Connecticut lion came from South Dakota

Quicksearch

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Wednesday, July 27. 2011

Connecticut lion came from South Dakota

Looking for love in all the wrong places. It's a remarkable story of a young lion, with a tragic ending. Young males wander to find mates and new territory, but 1800 miles?

Many people, including me, were hoping this lion's presence might indicate a small, hidden breeding population in the Northeast, in the Adirondacks or someplace. Alas, not so.

Posted by Bird Dog at 18:20 | Comments (9) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments

Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

There have been consistent observations by people who know enough about animals (hunters etc.) in the past few years to indicate a small population. These cats can move long distances but not on a whim. They are following the exploding deer population through Wisconsin, Michigans UP, Ontario and Upstate NY. The book "The Beast In the Garden" gives a great account of how Boulder CO became a center for mountain lions after they made it a haven for deer. The cats who had previously been almost unseen nocturnal hunters in the backwoods no hunted at all times in the burbs. Since the highest density of deer in CT is in the Greenwich area it all makes sense.

#1 DirtyJobsGuy on 2011-07-27 18:38 (Reply)

Oh. So you like lions. I'm from South Dakota. You can have them all. They just really muck up hiking and camping and general being outside at nightedness. Seriously. You can have them. Bring a van as there are an awful lot of them. They are terribly unnecesary and we got along just fine w/out them for a hundred or so years.

#2 Jeffersonian on 2011-07-27 18:53 (Reply)

Ship them to us, please. We have too many hikers and bikers, too many ankle-biter dogs, too many deer, and too many kitty cats. The Northeast is predator-deprived.

Throw some wolves into the van too, if you don't mind.

#2.1 BD on 2011-07-27 19:49 (Reply)

Damn straight. :>)

Funniest thing I've read today.

#2.1.1 Tom Francis on 2011-07-27 22:39 (Reply)

Oh and by the way...

Connecticut DEP? YOU LIED!!

They knew it all along and didn't want to admit it.

Bobcat my butt.

Not to worry BD - there is more than one along the CT/MA border.

#3 Tom Francis on 2011-07-27 22:42 (Reply)

If this story is actually true, then there are a lot of people that need to have their positions sponging from the taxpayers eliminated.

Taxpayers are struggling in this economy, and here we find government employees with nothing better to do than examine wildlife droppings. AND they are 'earning" a pension from us for this essential contribution to good government.

Argggghhhh!!!!

#4 feeblemind on 2011-07-27 23:02 (Reply)

Cougars are highly adaptable animals. The term "mountain lion" describes only one habitat where they thrive. They do well anyplace where there's game, large and small, and places to hide. They generally don't do open plains very well but they're found even in the flatland of Eastern Montana.
Cougars were indigenous throughout the Americas when Europeans began to colonize. There's every reason that they may have survived in the Northeast or would re-establish populations there. The same is true of wolves.
I have a touch of Bambi syndrome myself, but I also love the wild for being wild. Cougars, wolves, bears and coyotes are neither cartoon buddies nor lurking fiends, but predators to be regarded with wary respect.

#5 Geoff Brown on 2011-07-28 10:25 (Reply)

I saw one some years ago in north-central PA, but it may have been an escapee or something. But it was in a likely area for a hidden eastern population. Lots of steep mountains and very few people.

#6 forest on 2011-07-28 17:18 (Reply)

A recent issue of GA Outdoor News had several trail camera shots of cougars/mountain lions taken in recent years years in various parts of the state. There were both tawny and black specimens photographed. As far as deer population control, GA DNR estimates that coyotes will kill half of the fawns dropped this year.

#7 twolaneflash on 2011-07-28 21:18 (Reply)

Add Comment

Name
Email	(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)
Homepage
In reply to
Comment	By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications. Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u], [url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here. Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (word), underscore are made via _word_. E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications. To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly. Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above: BBCode format allowed
	Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Maggie's Farm

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Wednesday, July 27. 2011

Connecticut lion came from South Dakota