Mountain Lion in Camden NY

[hillman1]

Lots of tv coverage and pictures of the tracks from the chief of police. Just saw it on channel 9, WIXT i think in the syracuse area. Pretty much completely confirmed, but they think it is a pet that has been released. Pretty remote in that area, out near Boonville. There was talk of it possibly having migrated down from Canada, the DEC is staying quiet on this one too.

[hillman1]

http://www.news10now.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=119160

[sky]

it's probably a cougar.....

[hillman1]

I like the black muddy river qoute...Always liked that one live.

[redhawk]

Without seeing it, how could anyone speculate that it's a pet that's been released? It's obvious that they are setting up to explain the sighting away.

And If it did migrate down from Canada, does that debunk the fact there would be Mountain Lions in the area because it has a green card? Or not? I mean after all, it's obvious that if there are mountain lions in an area, they had to come from somewhere and chances are that it isn't mexico.

Until it's actually verified and authenticated and if possible examined, no one can say for sure what it is, or how it got there.

It's like the case in ohio, or one of those states where there were multiple reports of mountain lion sightings. State game officials insisted that everyone who saw them didn't really know what they were seeing but that it wasn't a mountain lion. Then one of them was hit and killed by a truck on the highway and it was in fact a mountain lion. Then the officials determined that it was someone's pet that had been released. That determination was made without any proof that the cat was domesticated, with no reports of a missing cat, nor proof of any individual having owned or released the cat.

[Connie Bear Orion]

No proof its a mountain lion much less a released or wild.

Lets see if I owned a mountain lion in NYS and it got loose I would be tempted to keep my mouth shut about having one missing.
First its illegal for most people to own in this state.
Second what liability do you open yourself to by admitting its your ML that ate the neighbors cat?

Why speculate until it is found dead or hopefully alive????

[Hobbitling]

owning and releasing a mountain lion probably breaks half a dozen federal and state laws, so of course nobody is going to admit to it. But all they need is a hair sample to figure out if its been fed catfood or any other commercial animal food with grain in it. We do that here at the state museum all the time. But honestly, if its domestic, I doubt it would have survived very long. the fact that the reports have spanned months suggests to me its wild.

The Tug hill area is some pretty nice land for a large predator to live though.

[redhawk]

Why speculate until it is found dead or hopefully alive????

My point exactly, yet the "spin" is already thay it "migrated" or it was released.

My point about the Ohio case was that the official stance was first that there were no lions, and then when proved wrong, that it must have been a domestic cat, although there was no evidence to support it.

[gulo]

Bear tracks. Bear scratch. Misidentified trailcam pics. Missing housepets sensationally presumed eaten.

And all the evidence points to...an animal that leaves no evidence.

[Bill I.]

I THINK I had a brief glimpse of one a few years ago in the Poconos. It was night, we were driving at highway speeds north on the PA Turnpike, and a large brown cat with a long tail darted in front of us, grazing the front passenger section of the car. We weren't able to stop on a dime to see what we had hit, but at the next exit we stopped to look for damage. Remarkably, there was no damage--only a few brown hairs stuck in a crack. I know what I saw, but because it happened in a flash (and I have no imperical proof) I can make no claims of certainty.

My only thought, however, was that if they have mountain lions in the Poconos, of all places, then why not the Adirondacks?

If all these sightings can be explained by people releasing exotic pets, then that amounts to a lot of people and a lot of illegal pets. Something doesn't add up.

[Connie Bear Orion]

Just a thought.
Coyotes eat pet cats and small dogs.
So its not necessarly a ML.

owning and releasing a mountain lion probably breaks half a dozen federal and state laws, so of course nobody is going to admit to it. But all they need is a hair sample to figure out if its been fed catfood or any other commercial animal food with grain in it. We do that here at the state museum all the time. But honestly, if its domestic, I doubt it would have survived very long. the fact that the reports have spanned months suggests to me its wild.

The Tug hill area is some pretty nice land for a large predator to live though.

I missed the beginning of the story on TV about this, so I am not sure if they said. If this animal escaped in like late march or April it could have been living in the wild almost 6 months now.

Winter I might tend to agree with you.

My point exactly, yet the "spin" is already thay it "migrated" or it was released.

My point about the Ohio case was that the official stance was first that there were no lions, and then when proved wrong, that it must have been a domestic cat, although there was no evidence to support it.

If there was proof of a population of ML in a reasonable distance it would be a different story.
But the fact that there is no proven ML in the NE yet.
I would have to go with an escaped/released pet.
No one should jump to conclusions but that is the most likely case.

I admit it is possible one ML went for a walk and kepted walking and made it to the ADK, but unlikely.

[Hobbitling]

I wasnt talking about weather, I was talking about the inability of a human reared animal to catch prey. they have to be taught that.
I know, even housecats can catch mice instinctively, but not enough to survive on unless they've got lots of hunting experience, or were taught by mama.

unless it was captured in the wild, kept in captivity, and released. that one might survive, if it hadnt gotten too lazy.

another question is why a human raised cat wouldnt just run to the nearest human when it got hungry. you'd think this thing would be hanging around houses waiting for a meal.

[ellsaf]

It strikes me that it would be incredibly rare for someone to have a full grown mountain lion as a pet. You cannot just keep that thing hidden in your basement. People would know you have it and they would know if it escaped.

[hillman1]

I have friends that live in Camden and Redfield, and the word is that it's been spotted quite often. Even the police are saying it's a big cat. One of my friends fathers is very active in tracking, and he is going to try to get pictures, I know that's probably pretty tough. There is a ton of wild land in that area of the state.

[redhawk]

J
If there was proof of a population of ML in a reasonable distance it would be a different story.
But the fact that there is no proven ML in the NE yet.
I would have to go with an escaped/released pet.
No one should jump to conclusions but that is the most likely case.

As long as agencies continue to pooh pooh sightings, and then when there is an actual cat, write it off as an escaped pet, then there won't be any proof. And that's exactly the way the responsible agencies want it.

Personally experience tells me that they do want to even investigate the responsibility. I spotted a cat here in wells a couple of years ago, i took a picture of the track, I called the DEC and reported the sighting and the fact that there were prints in the ground

No one showed up.

I am no stranger to Cougars, they are not all that uncommon where I grew up and in areas where i have spent a lot of time. I have seen several in my life. I can tell the difference between the Cougars, bobcats, wildcats, bobtail cats and coon cats. I'm also familiar with tracks.

I saw a cougar, no doubt, not even the slightest of possibilities that I could have been mistaken. That's how good the visibility was and the cat was less then 100 yards away.

The DEC never followed up on my call to Raybrook. As long as that type of behavior continues, there never will be an "official" recognition or proof.

I'm not saying the reported sighting mentioned here is in fact a Cougar. What I am saying is that the DEC or any of the other agencies are in any hurry to confirm.