Thank you very much for listening. Mountain lions ( Puma concolor) are one of the six native species of wild cats in North America. nh.gov | privacy policy | accessibility policy
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. Its actually fairly reasonable to believe that mountain lions do, at least, pass through occasionally. It all used to be based on measurable physical traits color, skull size, paw size, etc but now its based on whether an animal can be shown to be genetically distinct from others. 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. If so that's for us as an agency. They kill big animals. It's bigger but bigger and better world. You need you need either a really good photograph or you need you know fresh scat that can be sent to a lab out West that can they can be identified there. And I can recall its information but I can't confirm or verify anything. But you won't find evidence of their existence in paw prints in the snow or a deer carcass in a tree. There'd be there'd be all sorts of you know basically a lot of hassle required if that were to happen. The way that we define species has undergone a revolution with the advent of DNA testing. Can you tell us about that story. It was some sort of a Lion Mountain Lion animal. I think as Pat was saying you know 35 to 50 pounds on a male be reasonable range whereas mountain lions you're up to 100 110 maybe even 130 pounds on a big male. That's what we're seeing is dispersing mountain lions from the West who are just making their way through. Patrick Tate: So Cougar Mountain Lion katama. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Give us a call if you have a question or comments or story about perhaps seeing a mountain lion here in New Hampshire. Patrick Tate: So I'm not sure what subspecies of cat they're using to differentiate by those markings but once she was describing the White other face in the black. Today, their range stretches from the Yukon Territory in Canada along the western coast of the United States, all the way to the Southern Andes in Chile. So this whole illegal pet trade black market pro trade thing does does exist in a situation like that can happen. Caller: So I've been telling this story for five years or so and very few people believe me. Peter Biello: So let's say Rick that it was confirmed that there that there are mountain lines here in New Hampshire. BUT THAT SAID, Id love to be proven wrong. I saw the tail end of a literally from behind the shoulder The Long Tail mountain lion crossing the highway going from Password to often Village downtown. Let's go now to to Kyle in Keene I believe Kyle is this Kyle Jarvis from the Keene Sentinel a former reporter and former reporter. Patrick Tate: So I just got to throw a little interesting side note in this. Peter Biello: This is the exchange on an HP yard today we're talking about the mysterious elusive majestic Mystic Mountain Lion. So here we have you know a very qualified biologist who who found a print took a plaster cast found a scat send it to a university. We we hear that there is allegedly a government conspiracy to deny the existence of mountain lions here in New Hampshire so I guess a local government conspiracy. NH Fish and Game relies on physical evidence to answer questions about the presence or absence of mountain lion in the state. So try to take photographs if you see something like this. Peter Biello: Rick I believe you did mention that that they do leave carcasses up in the tree from time to time but are there any other species known in New Hampshire to do this on a regular basis. There was a lot of DNA evidence. John is calling from Bennington. So what counts as verifiable evidence? Patrick Tate: My line being a large predator a cat watch ambush his prey animal that hasn't been. Mountain Lions in New Hampshire-Fact or Fiction 3,207 views Jul 31, 2019 78 Dislike Share Save New Hampshire Fish and Wildlife 634 subscribers During my thirty-one career at the New. I mean they're a survivor. Peter Biello: So if they were female mountain lions here they would be more males just because that's what they're looking for. Absolutely. Gotcha, so the Deep State is suppressing mountain lion news in order to prop up New Hampshire tourism? Sam Evans-Brown: Well first I want to sort of explain why what the theory is but then also throw a bit of cold water on it because I don't think there's much much logic behind it but essentially is that if fish and game were to acknowledge that there was a population of Mount lions in the state there's a chance that something like a listing under the federal Endangered Species Act might happen and then there'd be you know some they'd have to put a plan in place to protect the species there'd be you know restrictions put on development. I was at the Sentinel as a reporter there for about four years and during that time I probably wrote close to a half dozen stories or so on this topic including a lengthy feature at one point that in which I spoke to several people from around the banana region claimed to have seen mountain lions that at one time or another. This is the exchange. People have asked me about the genetics of eastern mountain lion. But the state always denies it, and none of us know why they deny it. Patrick Tate: Yes. Peter Biello: Give us a call 1 800 8 9 2 6 4 7 7 you can also send us an email exchange at an HP morgue. You can see two of them at Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in Holderness NH. And they asked me about the tail which I just did not remember that tail out of that whole experience. And they used to be this whole list of the different subspecies of mountain lion and it has since been reduced to just to the North American and the South American. Today on the exchange we discuss what residents may have been seeing and what breeding mountain lion pairs would mean for our ecosystem. So so do what you can get to do what you can to get proof. I mean so what what is the practical change that it would bring to New Hampshire if any. Nicholas Handy can be reached at 924-7172 ext. He writes As a farmer I come across many outdoorsman looking to hunt our property had a conversation with one who believed very strongly that we had mountain lions in New Hampshire. NHFG Wildlife Biologist Patrick Tate identifies this cat as a bobcat. Want to put this to to Patrick Tate who may have heard some some info or info from listeners like you about these these these cats. John Holt's ideas were at first dismissed but he refused to be silent. If youve got photo trap evidence of a Mountain Lion, send it in, and we'll send it along to the appropriate state or federal agency! support for an HBO who comes from you our listener Sam from advanced in you a local New Hampshire nonprofit specializing in college student loans and student refinancing options. Rick van de Poll: Rick your thoughts. So yeah as far as wildlife species that put deer and trees know there aren't any others that I know of that put deer in trees just just humans might be responsible for that. Peter Biello: Yeah well what do you think Pat is. 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. John you're on the air. Listeners we'd love to hear some of your thoughts on this. You know perhaps poke around where you saw it and see if you can find a track. John. There was no sign of it. We discuss what residents may have been seeing and what breeding mountain lion pairs would mean for our ecosystem. But you won't find evidence of their existence in paw prints in the snow or a deer carcass in a tree. Listeners give us a call if you'd like. I've actually had to walk in on one or two now and look at what was going on and figured out what was going on. m from a weed family Automotive on store Street in Concord is serving the Concord area families automotive needs since 1995. N.H.'s Fish and Game department says there's no proof mountain lions live in the state, yet residents from Bedford to Berlin have been reporting sightings for years. We did a short segment about mountain lion sightings earlier this year and and after which I was sent a photo and also a video recording that was mostly just audio because it was so dark the photo just a quick reverse Google image search you can put images online and see where else where else they've been posted revealed that the photo had been taking out taken out in Wyoming and has been used you know hundreds of times to claim and the person who sent it to me said it had been taken New Hampshire. They just end up in these places. Deer Bear Moose Wolves Fisher Mountain Lions. They reported seeing the big tail and everything everything. Have you seen one. WMUR uLocal: On this trail cam video, an unidentified feline is spotted. 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. And now that everyone and their mother has a remote camera in their back yard its just so, so unlikely that there are resident, breeding mountain lions in New England that are living invisibly among us, he says, Its become Big Foot.. Verifiable pictures recorded by the observing person or a trail camera. They get a lot of media attention but compared to the the amount of times that a mountain lion could attack a person but doesn't because they don't typically view us as prey. What kind of animal is that. 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. So when we talk about the threshold of evidence required to say for sure you have seen a mountain lion it is rather high. A lot of times. So there's even debate about that very subject. 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. Someone's got to see one they're very secretive. NH Fish and Game Wildlife Biologist Patrick Tate reports that so far, mountain lion reports accompanied byphotographs have been misidentified bobcats or housecats, or pictures of mountain lions taken from the Internet and reported as being recorded in New Hampshire. And it's not really strong. As wildlife biologists, wed be fascinated to say 'look look what was found in our state.'. So they're scary. Michael Brindley is our program manager our producers our Jessica Hunt and Christina Phillips and our theme music was composed by Bob Lord. We'll hear more about the mountain lions impact and the role it plays in the ecosystem. I can't tell you what you saw but it sounds like a mountain lion. Patrick Tate: Same here in New Hampshire too. And in fact in 2011 when it was announced that the eastern cougar was officially extinct the reason that announcement was made is because they said really that it never existed. Rick van de Poll: 80 90. 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.. Well I can't tell you what you saw. Get your tickets today and one for fifty dollars or six for 150 at NH PR and board. I mean no doubt a seen Bobcat seen his stuff. Email exchange it an HP fraud org or give us a call 1 800 8 9 2 6 4 7 7. You don't know what's going on. Caller: Oh yeah. Why are there so many false positives? Caller: Well I think Patrick I recognized your name. So I learned about what Rick just reported through a heart of heart of New Hampshire a letter and. The great thing about pictures isn't the animal itself it's the background. So maybe a good pet for you but not for your neighbor if you just stop by unannounced. I just stood there just a second and I came to a complete stop and then I ran away. No evidence and other states where Mountain lights have turned up. So so in 2011 a mountain lion was killed in a car accident in Connecticut a car hit a mountain lion and killed it. Id like to hazard the explanation that we really, really want to see a mountain lion. brings a lot of. Tim Yeah. And I just said I saw I saw they from behind the shoulder all the way past the long tail. So we tossed these terms around but really the term subspecies has been sort of redefined in our lifetimes. SUE Morse naturalist and science director for the organization keeping track. And Rick Van de Poll naturalist and founder of ecosystem management consultants of New England. GAP MOUNTAIN LIONS CLUB Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire (USA) District 44-N . Seems reasonable! They lived perhaps elsewhere in New England and they were just passing through and happened to have an encounter of some sort. Theres tracks everywhere. There's just one subspecies of North American mountain lion. Caller: I cannot recall or see the tail in my in my image of it. There are corollaries in other states. Right. Are these big cats back?Subscribe to WMUR on YouTube now for more: http://bit.ly/1lOjX9CGet more Manchester news: http://wmur.comLike us: http://facebook.com. I'm Peter B yellow. NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We mentioned that one cat that was hit by a car where it has it that it was a male looking for me. And really whenever you hear tiny code and long rope like tale it's kind of hard to pin this sighting on any other creature rather than an outline or just nothing else really matches that description. Peter Biello: Ok weird question but do they make good pets. (Cue the X-Files music: The Government is denying the cougars exist!) This decision was primarily for nerdy phylogeny reasons, though, because the eastern cougar probably never existed. The current estimate is 2,000 - 2,700 throughout Arizona. But I do think that it's appropriate that a fishing game agency would recognize verifiable proof if they could. So one thing I'd point out is we've been talking about situations with no evidence a number of them come in with photographs and yet what they fit what they description of the animal they saw and by the way I got a picture of what I saw. DNA from scat or from fur, a clear track that is confirmed by an expert, or a photo that clearly shows a mountain lion. Do we have native species that could have exhibited this type of behavior leaving leaving a deer carcass up in a tree. Mountain lions leave a lot of sign. So Michael follows with the question. Mountain lions when they show up they leave evidence. And that the Florida panther was more closely related to the eastern outline than the western mountain lion was. So hard to know hard to refute if there's no interest in making up a story which many people of course do then I would respond the same way as Pat did. It was in the spring flash kind of early summer and my wife looked at you look at the size of an adult bear and we were up in arms. Fear for others and those two polarizing opinions on the situation is what I believe brings out mystique and Sam you know I take kind of a long view on this. I think that you probably are. Peter Biello: This is the exchange on an PR. It's completely possible that it may have spent time in New Hampshire and went undetected but had it stayed in the area ultimately it would have been detected over time. 50 feet above the most. So before we get to the the the the stories of sightings we're getting a lot of calls. Patrick Tate: So the individuals can say that but for an agency that's based on science and what not to to go off with no evidence and then get into that giant debate and all these other issues and put credibility at risk I don't think that would be a great path to take. Sam Evans-Brown: Certainly that is a thing I've heard but again you have to think of the incentives involved here. When you talk about a bobcat Bobcat maybe 80 90 pounds and then a mountain lion could be between 130 and 180 pounds. Rick van de Poll: Well a report that you know as John Harrigan up north has in co-ops County for about 15 years I kept track of reports and people would call me and tell me where they saw the mountain lion they thought they saw it and it varied right from you know downtown villages all the way to remote highlands of the North Country and and everywhere in between. Caller: Hi. Peter Biello: Well John thanks very much for the story really appreciate it. And to anyone listening I would just say you know fishing game who wants proof right. Because I mean as we've heard in the past 10 minutes like there's there's some disagreement or at least some some vagueness about what an actual mountain lion should appear like in the wild assuming we can even get close enough. The most common areas to see mountain lions in Arizona are in places of rocky and mountainous terrain. Rick your thoughts. Mountain Lions in NH. 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? And so. Join as a $8 per month sustainer and get our brand-new owl umbrella! The engineers Dan Colgan our senior producer is Allan Grimm. 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