US Officials Declare Eastern Cougar Extinct

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Actually it was ab AMC Eagle, driven by a Bigfoot, wrong extinct bird.

Oh, brother! The dodo is really going to hit the fan now.

 

[Drewbot]

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,1607,7-153--252347--,00.html

"The USFWS has determined the eastern cougar to be extinct, and this has no bearing on cougars in Michigan," said DNRE Wildlife Chief Russ Mason. "The cougars present in Michigan are dispersing from the Dakotas, where the nearest established population exists."

 

[The Shrike]

Parcher's point stands: where cougars live around people, cougars wind up dead. They also poop and leave footprints.

Meantime, that lady that does the news in CT is totally into me . . .

 

[dropzone]

Taxonomy is full of redundancy.

It took forever, but my wife has FINALLY discovered message boards where she can argue the genus of a particular fish based on its jaw bones. It gave her life meaning.

Then there are the ones for fans of very early invertebrates. She's in Seventh Heaven. Comparatively (heh), mammals are a cinch. She and Parcher the Dogmatic would look forward to each others' posts.

 

[Drewbot]

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20110619/NEWHAMPSHIRE0301/110619897

This guy makes no attempt to support the idea that there are no cougars in the northeast.
In fact, he makes it sound like there is a conspiracy amongst wildlife officials.

Area residents, however, were saying what many people with similar experiences in other states — New Hampshire included — have been saying: state and federal wildlife officials are in denial.

 

[Drewbot]

This might explain Bigfoot sightings

It's hard to imagine how seeing a deer can be confused with seeing a top level predatory cat, and yet it happens.

"When people see something it's a flash response," said Racey. "You assume you see a cougar, you want to see a cougar. They are astonishing creatures. They're elusive, romantic symbols of wilderness and it's troubling for many to recognize the northeast is absent of this top level predator."

http://www.wvmetronews.com/outdoors.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=46036

 

[fuelair]

Oh how interesting! I remember reading as a boy that it was extinct. Now my curiosity is aroused.

Interesting - not sure why that would have been written in any functional publication - and they have been featured/in a number of shows on poisonous animals!!

 

[fuelair]

And: http://library.thinkquest.org/J002754/jc2.html

Wiki as well

Sorry for the 2 minute delay on data - computer running slow.

 

[William Parcher]

Greenwich Confirms Mountain Lion Was In Town; New Sighting Reported In Tolland

Police said Monday that animal scat recovered in Greenwich did come from a mountain lion, confirming a sighting of the big cat.

Tests are continuing to determine whether the scat found in Greenwich can be genetically linked to the mountain lion struck by a car and killed along the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford, said Greenwich police Lt. Kraig Gray.

Also Monday, officials in Tolland said they notified the state Department of Environmental Protection and state police after the reported sighting of a mountain lion there. It's the first reported sighting east of the Connecticut River. Town officials said on Friday the suspected mountain lion was spotted near Sand Hill Road...

(Fire Chief John) Littell said he talked to one resident who swears he had seen a mountain lion in town near Bucks Crossing in March. He didn't call it in because he was afraid no one would believe him, Littell said.

A second person, a motorist, recently reported seeing a mountain get hit by a car on the highway in town, but someone snatched up the carcass — apparently to have it mounted — before authorities could get there.

It will be several weeks before we get the details on the DNA which could confirm that the found scat came from the roadkilled cougar, and also the geographic origin of the cougar(s). I suspect that there is only one.

Somewhat ironically, this whole situation has the potential to work against the Eastern Cougar believers. When a cougar really does show up in the East it is confirmed in a variety of linked ways: valid eyewitnesses, valid photo, valid tracks, valid scat and a valid carcass. Again, if native wild cougars really did inhabit the East, all of this would be happening all the time.

 

[William Parcher]

...poisonous animals!!

Venomous.

 

[dropzone]

URL="http://www.courant.com/community/milford/hc-greenwich-mountain-lion-0621-20110620,0,3966491.story"]Greenwich Confirms Mountain Lion Was In Town; New Sighting Reported In Tolland[/URL]

Which means we are weeks away from placing the final nail in the coffin of the Eastern Cougar, while I, apparently along with Culver, Reeder, and even freakin' Audubon, find the idea of even a subspecies of an animal that roams long distances and is not genetically isolated from others of its species pretty silly. There may be slight genetic differences, but until reproductive differences arise I believe even the idea of a subspecies is an artificial construct.

 

[William Parcher]

Cougar or house cat: What is it?

A Guernsey County resident found this image captured by a camera mounted along a dirt path in the woods near his home. He thinks it is a young cougar. But a Division of Wildlife biologist says it is a large domestic cat.

Ahhh... another Eastern Cougar.

 

[Drewbot]

of course the wildlife official is going to say housecat, he cant let on that there really is a vible population of E Cougars, if he did, then he would have to admit they released some in the wild.

 

[River]

Cougar or house cat: What is it?




Ahhh... another Eastern Cougar.

Thats clearly evidence of bigfoot. Everyone knows bigfoot keeps cougars as pets.

 

[atpeace]

Cougar or house cat: What is it?




Ahhh... another Eastern Cougar.

"I have a contact at the state Division of Wildlife that I send my bobcat pictures to. She showed it to one of the biologists, who said it was a house cat. I have never seen a housecat with that type of tail nor that large of a body" Cougar or House Cat? Donna J. Miller Plain Dealer Reporter

Yeah, just my orange cat and all the other Exotic Shorthair (mixes) that can match this cat exactly from the back- color, tail and housecats vary widely in size.

 

[pchams]

I saw a cougar last year in central Ontario near my cottage. I'm glad I had my daughter with me as no one would have believed it. We surprised it about 3 meters away so there was no doubt.
The Ontario MNR consider these escaped exotic pets, but there have been an increased number of sightings.
From what I have read though, the genetics are identical to the western cats.
Puma Concolor.

 

[autumn1971]

Read the report, River...



The Florida Cougar ("Florida Panther") is not the Eastern Cougar.

Thanks, as a Floridian, I was wondering if Florida didn't count as part of the East Coast anymore.

Oh, and we also have tons of black bears and coyotes down here.
No platypusses have been reported.

 

[William Parcher]

I saw a cougar last year in central Ontario near my cottage. I'm glad I had my daughter with me as no one would have believed it. We surprised it about 3 meters away so there was no doubt.
The Ontario MNR consider these escaped exotic pets, but there have been an increased number of sightings.
From what I have read though, the genetics are identical to the western cats.
Puma Concolor.

The closest breeding population is in the Dakotas. Males will disperse from this area for hundreds of miles looking (futile) for females. They have shown up in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The females do not disperse like the males do so the expansion of breeding areas is slow. Roaming males could possibly be expected in central Ontario but with no chance to establish a breeding population.

 

[pchams]

I couldn't identify the gender. We surprised it, and it was gone into the bush like a shot (thankfully).
As I said, the ministry considers them escaped pets. I don't know if they are breeding. The typical range of the animal is quite large apparently.
We are in a fairly unpopulated area for south/central Ontario. It was just named as the Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park.
Mostly swamp and burnt forest, south of the Haliburton Highlands.

 

[mikeyx]

The closest breeding population is in the Dakotas. Males will disperse from this area for hundreds of miles looking (futile) for females. They have shown up in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The females do not disperse like the males do so the expansion of breeding areas is slow. Roaming males could possibly be expected in central Ontario but with no chance to establish a breeding population.

Nope, It's in upstate NY.