Reginald P. Smithers III wrote:
thunder wrote:
On Tue, 29 May 2007 04:09:27 -0400, Reginald P. Smithers III wrote:


Tom,
If you are talking about seeing a mountain lion (also known as a cougar,
puma, catamount, panther and other names) it is only native in the
western area of the US and Florida in the east. If it was seen in the
NE it must have escaped from captivity.

Not necessarily so. There was an Eastern Puma, of which the Florida
Panther is a sub-species. Many have argued that it was extirpated in
the early 1900s, but credible reports of sightings continued from
isolated areas of the Appalachians. Recently, sightings have
increased and are no longer in isolated areas. The Eastern Cougar
Foundation reported "more than 165 sightings in WV, VA, NC, PA, and NY
during the year 2000. Other reported sightings in 2000 occurred in AL,
IL, ME, KY, MA, WI, LA, NJ, MD, VT, OH, NH, TN, IN, AK, MI, FL, CT,
MS, DE, SC, MO, GA, Ontario and New Brunswick, Canada." From:

http://www.wildliferehabsanctuary.org/puma-cougar.htm

There have also been at least 12 sightings which were *confirmed* by
biologists. While some of these may have been escapes, here in New
Jersey, I have heard of several sightings with cubs, meaning there is
a breeding population. However, I must note that a breeding
population has not been confirmed.

As an aside, there is an element of politics involved. There is a
move to remove the Eastern Puma from the endangered species list on
the grounds that it is already extinct. Confirmation of a breeding
population would put that move on hold.

Well god damn it, it looks like I was god damn wrong.


God damn it, it looks like this is a god damn controversial issue, with
god damn everyone disagreeing if there really are any native breeding
populations east of the Mississippi (outside of Florida)

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...4/ai_n13487565

By immersing himself in the cat-chasers' culture, Butz has put together
plenty of evidence pointing to the presence of wild pumas in the eastern
woods. Many candid snapshots of purported cougars are no clearer than
fuzzy pictures of Bigfoot, but some are sharp and unambiguous. A lot of
the tracks seem genuine, and laboratory tests of scat samples often come
back positive for puma.

But caution is in order. Wildlife officials seem willing to grant the
occasional sighting, but they are reluctant to conclude that such pumas
represent a native wild population, as many of the "cat people" believe.
One or two strays may have wandered east; an occasional pet puma may
have escaped from a zoo or a private preserve. That's a bit different
from claiming that dozens of pumas are breeding in the woods.

In the absence of incontrovertible evidence (there's been a notable lack
of pumas shot during hunting season), game wardens seem inclined to
regard the cougar issue as something of a nuisance. With plenty of
well-documented species that need conserving, the official position is
that the cougar lobbyists should "get a life." After reading Butz's
reportage, I tend to agree. But, recalling the occasional sightings of
pumas my local newspaper has reported, I'm going to keep a sharper eye
out for the big cats the next time I'm out on the trail.