2021. Cougar range based on sightings and physical evidence (Image credit: LaRue et al, 2008). . 2017. They will not find a female in these areas, so they eventually make their way back to the western range or die in the attempt. You know, the Penn State Nittany Lions.". There are approximately 4,000 of those 10- to 40-pound cats in the state. The mountain lion ( Puma concolor) is sometimes called cougar, puma, catamount, and panther. There are more squirrels in Pa than Mountain Lions, but not by a lot. "People think they can get them declawed and that they're safe, but they still have teeth.". "When I started telling people, most of them didn't believe me, but I will never forget that huge face staring right at me," said a Montgomery County woman who says she saw a lion last summer in Limerick Township while walking her dog. Although mountain lions were part of Nebraska's native fauna, they were extirpated by the end of the 19th century. (AP FILE PHOTO) A Philadelphia Inquirer story said more and more people in Pennsylvania claim they are seeing mountain . On a recent stifling morning in Adams County, the 290-pound mountain lion with perfect bone structure is ignoring the raw chicken breast and pork chops a handler tossed into his pen. A recent rumor of a cougar killed by a vehicle on Interstate 80 attracted some attention at Penn State. "But we believe that the likely source is an illegally released animal.". In 2016, a trail cam photo in South Jersey was later determined to show a house cat. I received a report from a woman who drove last Sunday (August 28) from her home in the Philadelphia area to her vacation home in Avalon. Langell said two reports were . Bears feed for 20 hours a day during late summer and early fall as they fatten up to hibernate. State wildlife authorities have no record of the incident and the promised cougar carcass never arrived. A 2011 study examined cougar attacks across the US and Canada and found that since 1890, there have been only 29 confirmed fatalities.) None of these sightings has been authenticated, and many of them, including a recent, alleged mountain lion picked up on a surveillance camera in Lackawanna County, turned out to be bobcats. Days to months after the tick bite, victims can suffer severe headaches, heart palpitations, shooting pains, numbness, dizziness and trouble with short-term memory. Its eventual death and poor condition show how difficult dispersal is and unlikely it is for individuals to survive when they disperse outside of their range. It was not a fleeting glance, I had to stop my car to let it slowly cross the road in front of me. Travis Lau, a spokesperson for the Game Commission, said the state has a "never say never" approach when it comes to mountain lions and acknowledges that Western cats could be moving east. If you see any of these four wild animals in Pennsylvania, definitely keep a safe distance. What you wouldn't expect to find here anymore is a mountain lion. The team has investigated hundreds of reports, but most turned out to be bobcats. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. The mystery of whether wild eastern cougars, also commonly known as mountain lions, pumas, or panthers, really survive in the Keystone State might finally unravel. On some investigations, Foster has teamed up with Stacey Griffiths, who started the Central PA Mountain Lion Sightings page earlier this year. From 2015 through 2017, at least 100 pumas were spotted in the county, according to Tribune data gathered in 2018. Until recently, whenever the sighting of a mountain lion was reported in PA, the intial response from the PGC was to say the sighting was a misidentification. It eventually ran away from the scene. Share Tweet Share Share. Offer valid thru 3/31/23. "I'm proud to know her," Murray said of the tiger, "but I wish I didn't.". The dispatch center received calls about the mountain lion at approximately 4:30 a.m. near the Copeland Creek Trail between Country Club and Snyder Lane located in the area of Sunrise Park. Hard evidence that wild, free-ranging mountain lions are living in the state they did not. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. After the male mountain lion was removed from Red Hill Trail on May 11, additional sightings in that area were reported: one on May 16, and two over the weekend of May 19 and 20. Males territories are generally twice the size of a females territory (50-350 square miles), and they overlap the territory of several females. They said it was the size of their German Shepard and theres nothing else it couldve possibly been. Mountain lions' canines are 3 to 4 inches long. Murray has cared for four mountain lions since she took over the rescue in 1998. Sunbury, PA 17801 Phone: 570-286-5671 Email . Skip to content. But many others believe the big cats, also known as cougars and pumas, are traveling into Pennsylvania from western states, leading to persistent alleged sightings. (The fear of cougars is unfounded. Murray has cared for four mountain lions since she took over. Am 74 years old, of very sound mind usually pretty skeptical, but i saw this animal and after much consideration have concluded it could only be a mountain lion or cougar. 'Nothing to see here folks, move along'", Peregrine falcon expert checks on adorable chicks hatched in Philly City Hall nest, Jersey Shore fisherman gets rare sting from cownose ray, Central Pa. man fights, kills rabid beaver while kayaking with his daughter, Man corrals humongous fish from Schuylkill River in Montgomery County, reported big cat sightings to local police, Figure skating program in Kensington aims to make the sport accessible for local athletes, Philadelphia Zoo's new exhibit includes life-sized dinosaurs and lots of bugs, Ex-football player from Bucks County among new 'Survivor' competitors, Eagles will host Browns for joint practices in preseason, Six Flags to enhance Hurricane Harbor with more water slides, tree house for young kids, Watch every 'Rocky' movie in order and for free on Pluto TV. Almost all the reported sights have been other animals like bobcats (Lynx rufus), coyotes (Canis latrans), raccoons (Procyon lotor), or large domestic cats (Felis catus). In 1991 mountain lion tracks were found . "The coloration and the shape of the head lean toward mountain lion(Felis concolor)but they have a tail thats almost as long as their body, and this animal clearly is lacking a tail," Taylor said. If a cougar were to make it to Pennsylvania, it is illegal to harm. "We do not believe that there are any wild, native, breeding cougar populations in Pennsylvania. Tumble drying clothes for 10 minutes will kill ticks. But more and more people in Pennsylvania, from the Alleghenies to the Poconos to rolling farmlands in York County, claim they are seeing the big cats here, even though the state's "last" native lion, also known as a cougar or puma, was shot and killed in Berks County in 1871 and the feds have declared the Eastern subspecies extinct. Mountain lions also were reportedly sighted in Cape St . Officials with the Pennsylvania Game Commission told WHNT the cat in Clarks Summit could be a bobcat, though they tend to be more active at night. Some have even reported seeing a "black panther," a near-impossibility because of the rarity of that recessive gene. The last wild cougar in Pennsylvania was killed in 1871 and the last cougar born on the East Coast was killed in 1938 in Maine. A few captive cougars have escaped over the years, but these cats have been quickly recaptured. i have seen a mountain lion in Hawks Mountain where persons watch hawk migration about 7 to 10 years ago. When it came back without the lion, she stopped them and asked why they had let a mountain lion out in the woods. Home Pennsylvania Opinion Search for cougarscontinues in Pennsylvania, If youre a regular reader of this publication, or one of my neighbors, then you already know my father and, A fish may see a parade of presentations go by, therefore yours should be better than the rest. Are the mountain lion sightings in Monterey for real? Angel, her African lioness who snarls at strangers, is a big girl. Some biologists thinks it's time to bring them back to help manage deer populations. MDC established a Mountain Lion Response Team in 1996 to investigate reports and evidence of mountain lions. "I hear rumors all the time about mountain lion sightings," said Brian Anderson, deputy game protector for Northumberland County. They often carry their tails erect, which is rare for cougars and when done clearly has a bow to it; and house cats can have long coats, which is a sharp contrast from the short coat of a cougar. An instinct coiled way down in the human brain knows the difference between a bobcat and a mountain lion. Crews help rescue bulldog from Hellertown underground tank, Pa. among 13 states hit by illness linked to pet turtles. They include a reported attack on horses at a farm near Dillsburg, York County, that Foster thinks may be legitimate. Biologists traced it back to the Black Hills of South Dakota, from where it ventured nearly 2,000 miles looking for a new mate. I saw a large black cat about the size of a mediym sized dog walking towards my car in pike county So, if a. Lion take a fawn in a swamp 1 mile from my home in the same county. Bobcats tend to be darker brown, with lighter belly fur and spots while mountain lions tend to be more uniform brown, tawny color. It stopped and looked directly at me. "Hunters are always saying they see mountain lions, and the Game Commission always says there aren't any," said Robert Hale, owner of Buffalo Gap Outfitters in Dillsburg. Brocke R. 1981. The mountain lionalso known as the cougar, puma, panther, or catamountis a large cat species native to the Americas. On some investigations, Foster has teamed up with Stacey Griffiths, who started the Central PA Mountain Lion Sightings page earlier this year. Like Rocky, Nia is declawed. The only native North American mountain lion species (Puma concolor) has long since been extirpated from the eastern United States, with the exception of a small population of Florida panthers whose genetic roots are a subject of debate. I am not a confirmed believer that they do travel Penns woods, however I would NOT rule it out either. Haven't seen anything like this before, so it's new.". Some have even reported seeing a "black panther," a near-impossibility because of the rarity of that recessive gene. 4 . They haven't been . Ohio. If you see a bobcat or mountain lion, you can report the sighting to the DEC by calling (518) 357-2158. I live in Harrisburg, in the 70s and by Central Dauphin high school there was a creek called Beaver Creek so one day ask someone what are they called Beaver Creek and said there used to be a beaver there till about seven or eight years ago and the last one was killed by some person they named and he was actually bragging up that he killed the last beaver in Beaver Creek. From PD: Read your article about mountain lions in NJ. This content is restricted to subscribers of OutdoorNews.com. Still, people say they know what they saw out there. They're responsible for80 percent of the pollination of the fruit, legume and vegetable plants we need to eat. at least 1 mountain lion hanging out near a relatively fresh, mostly eaten deer . In Michigan, there has been multiple sightings of 'black panthers,' animals that were thought to be mountain lions, or pumas, except that they were black. This was yesterday around 5pm 11/6/19. Evanitsky, M.N., George, R.J., Johnson, S., Dowell, S., and Perry, G.H. Some of the regional tribes include the Tonkawa, Kiowa and Apache. The only population that survived was the Florida panther (Puma concolor couguar), and it only survived with great help from conservationists. There are more than 4,000 of them in Pennsylvania. Black bear can be easily told apart from cougars: black bears have five toes to cougars four and their footpads are more elongated. But after consultations with biologists inside and outside the university, he determined it was an unusual bear track showing just four toes and no claws. Mountain lions, also commonly known as cougars, are officially extinct in both Pennsylvania and the United States east of the Mississippi. Mountain lions inhabited the state of Texas before European settlers arrived and the Native Americans in the area hunted them for clothing, shelter and blankets. Can get them declawed and that they 're responsible for80 percent of tiger. 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