There have been no "confirmed" reports of mountain lions, AKA Puma concolor, in Pennsylvania since the late 1800s. If you're bitten by a venomous snake, dial 911 immediately and seek medical attention. "I know they're native to this area. Between 1995 and 2021, there have been 34 mountain lion sightings in Iowa," he says. "I kind of doubt they saw a cougar, but I'm not God.". Although they're occasionally reportedby hikers in remote locations, the U.S. This population is greatly threatened by human develop on all sides. A lion that was killed by Berks County coal-burners and . Female cougar territories (25-150 square miles) tend to be smaller and can overlap with other females territories. Over 1,100 people follow her page. Confirmed Mountain Lion Reports Watch our Mountain Lions in Missouri video to learn why mountain lions are roaming into our state, how we confirm reported sightings, and what to do in the very unlikely event you encounter a mountain lion. An estimated 20,000 of them were roaming across the Commonwealth in 2015. The map below includes both confirmed and unverified puma sightings in the larger San Francisco Bay region (and beyond) since 2004. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. You know I love hunting when I was younger in Pennsylvania but trying to kill the very last animal shows a sign of being inbred. Slowly, mountain lions recolonized North America after having retreated to warmer climates in South America during the Pleistocene ice age. Pennsylvania and New Jersey residents have periodically reported big cat sightings to local police, prompting minor scares that can last a few days. The diseaseproduces fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint aches, and swollen lymph nodes within three to 30 days. I have seen a lion twice in Sussex County. If you are already an OutdoorNews.com subscriber, you can log in here. If you have seen a mountain lion (also commonly called cougar, panther, or puma) in Pennsylvania or surrounding states (New York, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio), please give Kerry Gyekis a detailed description of the animal such as length of body, length of tail, approximate weight, size, thickness, coloring, etc. The dispatch center received calls about the mountain lion at approximately 4:30 a.m. near the Copeland Creek Trail between Country Club and Snyder Lane located in the area of Sunrise Park. Paws 'N' Claws Animal Park in the Poconos has two. Images from a homeowner's surveillance camera show a tan cat with a long body, beyond a chain-link fence. These indentations on their cheeks help them sense heat and find prey. Despite annual reports since the 1950s, no confirmed sighting was made in the state until the 1990s. We heard the fox screaming multiple times before we saw it. Mountain lions also were reportedly sighted in Cape St . This content is restricted to subscribers of OutdoorNews.com. He's sitting in a plastic doghouse, paws crossed, amber eyes locked on the two men ticking him off by their mere presence out beyond the fence. Add Michael's RSS feed to your feed reader As a result, multiple sightings across different time ranges could be attributed to the same cat. This article addresses the history of cougars in Pennsylvania, their extirpation, and that they are now extinct. These tiny critters may not look that threatening but they are carriers of Lyme disease, which can result in long-term health complications and even death. And, if. Do elk live in Pennsylvania? Some attacks of humans have been reported in the United States, according to the U.S. Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. More than half of California is mountain lion habitat and mountain lions generally exist wherever deer are found. After the male mountain lion was removed from Red Hill Trail on May 11, additional sightings in that area were reported: one on May 16, and two over the weekend of May 19 and 20. Idaho Fish and Game officers and personnel responded to . Angel, her African lioness who snarls at strangers, is a big girl. A female mountain lion in the Santa Susana Mountains in California. The store will not work correctly in the case when cookies are disabled. A bobcat gives you a warm, that-kind-of-looks-like-my-cat-but-slightly-bigger feeling. Residents should report any possible mountain lion sightings immediately to law enforcement or to Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks. I work near Hazleton, Pa. Unfortunately, is it unlikely that cougars will return to Pennsylvania in the near future. Cougars were seen as threats to humans, livestock, and game species, resulting in unlimited harvest and bounties in some states. In one extreme dispersal event in 2011, a cougar (that was later found to be related to cats from the Black Hills) made it to Connecticut before it was killed by a car. Click here to login. I also saw a mountain lion recently crossing road next to creek in Canadensis PA. Im 62 and hunted most of my life here in PA. Dont EVER expect to get the truth from anyone with Game departments in any U.S. state. "The coloration and the shape of the head lean toward mountain lion(Felis concolor)but they have a tail thats almost as long as their body, and this animal clearly is lacking a tail," Taylor said. http://cougarrewilding.org/CougarNews/?p=938, have seen mountain lion in armstrong co.Pa, neibore has seen 2. Juvenile males are the individuals that are seen outside of traditional" cougar range in places like Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. She also houses a bobcat named Nia she took in from a couple who couldn't handle her. "We have lots of remote areas where people seldom go," he says, "and our high deer population would offer them bountiful food. Orange and tan house cats are also confused for cougars. "Hunters are always saying they see mountain lions, and the Game Commission always says there aren't any," said Robert Hale, owner of Buffalo Gap Outfitters in Dillsburg. I know I am not the only one who spotted this cat around the woods right outside town . Some of the regional tribes include the Tonkawa, Kiowa and Apache. "With all of that said, though, there's a general lack of evidence of mountain lions in Pennsylvania. Three types ofvenomous snakes live in Pennsylvania: the timber rattlesnake (pictured), the eastern massasauga and the northern copperhead. TPWD Confirmed Mountain Lions. The only population that survived was the Florida panther (Puma concolor couguar), and it only survived with great help from conservationists. Big cats still roam parts of Pennsylvania. In January, the U.S. Please enter your email address below to create account. A coyote or bobcat is a little shorter than a tire and roughly one and half the length of tire. In the winter, cougar tracks maybe up to six inches long. I saw a mountain lion crossing a state highway,the Oklahoma-Salem FRoad near DuBois PA about 4:30 pm. Mountain lions inhabited the state of Texas before European settlers arrived and the Native Americans in the area hunted them for clothing, shelter and blankets. Hawley, J.E., Rego, P.W., Wydeven, A.P., Schwartz, M.K., Viner, T.C., Kays R., Pilgrim, K.L., and Jenks, J.A. All rights reserved (About Us). Their conclusion: Sir, you dont have a mountain lion. A week later the farmer shot the mountain lion. There is also a small population of cougars in Florida. If you're hiking, stay on the path and don't venture into the woods. The mountain lion is also known as cougar, panther, or puma. I have seen three mountain lions in pa. One full grown in Erie county in 1998 and two kittens (yes I am sure they were mountain lions, not bobcats) in McKean county in 2001. Some restrictions apply. Fish and Wildlife Service officially declared the Eastern subspecies of the mountain lion extinct, which would seem to bolster the skeptics. Journal of Mammalogy 97(5):1435-1440. but they have a tail thats almost as long as their body, and this animal clearly is lacking a tail," Taylor said. While it would seem impossible to confuse the two after seeing them in person, Foster said many of the sightings are in the dark, from roadways and trail cams, with bodies half-concealed. Then I saw and was like, 'It could be a bobcat, possibly mountain lion,' " Nick Dodge said. The bobcat wouldn't survive. Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesman Jerry Feaser notes that his agency agrees with San Julian. The next highest state, New Jersey, had only 3,900, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This offer only applies to OutdoorNews.com and not for any Outdoor News print subscriptions. While living in Potter County, Pennsylvania and riding my horses. Adult females can be 7 feet long and weigh between . The last wild cougar in Pennsylvania was killed in 1871 and the last cougar born on the East Coast was killed in 1938 in Maine. "It's fall bow-hunting season soon," he said. Cougars are seven to eight feet in length (head to tail) and stand two to three feet at the shoulder. When they are in these new areas, the young males are almost constantly moving looking for an area with females. I told her I knew what a Maine Coon cat looked like and this was BIG, had short hair and LONG tail. . They said it took up most of the dirt road. A hunter and an angler, San Julian, like most other outdoorsmen and nature lovers, wants to believe wild mountain lions survive in the woods of Pennsylvania. "When I started telling people, most of them didn't believe me, but I will never forget that huge face staring right at me," said a Montgomery County woman who says she saw a lion last summer in Limerick Township while walking her dog. I stopped while i was driving, and as i approached it SLOWLY as not to scare it, it glared at my truck walked towards it,then sat. However, mountain lion sightings in Pennsylvania are still being reported. Northeast . Some have even reported seeing a "black panther," a near-impossibility because of the rarity of that recessive gene. If you have an encounter with a mountain lion, contact Colorado Parks and Wildlife from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays: CPW Headquarters (Denver): (303) 297-1192. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Black markings decorate the tip of the tail, ears, and around the snout. Records show that more than 600 cougars were killed in Centre County alone during the 1800s. My neighbor had one (maybe the same one) in her backyard. Claws are a great way to tell bear tracks apart from cougar tracks: cougar claws can retract their claws and their claws tend to only be extended when on slippery surfaces, on the other paw, bears cannot control their claws and they can be found on every track. This cat had brown fur with a white underbelly, and a black, brown and white face. After carefully considering the shape of the paw, Penn State experts concluded that the print was not made by a cougar. Although common at the time of European settlement, the last known historical specimen in Missouri was killed in the Bootheel area in 1927. Must of been chasing it for quite some time. Mountain lions have killed humans in the wild, though sightings and encounters are rare even in the American West and Canada. Then another friend told me his daughter who lives in Clymer PA saw a Game Commission truck go into the woods with a large cage in the back with a mountain lion in the cage. 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