in the Fellsmere area,and the second trotted across the road in front of me out West of Ft Pierce Fl.Absolutely beautiful animals.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo
I was trail riding on a friends property on merrit island some years back. My wife and I had just loaded up the horses and were heading home when a Jaguar walked in front of the truck. The property ordered the space center. Anyone who has ever worked out there knows that the wildlife out there is unbelievable . We could never get anybody to believe us but we know what we saw! It was no more than 10 foot in front of the truck !

[9.3X62AL]

Government wonks do strange things to help prop up their policy guidelines and long-held beliefs. I saw a bear at night in early 1982 at a mountain homicide scene south of Palm Desert. Cal-DFG insisted that I was mistaken, but I know what I saw and the guy that relieved me at 1 A.M. was on scene until 9 A.M., and took photos of the paw prints in the soft soil areas nearby once the sun came up and allowed for safe walk-about. There were a LOT of prints. With a dead body close by, you gotta figure that carnivores could have tried a bite or 2--and might have developed a taste for human meat. A little unsettling at the time, one of those instinctive visceral responses that kept our species alive during the times of dire wolves, short-nosed bears, and sabertooth cats.

When you jump into the ocean or step into the back-country, you become part of the food chain--and not always at the top of same.

[John in WYO]

We've got lions in Wyoming, too. :-)
This one ran into a 410 grain cast bullet (Montana Bullet Works) in front of 30 grains of H-110 from a .500 Linebaugh. Tipped him right out of the tree.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q58/JohninWYO/456-1.jpg (http://s133.photobucket.com/user/JohninWYO/media/456-1.jpg.html)


9.3x62: You're absolutely right about the visceral response.

About 5-6 years ago one late night, I beat John Linebaugh back from Cody to his place tucked up by the Montana border. I was sitting on the porch enjoying the stillness and dark. I decided to see if I could get a coyote to respond. I used a mouth call and let loose with an interrogation/lone howl, then sat back on the porch. I could hear the sound echoing through the draws in the valley...no response.
Oh well, no coyotes in the area....

About ten minutes later, the calm was absolutely shattered as a deep, baritone, drawn out howl of a single wolf cut loose about 200 yards above on the hillside behind the house. It was so loud and felt so close, the hairs stood up on the back of my neck and I swore the I could feel the sound reverberate in my chest.

It was at that precise moment I thought: "Now I know how my cavemen ancestors felt."

[ascast]

NY says "You didn't see what you saw."

Okay... what about these photos?

PETS! NY claims they're all illegal pets that were released into the wild.
Yeah oaky.. New York, leading the nation in released pet mountain lions. :neutral:

I saw one two and a half years ago. It crossed the road in front of me. I was on RT 8 headed south, a few miles south of New Berlin, just by the last cross over to Norwich. I never reported it as I knew they would blow smoke. With out a good, clear , high res pic, there was no lion.
I saw tracks in the woods once as well, with in months of that sighting. Cat prints, scattered snow patches. About 4-5 feet between tracks. It was going uphill, jumping to land on a log not covered in snow. That may have been a lesser cat, bob cat maybe, was not a house cat.

[fn1889m]

I live in rural NW Washington. I have not seen a live cougar. I believe they have seen me. I was recently fishing alone in a river in the Glacier Peak Wilderness. I could not shake the feeling that I was being stalked. The hair on the back of my neck would not go down. It must be a primitive instinct. But I really believe I was being stalked by a cougar.

Last winter I was hiking in the park. We went up a snow covered trail. On the way back we ran across a set of deer tracks. Imposed over the deer tracks was a set of cougar tracks.

But I have never seen a live cougar in the wild. Not for lack of trying. They are here.


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[Three44s]

John in WY,

Very nice cat there!

I laugh though, you used a coyote vocalization and found a wolf. I use a wolf howler to shut the coyotes up when they get too loud.

I recently acquired a thermal weapon sight, mounted on a flat top AR I figure on giving them lead treatments in stead off wolf howls from now on.

fn1889m,

I asked a Yakama tribal member what the translation was that they called the cougar, he said they called them the “ghost of the forest”.

Works for me!

Best regards

Three44s

[Battis]

Where and when can they be hunted in WY (or anywhere)? Is there a season or "as needed"? (bothering livestock, for example).

I usually carry when I hike the mountains of NH. After seeing that cat, I'll be carrying bigger.

[375supermag]

Hi...
There have been a lot of reports of mountain lions in Pennsylvania the last few years...mostly in the mid-state and northern tier counties. That area is heavily wooded mountains with lots of deer, bears and coyotes.
The PA. Game Commission says there are no mountain lions in the state.
I remember when they said there weren't any coyotes here, either.
Now they are ubiquitous and we regularly see them dead on the road.

[FISH4BUGS]

Where and when can they be hunted in WY (or anywhere)? Is there a season or "as needed"? (bothering livestock, for example).
I usually carry when I hike the mountains of NH. After seeing that cat, I'll be carrying bigger.
Here in NH you are allwed to shoot anything that is damaging or pestering your farm animals OR your crops. Protect your chickens, geese, deer, cows....anything. Out of season you need to get the OK from F&G. They usually say yes.
There is actually a law on the books that allows you to shoot them.

[woodbutcher]

;) That law of which you speak.Does that cover the F&G people also:p?
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[jonp]

My you Americans live in a dangerous place, lions bob cats bears and such, all we down under have is Drop bears wombats snakes and bloody socialists and the odd Kangaroo. regards Stephen

Drop Bears...hahahahaha. First heard a story about them not long ago.