This is a continuation of a conversation started last November 30th in the “Mountain Lion” thread. I said that the Eastern Cougar Foundation was looking for someone to set up and tend to remote cameras somewhere in the Adirondacks--a responsible person with above-average interest in documenting the possible existence of cougars. Outside of Florida, the Dacks seem to be one of the most likely in the East to harbor a few cougars.
In response to that message, adk said: ‘”In Quebec they had been trying to find proof of Cougars for years and could not, then recently they placed strategic "scratch posts scented from a female in estrus" apparently the scent can be detected for miles. And they got multiple cougars confirmations.”
Actually, Dr. Marc Gauthier prepared a scent lure distilled from the urine of estrous female cougars and determined in experiments with captive cougars, lynx and bobcats, that the lure would induce cougars to rub against an object impregnated with the lure, but not bobcats or lynx. The reason that rubbing was the goal is that if the cougar rubs against Velcro or some other material that snags hairs by the roots, the “subspecies” may be determined by DNA analysis. There is only one “subspecies” in all of North America, and five others in Central and South America. If a hair sample showed that a wild cougar that rubbed against the post was from Central or South America, then the biologists would know that it was a former captive or a descendant of a captive. If is North American, then it MIGHT be a descendant of native stock, or might be an immigrant from the west or a former captive. The wildlife agencies are not interested in protecting cougars that are not descended from native stock.
The pheromone blend is put within a PVC pipe (“pole”) that is wrapped with a substance that snags hairs when a cougar rubs. Gauthier has had 59 poles set up in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec set up for a total of 800 pole months. He has scored seven confirmations during that time—an estimated 10% success rate. So these poles are not a sure way of confirming a cougar. Also, Gauthier charges $1000 per pole per year, although he’s offered the Eastern Cougar Foundation a discount rate of $650 per pole per year.
Many other scent lures bring cougars into remote camera range but do not induce rubbing. There is no reason to collect hair follicles unless you need to know the geographic origin of the cougar. It’s ECF’s position that the origin of a cougar living successfully in the wild is unimportant. It if is a former captive and cannot live as a wild animal or gravitates toward humans, it will be eliminated. So we are proposing to use the most effective scent and visual lures but not to collect hair samples.
In response to that message, adk said: ‘”In Quebec they had been trying to find proof of Cougars for years and could not, then recently they placed strategic "scratch posts scented from a female in estrus" apparently the scent can be detected for miles. And they got multiple cougars confirmations.”
Actually, Dr. Marc Gauthier prepared a scent lure distilled from the urine of estrous female cougars and determined in experiments with captive cougars, lynx and bobcats, that the lure would induce cougars to rub against an object impregnated with the lure, but not bobcats or lynx. The reason that rubbing was the goal is that if the cougar rubs against Velcro or some other material that snags hairs by the roots, the “subspecies” may be determined by DNA analysis. There is only one “subspecies” in all of North America, and five others in Central and South America. If a hair sample showed that a wild cougar that rubbed against the post was from Central or South America, then the biologists would know that it was a former captive or a descendant of a captive. If is North American, then it MIGHT be a descendant of native stock, or might be an immigrant from the west or a former captive. The wildlife agencies are not interested in protecting cougars that are not descended from native stock.
The pheromone blend is put within a PVC pipe (“pole”) that is wrapped with a substance that snags hairs when a cougar rubs. Gauthier has had 59 poles set up in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec set up for a total of 800 pole months. He has scored seven confirmations during that time—an estimated 10% success rate. So these poles are not a sure way of confirming a cougar. Also, Gauthier charges $1000 per pole per year, although he’s offered the Eastern Cougar Foundation a discount rate of $650 per pole per year.
Many other scent lures bring cougars into remote camera range but do not induce rubbing. There is no reason to collect hair follicles unless you need to know the geographic origin of the cougar. It’s ECF’s position that the origin of a cougar living successfully in the wild is unimportant. It if is a former captive and cannot live as a wild animal or gravitates toward humans, it will be eliminated. So we are proposing to use the most effective scent and visual lures but not to collect hair samples.
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