Catamount/couger...

[dreamcatcher]

Just heard a cat was seen this morning on westmilton road in the feild by the big blue barn on the intersection by johnson rd. Also it's been seen by others he said there was something in the Milton paper. Thought I'd throw this out!

[Reelax]

I know I saw a bob cat come in and take a partridge under my bow stand 4 years ago... If I had not gotten a good look at the tail, I would have sworn it was a catamount... Thing looked huge! I am not saying this is not a catamount, but bob cats can appear pretty large..

[Black Ghost (Ken)]

One thing's for sure, if they're here one of the will show up as road kill sooner or later. Then there will be positive DNA proof.

I'm not keen on having them around either. I like being at the top of the food chain.

[fishhuntadventure]

One thing's for sure, if they're here one of the will show up as road kill sooner or later. Then there will be positive DNA proof. I'm not keen on having them around either. I like being at the top of the food chain.

There isn't any road kill I am aware of, but there is DNA from scat.

They are around. I have seen one on two different occasions with my own eyes. We are not at the top of the food chain and cats like toys...

[raz]

Cougars...there's plenty of them around.

[Lavman]

Cougars...there's plenty of them around.

Here kitty kitty kitty

[Black Ghost (Ken)]

I guess I won't go in the woods after fishing.

[fishhuntadventure]

I guess I won't go in the woods after fishing.

Ha ha ha ha !

It took just a split sec after reading it but that gave me a good laugh.

[Black Ghost (Ken)]

I wonder what Susan Morse has to say abut the existence of cougers in VT. Last I heard her speak she thougt no. May be different now.

Check out her website. She is the most skilled tracker around these parts. Look for one of her presentations.

http://www.keepingtrack.org/index.html

[FishStalker]

There are cougars all over VT. Just go to ONTAP on a friday or saturday night...

[riverrunner]

If there were cougars, our hounds would have run one by now. You would be surprised how big a 30 lbs bobcat looks on the ground or in a tree.

[fishhuntadventure]

A 30# bobcat is huge! I don't think I have seen one that big but the largest I have seen in the wild didn't exactly stick around for me to weigh it but I figure it was 20#.

However, a 30 pound bobcat doesn't walk across a barren, late fall pasture below Mt. Mansfield while I was running a security check at 2AM in 1994... And a bobcat isn't nearly six feet long and pose for the headlights for a few seconds showing a long, tawny tail with a black tip before bounding off in huge graceful leaps.

Then in 1999-ish I glimpsed a cougar running along a fenceline near Walden.

I saw cougar tracks (apparently small ones by California standards) in sandy soil walking in the Sierra Padres in 2001. Made me feel small, vulnerable. Wondered how fresh they were! LOL
I saw the same size track in the snow during muzzleloader season within a few hundred yards of right here December 2003. [Latitude, Longitude: 44.65331418404709, -72.5340986251831] The guy I was out there with saw it too and it freaked him out so we headed for the truck.

This is an interesting read: http://www.natureskills.com/outdoor-saf ... rn-cougar/

I periodically hear anecdotal reports of someone here in Lamoille County (coupla times a year) seeing a catamount. Only one I recall this year from a woman up in Elmore. Last year I heard a guy tell how he thought that a "big cat" killed his one and only cow's calf.

Maybe they are just passing through. Don't know. People need to carry more cameras more often.

[MarknFish (Mark)]

If there were cougars, our hounds would have run one by now. You would be surprised how big a 30 lbs bobcat looks on the ground or in a tree.

Agreed and with the amount of trail camera's hanging today, the odds are quite good someone would have pulled a good pic of one by now.

[easilyamused]

Just heard a cat was seen this morning on westmilton road in the feild by the big blue barn on the intersection by johnson rd. Also it's been seen by others he said there was something in the Milton paper. Thought I'd throw this out!

The article was in the Milton Independant... http://www.miltonindependent.com/mounta ... in-milton/. It was the day after the newspaper was published that I was talking to a neighbor and he said he had seen the lion that morning on Lake Road in "broad daylight" and was definately not a bobcat - big animal, long tail, too. He had his camera ready and slowed his truck to get the pic when the cat went into the high grass and stayed there. He reported it to the Milton PD and was connected to the F & G folks - who had lots of questions.... They're out there. My wife and I saw one right after sunset in Addison in the late 1990's (1998-1999)... it crossed the road headed north right in front of our car. Long tail - almost as long or longer than the body - not a bobcat. Didn't report it - didn't want anyone to know and bother it - leave it alone is my attitude. There's probably plenty of food for them.