Seeing 'ghosts' in the Maine woods
For an animal that’s supposed to be extinct in the eastern United States, mountain lions have sure been getting around the Maine woods.
Since we ran a story last week about a federal status review of the eastern cougar, reports of sightings have flowed in over the phone, the Internet and even in a handwritten letter (talk about your endangered species).
Mountain lions, or what looked like them, were reportedly seen in Standish, Windham, Raymond, Scarborough, New Gloucester, Brunswick, Freeport and lots of other places.
Reports also have been posted on the federal eastern cougar Web site by Mainers and residents of other eastern states where the “ghost cat” also has a healthy following. You can read them, or post your own, here.
Not only are people sure the cats exist, many are just as sure that state and federal biologists are not really looking for them.
Patricia Estabrook of Belfast said she and her husband Ray were driving through Washington County one afternoon last August when a large animal ran across the road in front of them.
“Both of us were able to get a really close look at it,” Patricia Estabrook said Friday. “I noticed its really big paws … a smooth, loping run and the color and the ears. (Ray) noticed the long tail.”
The couple did some research and believe what they saw was a cougar, so Patricia called the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife thinking the experts would be as excited as she was.
“The woman who answered the phone … laughed at me and said, ‘Well, it’s fine and we’ll have somebody call,’” Patricia said. “Nobody’s called so far and it’s March.”
State officials say they don’t approve of anyone laughing off a mountain lion report and that they routinely follow up and record details. Sometimes, they go out and look.
“We certainly would be interested if we were able to confirm a cougar sighting,” said Wally Jakubas, mammal specialist with the Maine IF&W.
But at the same time, he said, such a sighting would not resolve a whole lot.
There already is scientific evidence that cougars occasionally roam the East. For one thing, federal records describe mountain lion carcasses found in rural New York, Pennsylvania and Quebec in the past 40 years.
But those animals are believed to have been captive cats that escaped or were released. And confirmed sightings of live cats are presumed to be wayward pets, too.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, while not denying that individuals in the agency have been dismissive in the past, insists it is conducting the current review with an open, scientific mind.
So if you think you’ve seen a mountain lion, you aren’t crazy. You may not even be wrong. And you certainly are not alone.
Posted by at 06:47 AM
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On February 14, I attempted to contact a biologist at IF&W after coming across fresh tracks in the snow that were irrefutably large cat.. with a stride significantly larger than a Bobcat and clean/crisp unlike those of a Lynx.
IF&W never replied.
That day, I took clear, digital photos, showing stride, specific meaurements and comparisons with other cat tracks I found. I tracked the cat for several miles, taking notes on scat and the animals behavioral movement.
Last October, My wife saw a large cat "with a long tail" cross the road in front of her in the same region in Richmond. She was very hestitant to talk about it, knowing the state treats the sightings as if you had seen a feakin Zebra. Trust me when It tell you, she knows the diffence between a Mountian Lion and a Great Dane.
As a registered Maine Guide and a life long student of the creatures in the Maine woods, I am diasspointed in IF&W's attitude, which leaves people reporting unusual wildife feeling like some lunatic reporting a UFO.
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Posted by
BeedlerdMarch 25, 2007 09:26 AM
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