Maggie's Farm

When I was a small boy, I read a book about Daniel Boone growing up in Virginia. According to the book, Boone shot a "painter", that is, a cougar, in Virginia.
The term "mountain lion" is already misleading. The mountain lion (catamount, cougar, puma, Felis concolor) is no more a mountain animal than is the grizzly bear. Both are quite at home in a range of habitats. The Eastern US has an environment highly conducive to cougars. Florida has its own subspecies, the panther of the Everglades.
Cougars are hardy animals and there's every reason to think they've been in Connecticut all along. As people move into some areas and cougars move into them too, encounters and perhaps conflicts may be more common.
Connecticut already has at least one potentially dangerous animal, the black bear. Cougars and bears use similar habitats. Any area with cover and game might be a home for bears, cougars, coyotes, or all three. People should remember that and take appropriate safeguards, especially for small pets and children. All of these animals have been involved in dangerous attacks on humans, although far less often than humans go after each other.

We've got a few wolves straying pretty far from Yellowstone National Park and Petting Zoo -- need a few for Maine?