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| Milford, Connecticut roadkill Mountain Lion. Click to enlarge |
America now has more lions than Africa, as I have noted before.
These lions have been coming east for some time, but it was still rather amazing when was one was shot in downtown Chicago a few years back.
Of course they show up within the city limits of Boulder, Colorado all the time, and one was recently shot in Berkley, California near a row of gourmet restaurants, so they do not lack for boldness, do they?
Now one has been reported in Connecticut and confirmed with pictures, scat and foot prints before being struck dead by a car and killed -- the ultimate in Big Cat Confirmation.
Other recent unexpected mountain lion encounters:
** Cat in Tree in Tulsa, Oklahoma is Mountain Lion
** Iowa Deer Hunter Bags Mountain Lion
** Mountain Lion Family on the Fairways in Arizona
** Mountain Lion Population Still Growing in Kansas
** Indiana Mountain Lion Conclusively Photographed
** Bismark, North Dakota Has an Urban Mountain Lion
** Mountain Lions Make It to Missouri
Of course, a lot of fraud still occurs. A picture of a very large lion hit by a vehicle and killed in Arizona shows up on list-servs that say it was shot in Arizona or Kentucky or Pennsylvania.
In fact, there are no confirmed east coast cats outside of Florida, other than this Connecticut animal which may be an illegally-owned and escaped pet. We shall see, I suspect. One thing is clear: mountain lions are coming, and there's no shortage of food for them or wild places for them, though management will be controversial, and numbers will be kept down same as for wolves and coyotes.
6 comments:
I saw a video on Comcast news of the Conn. mountain lion. From the grainy cell phone camera it was impossible to tell what it was, but that was many times removed from the first hand reports. I believe that the teacher who filmed the cat properly identified it. There was no mention of it later being hit by a car, so it does make me wonder if two reports are being married. But, better get your big kid pants on because they are coming, they have skills and we are dinner.
Seahorse
We have about 35,000 lion in the US and 1 to 2 attacks a year. Ping pong is more likely to kill you. That said they will eat deer which in Connecticut, the home of Lyme disease, is a blessing. This was a 140 pond male. Pretty big for a two year old traveler, but maybe he came a long way. This could be a wild cat.... ulikely, but possible. Only about 40 miles from where it was seen a week ago.
P
Also this:
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2008/10/22/Plague-kills-Grand-Canyon-biologist/UPI-12371224650123/
To think about.
Yes I wrote about that back in 2007.
See >> http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2006/11/rats-prevent-plague.html for detail about plague in the Southwest and why the plague did well when it came here, how it got here, and why it is not too much to fear anywhere, especially here in the East.
More about zoonotic diseases in general at >> http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2006/11/rats-prevent-plague.html
P
Ping Pong, Beer Pong or mountain lion...no matter the method, if it's you, it's 100%!
Seahorse ;)
Milford is a fairly large southern town in CT, between Bridgeport & New Haven. More exurban that suburban with plenty of room to move and hide.
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