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Old 08-07-2009, 07:02 PM
 
Location: The Woods
18,358 posts, read 26,495,840 times
Reputation: 11351

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I know a lot of people won't believe me when I say this (I didn't have any camera with me), but I was out about 4 hours ago for a walk on the edge of Rutland City going towards Rutland Town (Dorr Drive...) and on the way back into the city close to the bridge over Otter Creek to River Street I came across a catamount in some brush and trees. Massive cat, long tail, no mistaking it...the scary part is it wasn't really that afraid of me. It sat there about 10 feet from me just watching. I had just noticed something out of the corner of my eye and looked closer and it was sitting there in the brush watching me. Took a second to register in my mind what I was seeing. It didn't run till I was only a few feet from it (with my .44 aimed at it the whole time when I realized what it was BTW) so I think it was a recently released pet, most likely. I've known for a while there's catamounts around, I've seen the sign and know people who've seen them, but this is the absolute closest I've ever come to one...beautiful animals but they can be very dangerous...I'm not going to forget this walk for a while, bears aren't that exciting.

Anyone else seen one like this?
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Old 08-07-2009, 07:35 PM
 
Location: Vermont
3,459 posts, read 10,268,649 times
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I've learned to carry my camera everywhere! I believe it...would love to see one. And to think I was in Rutland today. Oh well.
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Old 08-08-2009, 01:58 PM
 
Location: The Woods
18,358 posts, read 26,495,840 times
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I need to start packing along a small camera on my walks and hikes. I've missed out on nice pictures before but this just takes the cake, so to speak. My luck being the way it is I'll take a camera along all the time now and never see one again! But I plan to set up a game camera in an area this cat might wander through.
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Old 08-08-2009, 06:51 PM
 
Location: In The Outland
6,023 posts, read 14,067,614 times
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We call them lions here where I live. When I lived in San Diego they would come into the outlying cities next to the hills and they would take peoples house cats. Several pets were found severed in half and partially buried in backyards.
I didn't take the photo of the cat but I was very happy to have a camera with me on my boat when I got the shots of the Calf Elk feeding on it's mama and the shot of the Black Bear on the riverbank.





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Old 08-09-2009, 12:08 AM
 
914 posts, read 2,919,423 times
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Wow, amazing photos! thanks for sharing! So, are catamounts like cougars or mountain lions? Are they exactly the same species just with different names? I live in Northern CA, and the mountain lions are a protected species, so their population has been growing, and in some places it is getting out of control. There are so many of them, and not enough food, and then they venture into the suburbs. A few years ago there was a spate of attacks against humans, some of them deadly. I love cats, but these big cats scare me!
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Old 08-09-2009, 11:01 AM
 
Location: The Woods
18,358 posts, read 26,495,840 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by looking4home View Post
Wow, amazing photos! thanks for sharing! So, are catamounts like cougars or mountain lions? Are they exactly the same species just with different names? I live in Northern CA, and the mountain lions are a protected species, so their population has been growing, and in some places it is getting out of control. There are so many of them, and not enough food, and then they venture into the suburbs. A few years ago there was a spate of attacks against humans, some of them deadly. I love cats, but these big cats scare me!
Yep, same critter, different names. Several Western states where they have a lot of them allow hunting and trapping, on a very limited/controlled basis, to control the population. I know CA is not one of them and some people have been attacked there. They are very dangerous animals if they lose their fear of people. Beautiful, but dangerous. I think the big cats are slowly re-populating the East. As are the wolves starting to move in very slowly, and lynx are coming back too. Martens are starting to show up more often too.

Last edited by arctichomesteader; 08-09-2009 at 11:09 AM..
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Old 08-10-2009, 07:15 AM
 
234 posts, read 1,270,198 times
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I believe it -- friend of mine saw one in Dummerston. It crossed the road in front of him around 9:30 pm. He knows this farmer in the area who said it was harrassing his herd of young heifers. This was 10 years ago or so.

A guy in town (central NH) said his sister had one in her door yard. She has pics of its footprints in the mud.

They are around -- it is funny that the Fish and Game departments tell everyone that it catamount sightings are just "figments of your imagination"!
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Old 08-10-2009, 07:36 AM
 
Location: Rutland, VT
1,822 posts, read 5,132,977 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by leggo View Post
They are around -- it is funny that the Fish and Game departments tell everyone that it catamount sightings are just "figments of your imagination"!
Northern Woodlands | The Outside Story | Some Suspects in On-Going Catamount Investigation
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Old 08-18-2009, 05:13 PM
 
Location: The Shire !
369 posts, read 964,581 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by leggo View Post
They are around -- it is funny that the Fish and Game departments tell everyone that it catamount sightings are just "figments of your imagination"!

Fish and Game won't admit cougars exist until somebody gets eaten. The big cats are back all over most of New England, sightings in all states except Conn & RI.
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Old 08-21-2009, 11:29 AM
 
Location: Vermont
1,442 posts, read 6,500,225 times
Reputation: 457
Why won't they acknowledge that the catamounts are back?

Is there an economic or political incentive to deny it?
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