Tell us your story. As I tried to get a picture of it so there was it was definitely we looked up all the pictures and it was definitely not a bobcat or anything else being it looked just like a mountain lion. Let's look for other evidence. People have asked me about the genetics of eastern mountain lion. For all the men out there that don't realize it. We live around Cold Springs Campground and it was undeniably a mountain lion. I mean no doubt a seen Bobcat seen his stuff. About two years ago I was at the Laconia airport on the way home from the airport and there's a big lake on one side called Lily Pond. Is that typically what was happening there. So what those ranges. Anytime at any HP broad dot org or subscribe to our podcast search Apple podcasts Google Play or stitcher for an HP bar exchange. Peter Biello: So if they were female mountain lions here they would be more males just because that's what they're looking for. Tonight, Sean McDonald investigates,. That's next time on one day. Listeners we'd love to hear some of your thoughts on this. That's too big for Bobcat. Well let's talk a little bit about that. Which goes back to the Connecticut Connecticut cat and what not. Despite numerous reports, the NH Fish and Game Department continues to have no physical evidence of mountain lion presence in the state. You know I think it's there's a lady Holly Ernst out in California who has done a lot of the genotyping of mountain lions in Northern California the ones that are of course most people have heard about taking down hikers bikers etc. The species that once inhabited the Northeast, known as the eastern mountain lion, is now extinct. From: Boomerdog in OK 08-Oct-07 Peter Biello: Well hey Rob. And so I just wanted to share my share my experience with you guys and it was pretty awesome to see if you get to see one albeit it was in the brush. Today on the exchange we discuss what residents may have been seeing and what breeding mountain lion pairs would mean for our ecosystem. He studied Politics and Spanish at Bates College, and before reporting was variously employed as a Spanish teacher, farmer, bicycle mechanic, ski coach, research assistant, a wilderness trip leader and a technical supporter. Chartered: 1973 . Patrick Tate: I've had hunters hang deer carcasses forbidding wildlife entries. He says when youve got a mountain lion in town, its kinda obvious. There's just one subspecies of North American mountain lion. And you know it's rather interesting because certainly there are those you as a case of mistaken identity or they wanted to see something that perhaps they actually didn't. Patrick Tate: Exactly I was gonna bring that up juvenile male of. brings a lot of. They don't know the direction they're going. There's no attraction. We send out DNA samples to the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station. Thank you very much for being here. Join as a $8 per month sustainer and get our brand-new owl umbrella! I found a second scat scent both to him. And it's not really strong. Some are included in lists of mountains, such as the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) list of the Hundred Highest peaks of New England, or the . Sam what's the incentive for the government to deny allegedly. Caller: I got home to my wife that a gene that you should have seen the cat. I think that you probably are. So one thing that I find fascinating about this Connecticut cat was six months between the New York situation where they found evidence of it too when it was hit by a motor vehicle. So when we hear mountain lion there's also cougar there's wild cat there's Bobcat which is not a mountain lion maybe Patrick could you sort of spell out the different terms which are synonymous and which are completely different animals. Which which I think Pat and I have both experienced. John. They reported seeing the big tail and everything everything. Peter Biello: Listeners give us a call if you have a question or a story of a sighting 1 800 8 9 2 6 4 7 7. Caller: Hey guys how you doing. What do you think that. Patrick Tate: In theory it's a passing ball of a court and it goes wherever the bottom Ball wants to go. I just want to tell you a story that I read. They used to roam the entire continent, but have become extinct in most US states. Patrick Tate: My line being a large predator a cat watch ambush his prey animal that hasn't been. Your support makes this news available to everyone. Mountain Lions in NH. Enable JavaScript by changing your browser options, and then try again. But along the lines of the conspiracy theories as you mentioned earlier there there was a bit of a sense on behalf of what I'll call the promo online community who felt that fishing gain maybe not even so much in a spoken policy but maybe sort of an unspoken policy did not want to find themselves in a situation where they had to spend money to create a management plan and so forth. Sam Evans-Brown: I just want to say the bang and word you just heard I think to me exemplifies why it's really hard to come up with with positive you know 100 percent certain evidence that you've that what you've got is a mountain lions. So I think in that story there's there's something for the believers and the nonbelievers and I and you know Mark L. Brock is who is a gentleman with the cougar Network told me this story is evidence that that if they were here we would know about it. What gets confusing is when you have a large adult animal and a smaller juvenile animal of a different species you can now step start beginning talking about overlapping body weights and sizes. So this whole illegal pet trade black market pro trade thing does does exist in a situation like that can happen. Peter Biello: Ok. Part II. Infinite Scroll Enabled. Or years or so. If you missed part of today's program listen to the exchange. John is calling from Bennington. WMUR NH Chronicle Mountain Lions in NH Part I and Part II. They sent he sent his scent those two samples with his to Wyoming an unfortunate Fish and Game Commission there did not get a positive read on it but send it back to Central Michigan University where they did a nuclear micro satellite DNA analysis and found no significant difference between that scat and other scats that were tested from the Rocky Mountain region. So we tossed these terms around but really the term subspecies has been sort of redefined in our lifetimes. I believe I saw one that's fine and I'm not looking for an immediate story. I have one that's more elaborate than that. 1957. We actually have the largest subspecies of bobcat in the northern part of our state which they can get up to 40 and over 40 pounds which looks like an 80 pound the animal to visually and quite large. Mountain Lion | Squam Lakes Natural Science Center All exhibit and hiking trails are CLOSED for the season. She was having a garden party on her back porch and everybody in the party saw this mountain lion across the field down below the porch. Really appreciate it. Mike you're on the air. The big cat has been extinct here since the mid-1800s. Mountain lions remain an enigmatic animal for residents of New Hampshire, with New Hampshire Fish and Game reporting three to five sightings per week. Sue Morse: The big cat really commands the utmost respect not so much fear but fascination. So I just throwing that out there it's interesting. I'm gonna send you a letter that we researched this report and we spoke with those labs and the lab wrote in their letter to us that they could only say that Scott contained white Tea Party fur and that they could not say what deposited the scout because it's far too degraded listeners we'd love to hear from you about your mountain lion sightings if you have seen one or if you if you think you have give us a call we'd love to hear your story 1 800 8 9 2 6 4 7 7. Each person had their own copy and now it was identify the trees the species of tree matched. Do we have native species that could have exhibited this type of behavior leaving leaving a deer carcass up in a tree. I don't know if she still is. So it is possible to see male Mountain lions roam into the northeast - there was one hit by a car in CT a number of years back - but we don't have a breeding population of Mountain lions in New England. And when provoked no animal could stand before him elegantly put. Peter Biello: Wow. Is there a way we can learn more about these dispersing mountain lions that may travel through the Granite State and that I would ask you certainly part about whether or not a he's spending too much time chasing down these kind of false leads or B would rather be doing something else that is more informative to whether or not we actually have or can prove that we have dispersing mountain lions in the state. We mentioned that one cat that was hit by a car where it has it that it was a male looking for me. The current estimate is 2,000 - 2,700 throughout Arizona. OK. Rick van de Poll: Rick and I would add that if a mountain lion male takes up residence and successfully finds a female as pets there's gonna be a lot more evidence there will be like deer carcasses up in trees and territorial marking and claw marks and tracks and it you know dispersal is gonna be very tough to see or observed but residential parrots a totally different story. List of Mountains in New Hampshire is a general list of mountains in New Hampshire, with elevation.This list includes many mountains in the White Mountains range that covers about a quarter of the state, as well as mountains outside of that range.. I saw that had this giant the bobcat had this giant sweeping which is John Bobcat don't have big sweeping tails. Caller: It had to be a mountain lion convinced I was about 30. Sam Evans-Brown: So I just had two thoughts which is that we hear a lot of these stories and all of us here have heard these stories. We're not in the woods. But you won't find evidence of their existence in paw prints in the snow or a deer carcass in a tree. We want answers. Mountain lions ( Puma concolor) are one of the six native species of wild cats in North America. The supervisor that hired me in the game division in October of 1978 passed on to me this whole big folder of mountain lion information and sightings going back probably a couple decades. You can see two of them at Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in Holderness NH. Course like Sue said you have to see it and it's not always that visible. Well let me ask maybe Pat and Rick about this. However, as far as I can tell theres no Deep State Conspiracy to cover up a breeding population of cougars in the Granite State. So what a neat experience. Reports without physical evidence are not dismissed, however Fish and Game cannot verify a sighting report without physical evidence. By Eric Orff. Sam Evans-Brown: So Tim so this cat's been been referenced a couple of times I think we should talk about it specifically lay the whole story out for folks who haven't heard the story because it's actually I think really indicative of a lot of stuff for talking about. If you believe you have seen a mountain lion and want to report it to NH Fish and Game, please contact the Wildlife Division at (603) 271-2461 or wildlife@wildlife.nh.gov to request an observation report form. And as the biologist who's gonna stand on this and if I'm going to say this is a proven picture I need to be able to stand on it so soundly and have the evidence so I going to go through it with a fine tooth comb kept picking pieces apart trying to answer these pieces. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. So let's let's go to the phones. Right. Some of the reports that I looked into that were actually on file at the local fish and game office were even from people who did not live locally. We'll push great photos to the front page. You saw what you saw. About Us Media Kit Calendar of Events Volunteer Visit Learn Events Membership Support Your Visit BUY TICKETS Know Before You Go Directions and Information Our Animals Live Animal Exhibit Trail Hours and Admission Calendar of Events DNA from scat or from fur, a clear track that is confirmed by an expert, or a photo that clearly shows a mountain lion. Peter Biello: The number is 1 800 8 9 2 6 4 7 7. The way that we define species has undergone a revolution with the advent of DNA testing. I've seen him in the woods and that was not a bobcat but I was looking at. Thanks very much. No evidence and other states where Mountain lights have turned up. What kind of animal is that. Join as a $8 per month sustainer and get our brand-new owl umbrella! There'd be there'd be all sorts of you know basically a lot of hassle required if that were to happen. Sam Evans-Brown: Certainly that is a thing I've heard but again you have to think of the incentives involved here. So we're fixated on natural but there's other possibilities. Residents believe cougars still roam New Hampshire's forests. The second one was not only fresh but when I actually put my hand on it it was you know smelled like cat and I it's there's no denying a fresh mountain lions get if you can tell it every story that KOAT. Residents Report Mountain Lion Sighting By Elysia Rodriguez Published August 11, 2015 A southern New Hampshire neighborhood believes a mountain lion is roaming the woods near their homes. I would say that there's going to be the truth in here somewhere. But I was riding a mountain bike not far from my house. "Of those three to five reports,. From "History of New Hampshire Game and Furbearers" by Helenette Silver, Research Clerk, NH Fish and Game Dept. So so they're just a very resilient species and they're pretty they're pretty neat. 1 800 8 9 2 6 4 7 7. Just. Now Bobcat is a completely different species. Our guests today Patrick Tate New Hampshire Fish and Game Wildlife biologist Sam Evans Brown host of an HP podcast outside in. On a dirt road. Sam Evans Brown. So I've been convinced the whole time that I saw a big cougar plume or whatever you want to call it standing there in the road in Greenfield. Peter Biello: Today on the program Patrick Tate New Hampshire Fish and Game Wildlife biologist and far better project leader Sam Evans Brown host of an HP podcast outside in which is about the natural world and how we use it. Peter Biello: This is the exchange on an HD PR fine Peter Biello and today we're talking with folks who can tell us about the mysterious elusive mountain line and whether or not it is actually here in New Hampshire. Which brings us to the next question, what are the odds that some of these reported sightings (which, when I posted about this on twitter, I immediately started to get as well) are actually people seeing a mountain lion? The panther, Fells concolor, is a beast of many names, most frequently referred to in New Hampshire history as catamount, but sometimes known locally as "Indian Devil" or "Carcajou", under which . And boy it was big it had to be at least 200 pounds the thing was you and and it just made a little bit of noise and it was gone. So Michael follows with the question. Patrick Tate: Well I've never seen an Easter cougar so I can't say when I've handled these 10 cougars and whatnot. Do you get a lot of these these these things that end up being hoaxes. Lots of people have stories about them, people have them on their game cameras I mean its kind of a thing. Through DNA they approximate area in the United States or North America where I was born. On Oct. 10, he gave a slide talk called "Wild Cats of New Hampshire," which included the bobcat and the lynx. So you want identifiable backgrounds. And there's there's no evidence of that cat's movement in that entire you know 12 hundred miles stretch of its journey. They are the same thing. Peter Biello: We got an e-mail question from Robert in Epsom who asks are sightings or encounters with these big cats less dangerous here where they're passing through than out west where those same mountain lines might be establishing territory Rick. However the scarring on the trees did not and the angles were off. I would just suggest that in my experience as a reporter covering this covering this issue for a few years at least at what point do we reach a certain critical mass for lack of a better term of accounts where I'm not to suggest that you guys aren't taking this possibility seriously. Its actually fairly reasonable to believe that mountain lions do, at least, pass through occasionally. And those are not the same things. Peter Biello: I did mention four feet nose to tail would be kind of small for a mountain lion. Thanks for calling. The females disperse a shorter range and once they find a vacant home range they stay in that location and live there. And it was unmistakable. Sandy Hodskins, owner of West Meadow Farm in Bradford, New Hampshire, took time from shoveling Wednesday to enjoy the snow with her horse, West Wind. Yeah I did. And so far we have not had any positive mark lion scats or any DNA. Were there any differences between these two that we could have noticed right off. People were calling the New Hampshire Fish and Game director's office saying why are you dragging your feet on this. Thank you. 1957. The 17-year-old Kiger mustang mare was born in Bend, Oregon, said Hodskins, who got her . And I have to use that word allegedly because there is so much dispute about what people see and what they actually see. New Hampshire Public Radio |