Peter Biello: And that will make identification for a layperson rather difficult. Join as a $8 per month sustainer and get our brand-new owl umbrella! But if you were to get Western dispersing mountain lions just would just sort of expanding into New Hampshire. Let's talk to Bob in Laconia Bob. That's too big for Bobcat. In fact, Pat Tate concedes that hes been told of sightings from folks that he considers to be very credible, very woods savvypeople who know what a bobcat looks likebut those folks have never snapped a good photo or found a good track. Our guests today Patrick Tate New Hampshire Fish and Game Wildlife biologist Sam Evans Brown host of an HP podcast outside in. Thanks also to Rick van de Poll naturalist and founder of ecosystem management consultants of New England and Sam Evans Brown host of an HP podcast outside in about the natural world and how we use it. Well let's talk a little bit about that. And you know all that. This is the exchange. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department says there's no proof. John if you're still on the line here I was going to I don't. Caller: So I've been telling this story for five years or so and very few people believe me. 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. 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. And so a mountain lion is actually quite large right. In my New Hampshire career I have written several, and seen at least 20, stories along the lines of "local person thinks they saw a mountain lion but there's no actual evidence aside from. Have you seen one. The species that once inhabited the Northeast, known as the eastern mountain lion, is now extinct. Reports without physical evidence are not dismissed, however Fish and Game cannot verify a sighting report without physical evidence. It's listed as population of least concern. We mentioned that one cat that was hit by a car where it has it that it was a male looking for me. Sam Evans-Brown: But I mean the video I had been sent was you know a recording of a animal growling but it was in slow motion and when I asked the person why is this in slow motion the denied that it was so there's a lot of weird stuff that happens in regards to people claiming they've seen they've seen these things. Its distinctive featurethe one that sets it apart from other North American wild catsis its tail, which is thick and often as long as its body. But but I've also seen it cited the opposite way that look they're very secretive. Patrick Tate: I've from all the situations I've read and learned about wildlife. Listeners we'd love to hear some of your thoughts on this. Peter Biello: This is the exchange on an HD PR fine Peter Biello and today we're talking with folks who can tell us about the mysterious elusive mountain line and whether or not it is actually here in New Hampshire. So I hate the idea that there's some sort of upward you know downward pressure from the bosses saying Don't you know don't tell about the mountain lions because it'll scare away the tourists. So I just brought up the bobcat thing because the location is fascinating to me that that that location we have Bobcats existing but that location we have a mountain lion report because it's a developed area and which brings me back to earlier what I had said it's a bouncing ball. We discuss what residents may have been seeing and what breeding mountain lion pairs would mean for our ecosystem. Thanks for your call. Chartered: 1973 . Ive received pictures of dogs at odd angles, says Tate. Updated: 9:53 AM EST Dec 6, 2016. There have been several sightings of mountain lions in New Hampshire recently. So nowadays we think of this in the Northeast as crazy stuff that people have a mountain lion as a pet. Have it reported down in the Keene area. They sent it already. Residents from Bedford to Berlin have been reporting sightings for years. Sue Morse: The big cat really commands the utmost respect not so much fear but fascination. Well just that I have evidence and it was not it was denied by fishing game at the time and I you know there's I don't need to prove to anybody that I saw one just like some of your callers said okay. Share. Rick van de Poll: Well education is the real important thrust of of what all of us do as biologists and Game Managers and to make sure that a things like what Sam was saying that in spite of what you believe the mountain lions will not eat your children they will not steal your pets from your backyard and they will not necessarily be seen by you unless you're extremely lucky. Here she is talking about how to identify a mountain lion. Are there Mountain Lions in NH? The females disperse a shorter range and once they find a vacant home range they stay in that location and live there. It doesn't happen as much anymore. Sam Evans-Brown: Well and I think and the last takeaway here is everyone I think probably agrees that any possible sightings that have been seen. But also I think it proves the opposite point which is that sometimes they're pretty secretive because all the way from Minnesota where the where was the first time was picked up on a game camera to New York. David Erler says some of them probably have. Like why would you want one wildlife. 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. Is this kind of a typical story. Peter Biello: Worth mentioning if we're scaring anybody question a mysterious mountain lions lurking perhaps in someone's backyard. And the cougar embodies that. Well within there. She was having a garden party on her back porch and everybody in the party saw this mountain lion across the field down below the porch. Thanks for calling. When you talk about a bobcat Bobcat maybe 80 90 pounds and then a mountain lion could be between 130 and 180 pounds. And I just said I saw I saw they from behind the shoulder all the way past the long tail. New Hampshire Public Radio | Pelosi story here we go. John. Mountain Lion | Squam Lakes Natural Science Center All exhibit and hiking trails are CLOSED for the season. Some are included in lists of mountains, such as the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) list of the Hundred Highest peaks of New England, or the . Almost all species disperse greater distances than females. So I think the point that I just want to get across is that there is a very strong sense this here in the and not region that there is that there is some sort of mountain lion population how large it is how extensive it is. HOLDERNESS, N.H. (AP) Two of the known mountain lions in New Hampshire have spent their 15 years in close proximity to humans. But Absence of Evidence Is Not Evidence of Absence, Right? As recently as 2011 there was one young male mountain lion that cruised all the way from the black hills of South Dakota, up over the Great Lakes, down through New Yorkgetting spotted all. BUT THAT SAID, Id love to be proven wrong. The views expressed in this program are those of the individuals and not those of an HP are its board of trustees or its underwriters. First off if the standard for an agency to go forward with the public and put out a press release that them outlines here their believers are going to say I told you they'd been here the whole time. Current conditions in New Hampshire would support a mountain lion, according to Tate, as forests have returned, allowing for prey species to become more prevalent. and territorial animals are much more inclined to create a problem with passer bys than dispersing animals in fact I'd be totally shocked if a dispersal would encounter with a human purposefully unless they had already had some type of training to do so. But you can continue the conversation on Facebook or at our Web site and HP Borg. We are the second most-forested state in the country, and those forests can be impenetrable snarls (part of why the Northeast is notoriously a difficult place to hunt deer), and while there are people in a lot of those woods, because the cats have been absent for a few generations now, most of those people dont know what a cougar scrape or latrine look and smell like. 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. m from a weed family Automotive on store Street in Concord is serving the Concord area families automotive needs since 1995. Peter Biello: We mentioned that the eastern cougar and the Western cougar are they were separate eastern cougar believed to be extinct. Rick van de Poll: Well the mountain lion of course has been sort of an enigma in the wildlife suite for years and years. John is calling from Bennington. And I have to use that word allegedly because there is so much dispute about what people see and what they actually see. Now that to me seemed to indicate that they had done the secondary workup that in my opinion proved the existence of probably a disperse or possibly from South Dakota like the one in 2011. M from Tree Hill author series presenting Diane lay back. Tate said that while a mountain lion sighting in New Hampshire isn't likely, it's not impossible. So that that's more or less I think why I'm here and why I got into this in nineteen ninety nine I found a what appeared to be a print of a mountain lion and that was in the Osprey mountains and I thought well OK that's that's a print. Think you've seen a mountain lion? So it's six months of a large large predatory animal that moves great distances on the landscape that is not known if it went northeast west Salt and how many circles it did. "Of those three to five reports,. So. Wed love to be part of the first verified sighting. What kind of animal is that. Peter Biello: Mm hmm. The 17-year-old Kiger mustang mare was born in Bend, Oregon, said Hodskins, who got her . 1 800 8 9 2 6 4 7 7. 19 They used to roam the entire continent, but have become extinct in most US states. He played a pivotal role and he battled for recognition. No doubt in my mind it was. It was not a bobcat. And it was you know 10 or 12 people saw it all at once. And sometimes I've seen pictures of those where it's the question is What is that is that a bobcat. It was some sort of a Lion Mountain Lion animal. I looked at the picture and asked me what do you see in the picture and I wrote back. The way that we define species has undergone a revolution with the advent of DNA testing. So Marty can you see what I'm getting at is the public sees different names and thinks that they're different animals but it's all the same animal. Its closest living relative is the cheetah. I came to a stop and it was and I've seen a lot of bobcats in my time and I just came to a stop it was just sort of confused about what I was seeing. Peter Biello: When did you allegedly see a mountain lion. And why would they what. Have you heard stories do you have questions about the mountain line. About Lions. So try to take photographs if you see something like this. So. Less successful males roam further. Right. Rick van de Poll: Absolutely. Residents believe cougars still roam New Hampshire's forests. It's not a skinny rope like tail like a housecat. From: Boomerdog in OK 08-Oct-07 Why are there so many false positives? They're the generalists that made it through both the arrival of the Clovis people with their with their spears and then the Europeans with their guns. So when we hear mountain lion there's also cougar there's wild cat there's Bobcat which is not a mountain lion maybe Patrick could you sort of spell out the different terms which are synonymous and which are completely different animals. Peter Biello: Nice to be here. Get your tickets today and one for fifty dollars or six for 150 at NH PR and board. And it came out we could see it had and we could see its long swooping tail. Sam Evans-Brown has been working for New Hampshire Public Radio since 2010, when he began as a freelancer. WMUR uLocal: On this trail cam video, an unidentified feline is spotted. We're not in the woods. I live pretty much on the town line of Greenfield just a couple of miles down in the Greenfield. And I think a lot of folks would like them to be around. The Eastern mountain lion is extinct in the eastern United States and Canada, but in 2011, a . Had great trees behind it beautiful ferns on the ground so it brought me down on the site and the ferns on the ground matched. Mike Guyton pressure was almost Greyhound like very muscular large back legs on it and the coloration on it was almost an orange brownish orange color and so I stop and I look at this thing in the field and as the animal looks at me the face was very chiseled definitely not a bobcat. New Hampshire Public Radio | Chartered 1973; Member of District 44-H; . Well let's hear from from Sue Morse again science director for the organization keeping track. Caller: And then there's the Lily Pond Road and then there's a six foot tall fence. So so they're just a very resilient species and they're pretty they're pretty neat. Give today. Using DNA and physical evidence, state environmental officials said they determined that the animal. Really appreciate it. For starters, part of the confusion might come from the fact that the eastern cougar was taken off the endangered species list earlier this year. And they asked me about the tail which I just did not remember that tail out of that whole experience. I was a Bobcat we saw it and I have a picture of it. And still the the folks there did weren't able to come up with it with 100 percent certainty what deposited that scat. As wildlife biologists, wed be fascinated to say 'look look what was found in our state.'. That's why we always go back to the physical evidence to support what they're reporting. Yes. So that's the specimen that you find going long distances. Email exchange it an HP fraud org or give us a call 1 800 8 9 2 6 4 7 7. Sam Evans-Brown: Pretty well I was going to say it is nice to hear about how to identify the facial markings but probably I'd being a to identify the tracks is probably the more useful useful tool that one can have in their tool box. Rick van de Poll: Oh yeah absolutely. 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. Mountain lions (especially males) have incredibly large ranges that they defend from rivals. I'll send it to you. Patrick Tate: Nice talk to you too. And that's this morning at 10:00 here on NH PR. The nonbelievers are going to say Show us your evidence and show us prove this to us. Peter Biello: We at this e-mailed comment from Michael. Yet this young male traveled about 1,800 miles. And it's not really strong. Erler is a senior naturalist at the Squam Lakes Natural Science Center in Holderness. Let's look for other evidence. People have asked me about the genetics of eastern mountain lion. I hope she's listening and she had spoke to a lot of different people ended up having a couple of sightings of her alone without sort of by accident. Thank you very much for being here. Patrick Tate: I would say well when social media first started they picked up the hoaxes became much more prevalent in the last four or five years hoaxes have died down completely. And so far we have not had any positive mark lion scats or any DNA. From "History of New Hampshire Game and Furbearers" by Helenette Silver, Research Clerk, NH Fish and Game Dept. Peter Biello: There have been several alleged sightings of mountain lions in New Hampshire recently. The current estimate is 2,000 - 2,700 throughout Arizona. Today she talked with us a little bit before the show about why the mountain line is so compelling and why we want it to be part of our world. Patrick Tate: It's wow interesting that you brought this up because I've had people report I saw cardamom. I didn't see him online. No that's a little bit outside the range. You could trace that was this same cat from point to point to point. I've seen him in the woods and that was not a bobcat but I was looking at. Despite numerous reports, the NH Fish and Game Department continues to have no physical evidence of mountain lion presence in the state. Patrick Tate: If I could just say one thing. Caller: Hey guys how you doing. On Oct. 10, he gave a slide talk called "Wild Cats of New Hampshire," which included the bobcat and the lynx. And those are not the same things. I just want to tell you a story that I read. I would say that there's going to be the truth in here somewhere. She quotes a biologist in Lyme New Hampshire who who is keeping two mountain lions himself so in the not too distant past in the early nineteen hundreds it was perhaps more common and still in Maine. But you've done some reporting on this. Sam Evans Brown. So let's let's go to the phones. It doesn't make much sense because you know mountain lions are as we as we said before. So take care of this problem. Something along those lines. From involving members in projects as local as cleaning up an area park or as far-reaching as bringing sight to the world's blind, Lions clubs have always . Mountain Lions are a mythical creature in New Hampshire with strong feelings on both sides of the question: are there Mountain Lions in New Hampshire? Caller: Yeah. I just don't understand the mechanism for how that would happen. NHPR is nonprofit and independent. 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. for some excitement. And a lot of people around the county airport have seen a lot of pilots coming in said they saw huge. So Michael follows with the question. Sue Morse: First and foremost if you have color or if you could see details of color look at the front of the face around the Pumas muzzle the muzzle itself is pure white. The second one was not only fresh but when I actually put my hand on it it was you know smelled like cat and I it's there's no denying a fresh mountain lions get if you can tell it every story that KOAT. Russ, from Sandwich (and Bedford) asks: In Sandwich New Hampshire, everybody has a story about seeing a mountain lion. Peter Biello: Well hey Rob. I mean that so many of them are false sightings we. We want answers. Peter Biello: This is NHK PR Good morning and HP are summer car raffle is back and now's the time to get your early bird tickets. SUE Morse naturalist and science director for the organization keeping track. But you won't find evidence of their existence in paw prints in the snow or a deer carcass in a tree. Is that typically what was happening there. Are there other powers that be worried that scary mountain lions will scare off people from camping in New Hampshire. 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.. I actually been interviewed a couple of times by reporters and with all due respect for the media you know facts aren't always communicated correctly. Rick van de Poll: Rick your thoughts. This is a machine-generated transcript, and may contain errors. Peter Biello: They make great mascots at least. Mountain Lion report and as a biologist for the state that's a situation where if he said to me what did I see. These were normal everyday folks. Its actually fairly reasonable to believe that mountain lions do, at least, pass through occasionally. But you won't find evidence of their existence in paw prints in the snow or a deer carcass in a tree. And Rick van de Poll naturalist and founder of ecosystem management consultants of New England. Rick shaking his head so Rick now correct me please. Anytime at any HP broad dot org or subscribe to our podcast search Apple podcasts Google Play or stitcher for an HP bar exchange. We'll also hear your stories if you have them again. Does not test random Scouts. There'd be there'd be all sorts of you know basically a lot of hassle required if that were to happen. I found a second scat scent both to him. Caller: I do. They are the same thing. Sam Evans-Brown: So Tim so this cat's been been referenced a couple of times I think we should talk about it specifically lay the whole story out for folks who haven't heard the story because it's actually I think really indicative of a lot of stuff for talking about. By Eric Orff. I'm Peter Biello. Theyve always said when we have verifiable evidence to say a mountain lion has been, is, or was in the state that wed acknowledge that and give that information out, says Pat Tate, the furbearer biologist with New Hampshire Fish and Game, who insists theres no conspiracy. They're just moving around freely. There was no sign of it. Okay. That's pretty elaborate. 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. Long before NASA was asked to put a man on the moon one engineer had already figured out how to get there. The Lions of New Hampshire: MD44 Links. Peter Biello: Thank you for sharing that. Ecosystem Management Consultants of New England, Ask Sam, and recently fielded question about mountain lions, 10 things to do in NH this weekend: Dartmouth Dance, Hamilton De Holanda & more, Turkish restaurant in the Upper Valley aims to help those affected by recent earthquakes, RFK Jr. tells NH crowd hes considering a presidential run, Epping woman pleads guilty to threatening Michigan election official in 2020, We also hear excerpts from an interview with, Read about the most recent cougar "sightings". So what those ranges. So they're not afraid of humans and they'll show up like a regular housecat. Patrick Tate: I don't believe it is. 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. Thank you very much for listening. They absolutely do. We have evidence and as biologists we would find it quite exciting to find that evidence of one in the state. So before we get to the the the the stories of sightings we're getting a lot of calls. Patrick Tate: Well. Thanks for a great thanks. Let's talk to Mike in Webster. And just one more note about this danger question when even when you look at the states that have extended populations stable populations of mountain lions attacks are relatively rare. It's got a a smudge of black and bobcats and links just don't have that we don't have any other cards. We speculate they dont want us to screw up tourism we dont know whats going on. You don't know what's going on. NHFG Wildlife Biologist Patrick Tate identifies this cat as a bobcat. Course like Sue said you have to see it and it's not always that visible. So I think in that story there's there's something for the believers and the nonbelievers and I and you know Mark L. Brock is who is a gentleman with the cougar Network told me this story is evidence that that if they were here we would know about it. They lived perhaps elsewhere in New England and they were just passing through and happened to have an encounter of some sort. I mean so what what is the practical change that it would bring to New Hampshire if any. You know I'm like seriously I can't get a picture of the thing but what it what it is. Absolutely there are a lot of folks out there who for some reason need to create something that raises a stir and gets the attention of the media etc.. Sam Evans-Brown: What he would have stopped as well I think is way way that the reason that mountain lion kept moving is because he wasn't finding anybody. Yes. I can't tell you what you saw but it sounds like a mountain lion. Patrick Tate: Exactly I was gonna bring that up juvenile male of. 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. This is where things start breaking down when you so I get pictures with this great description and one of my favorite stories is a great description what the witness and then so I called the witness and wanted information from them and the person says What are you talking about. And maybe it's a no holds barred nostalgia for a better world a wild or Fuller world not a world that's constrained by our boundaries and our taxes and our highways. Sam Evans-Brown: Certainly that is a thing I've heard but again you have to think of the incentives involved here. I'm Peter B yellow. Rick van de Poll: 80 90. However, as far as I can tell theres no Deep State Conspiracy to cover up a breeding population of cougars in the Granite State. Pat do they typically just move around a lot. Lots of people have stories about them, people have them on their game cameras I mean its kind of a thing. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference. They don't know the direction they're going. Mountain lions can be found throughout Arizona, and data suggests the populations are not only stable, but growing. Which goes back to the Connecticut Connecticut cat and what not. Patrick Tate: So one thing I'd say is DNA would definitely identify an animal animal's Mark line or not. How to Report a Possible Mountain Lion Sighting. It's bigger but bigger and better world. Pat what do you think the mystique of the mountain lion. John you're on the air. So. So for me as a person who's had the Bobcats right off my grits similar carries sticks to a bobcat The Long Tail obviously very different but those facial markings were overlapping for me. 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. What's going on. Think you've seen a mountain lion. One was in Shelton. 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. I had a resident in New Hampshire tell me a story of a mountain lion in the 1960s where a person who would come summer in New Hampshire and then live in a different part of the country in the winter had a trailer that was housing his mount line. Do cougars live in New England? I mean it wasn't your idea. Patrick Tate: My line being a large predator a cat watch ambush his prey animal that hasn't been. Part II. I wasn't employed as biologists at the time of a situation that's been reported but so I started digging into this report and spoke with another wildlife biologist with the agency and said Do you know anything about this. 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. brings a lot of. There's just one subspecies of North American mountain lion. I'm gonna send you a letter that we researched this report and we spoke with those labs and the lab wrote in their letter to us that they could only say that Scott contained white Tea Party fur and that they could not say what deposited the scout because it's far too degraded listeners we'd love to hear from you about your mountain lion sightings if you have seen one or if you if you think you have give us a call we'd love to hear your story 1 800 8 9 2 6 4 7 7. We had six copies printed out each. www.wildlife.state.nh.us, Buy or Renew Your Saltwater Fishing License, Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. So so in 2011 a mountain lion was killed in a car accident in Connecticut a car hit a mountain lion and killed it. Good morning guys. What do you think that. If you believe you have seen a mountain lion and want to report it to NH Fish and Game, please contact the Wildlife Division at (603) 271-2461 or wildlife@wildlife.nh.gov to request an observation report form. So I want to start the program with a comment from someone who is not in the studio with us today. Copyright New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.An official New Hampshire government website. They reported seeing the big tail and everything everything. So I reached down to grab the camera and looked back and like a ghost it's gone. I mean there was this one lady I remember and tough tomorrow. They just end up in these places. So and so they so they do get pretty involved. Sam Evans-Brown: You know the North America had a number of large predator species when humans first arrived in the continent. Well they are the same. If you believe you have seen a mountain lion and want to report it to NH Fish and Game, please contact the Wildlife Division at (603) 271-2461 or wildlife@wildlife.nh.gov to request an observation report form. Give us a call if you have a question or comments or story about perhaps seeing a mountain lion here in New Hampshire. Do you want to see real, living mountain lions that do exist in New Hampshire. HOLDERNESS, N.H. (AP) Two of the known mountain lions in New Hampshire have spent their 15 years in close proximity to humans. Let us know your story and share your photos. I can't. Patrick Tate: So it's interesting it's brought up. Its impossible to say, but I think the odds are pretty good that some of these sightings are legit. And the second question is this a behavior mountain lions exhibit. On a dirt road. If you missed part of today's program listen to the exchange. Fish and Game looked into the labs to have them confirm the information in the reports which the labs did not. But I was riding a mountain bike not far from my house. I saw that had this giant the bobcat had this giant sweeping which is John Bobcat don't have big sweeping tails.