Mountain Lion Sighting

[Lakesrider]

We can only hope that Airedale1 has his camera ready one day when it is around.....

[Rattlesnake Guy]

Kind of reminds me of a Mass. policy I heard the other day. The F&G will not acknowledge a coyote attack unless they witness it themselves. Apparently witnesses and medical reports are not enough to be official in the state's eyes.

[Airedale1]

Originally Posted by Lakesrider

We can only hope that Airedale1 has his camera ready one day when it is around.....

I'd rather have my Airedale with me.

[SAMIAM]

Count me as a skeptic........I've got to see some proof before I can believe it. Could be a golden retriever or maybe an oversize Maine Coon.
Same goes for rattlesnakes.

[Airedale1]

Originally Posted by SAMIAM

Count me as a skeptic........I've got to see some proof before I can believe it. Could be a golden retriever or maybe an oversize Maine Coon. Same goes for rattlesnakes.

Sorry but there IS a known population of Eastern Timber Rattlesnakes in NH. NH Fish and Game declines to say which town they are located in, although to many residents it is well known. However, I will say that the town is NOT in the Lakes Region.

The species is currently listed with NH Fish and Game as endangered, here is a link: http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wild...attlesnake.htm

Also from:http://www.timberrattlesnake.net/

The Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) - although venomous it is a shy snake that will seek a safe retreat when encountered. It preys upon rodents and birds, baby snakes may also include amphibians in their diet. This serpent is venomous to disable its prey, this type of protection would do the snake little good after it has been trampled by a hoofed animal. The use of a rattle can be startling and may spook or intimidate creatures that threaten it. Males are larger growing with a maximum size just over 50". The have a low reproductive rate and it may take a minimum of eight years for a female to mature. Live birth litters often number less than ten and the babies are extremely vulnerable to predation and winter kills. Rattlesnakes are extremely vulnerable in the North where they communally den, they are vulnerable to direct death when a den has been located by snake hunters. They will often lay motionless depending on their camouflage to protect them from predators, this behavior leaves them incredibly vulnerable to human harm. The Timber has been exterminated from most of its former haunts, Maine, Quebec and Rhode Island no longer have ANY. New Hampshire is close to having NONE, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut have lost many of their former dens and the snakes are now protected. The last strongholds are New York and Pennsylvania with much of their former populations already lost. They need ALL of the protection that they can get before the last dens are gone. These snakes rely on a denning area where they spend late fall, winter and spring underground in this unique niche. The den provides deep cracks where the animal can hibernate during the cold periods without freezing. In the Spring they emerge are set out in search of food and basking. Timbers may travel distances of 3 miles during their active period, this is the time they are often encountered and killed. Often these snakes are creatures of habit and find their previous haunts developed and may find themselves confused and vulnerable to destruction. People often love to tell a great tale how they saved the community from the supposed dangerous venomous serpent. Killing this snake is now ILLEGAL and they are PROTECTED due to their rare status. The logic of killing one of these snakes is about as reasonable for you to go out and destroy every knife and fork in your community due to the potential danger they hold. Having and open mind, appreciating nature and the animals we share this world with is our only hope at protecting this species! These animals have gained a reputation that is completely false, they just want to be left alone. In the fall the adults return to the denning area waiting for the cooler weather to drive them down into the den. Any pregnant females will give birth to live babies during this period, these babies will remain in the vicinity of the den. Babies depend on following the pheromone trails left by the adult animals to locate the actual den crevices.

[RailroadJoe]

Think Allenstown, quarry.

[SAMIAM]

Looks like you're right, Airedale1.......I googled it after reading your attachments and the DEC shows a small population in southern NH
So now somebody will probably come up with a cougar video and prove me wrong again....oh well !

[sky's]

Originally Posted by SAMIAM

Count me as a skeptic........I've got to see some proof before I can believe it. Could be a golden retriever or maybe an oversize Maine Coon.
Same goes for rattlesnakes.

my parents whom live in sandwhich had the pleasure of seeing a Mt Lion on Holland St. in Moultonboro. i wish he knew how to use his camera phone.

[SAMIAM]

Darn.....hate it when that happens.....Mt lion walks down the street and no camera handy !

[Grant]

With all the reports of mtn lion sightings in the state over the years (google it), it's just a matter of time before one is caught on camera. Nearly everyone carries one now.

[KonaChick]

Originally Posted by SAMIAM

Darn.....hate it when that happens.....Mt lion walks down the street and no camera handy !

We get it, you're a skeptic..was this post necessary?

[topwater]

I believe that was said with smile on his face (tougue&cheek), I got a good chuckle out of it.

[ApS]

Originally Posted by Lakesrider

We can only hope that Airedale1 has his camera ready one day when it is around...

...and that the camera is found...

[SAMIAM]

Oh, come on,Kona Chick.......I was just spoofing

[dpg]

Originally Posted by SAMIAM

Oh, come on,Kona Chick.......I was just spoofing

I agree, chill a little it was funny...

[lake king]

Good to see they are making a come back!

[shoppes on the bay]

you cant discount i witness accounts of cougars, nothing looks like them and it seems that all fish and wildlife CO's read from the same book when people report seeing them - the following link is a story in the local papers of southern rhode island - the beach area - where several people had been reporting seeing a cougar - DEM fish and wildlife as do all of these agencies issued the standard deny deny deny - then just over the border a cougar was hit and killed by a car, in your face evidence. the official story then turned to "it was someones pet" - that was before the necropsy was finished and they found thru DNA testing that this cat was from south dakota and had actually been tracked up there. it traveled a long way to be here.

i think what im getting at is i see deer on a daily basis here in southern rhode island but when im up in alton i rarely see any at all, are there less deer in nh? i doubt it but they have a lot more places to hide from view and so it would be with an animal like a cougar that is ultra privateby nature. also there is no way in hell that a person with any common sense at all could mistake a bobcat/coyote/golden retriever for a cougar, nothing looks like them at all - i have been able to cross them off my bucket list having seen one in the canadian rockies and i will tell you they are something to see.

now as to the new show on tv about searching for bigfoots.......

http://southkingstown.patch.com/arti...esses-disagree

http://www.newstimes.com/news/articl...ot-1423074.php

http://southkingstown.patch.com/arti...ginal-position

http://www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=4013&q=483778

[dpg]

What's the reason to deny, deny, deny anyway? I don't get it.

[Jonas Pilot]

Originally Posted by dpg

What's the reason to deny, deny, deny anyway? I don't get it.

Proof, proof, proof.
They can't surmise, they need to be certain before they make any final judgement.

[Pineedles]

Connecticut DEEP denied, denied, denied until a carcass was dropped at their doorstep.

[Jonas Pilot]

They finally had their proof.

[Pineedles]

Yup they did. But you have to wonder why. Why do they deny, deny deny? To what purpose?

[Jonas Pilot]

What happens to their credibility if they're proved wrong, especially in this world where politics often supplants science.

[shoppes on the bay]

Originally Posted by Jonas Pilot

What happens to their credibility if they're proved wrong, especially in this world where politics often supplants science.

indeed - what happened to their credibility when they denied numerous sightings, footprints and then have a dead one dropped in their laps. i really think in most cases they just dont want the public out chasing the animals around - as they are finding out more and more in california, when it comes to large cats we are prey.

[Jonas Pilot]

Your'e talking about Connecticut right?

[dpg]

Doesn't matter NH or Conn your talking about a mountain lion not an alien walking down main street. A lion sighting in NH is quite possible they just always seem to write everything off.

[VTskier]

I didnt know we had them in the east

[shoppes on the bay]

a good friend of mine was talking over coffee this morning of a project he is working on with USFW - during our conversation he mentioned busting on the usfw official about denials of mt lions in the n.e. - he was plenty suprised with the response that he got, a response that makes more sense than any that ive heard - he was told that if eastern mt lions were acknowledged as having a presence here then there would be a host of government regulatons that could come into play. further in the conversation it was tipped that west of springfield ma they were finding wolves which also were "not there" -
maybe this is all a case of be careful what you wish for.