I'm with you, I hate the nasty little things.
And the owners don't even have the decency to leave them out at night so the coyotes can eat them.
Posted on 03/02/2011 6:40:18 PM PST by americanophile
ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The "ghost cat" is just that.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Wednesday declared the eastern cougar to be extinct, confirming a widely held belief among wildlife biologists that native populations of the big cat were wiped out by man a century ago.
After a lengthy review, federal officials concluded there are no breeding populations of cougars — also known as pumas, panthers, mountain lions and catamounts — in the eastern United States. Researchers believe the eastern cougar subspecies has probably been extinct since the 1930s.
Wednesday's declaration paves the way for the eastern cougar to be removed from the endangered species list, where it was placed in 1973. The agency's decision to declare the eastern cougar extinct does not affect the status of the Florida panther, another endangered wildcat.
Some hunters and outdoors enthusiasts have long insisted there's a small breeding population of eastern cougars, saying the secretive cats have simply eluded detection — hence the "ghost cat" moniker. The wildlife service said Wednesday it confirmed 108 sightings between 1900 and 2010, but that these animals either escaped or were released from captivity, or migrated from western states to the Midwest.
"The Fish and Wildlife Service fully believes that some people have seen cougars, and that was an important part of the review that we did," said Mark McCollough, an endangered species biologist who led the agency's eastern cougar study. "We went on to evaluate where these animals would be coming from."
A breeding population of eastern cougars would almost certainly have left evidence of its existence, he said. Cats would have been hit by cars or caught in traps, left tracks in the snow or turned up on any of the hundreds of thousands of trail cameras that dot Eastern forests.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
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12,500 years ago humans already knew they didn’t live well with large cats around and had DISPOSED of all the
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WRONG!
There were lions in europe during the time of the greeks and romans...middle east as well.
Those are no joke! :>)
Same here in Michigan. The long dead kitties are being photographed on trail cams up north and there are increasing reports here in the south of the state.
Either Bush or Global Warming at fault. Still doing research to come up with the answer.
We need to place some eastern cougars in Central Park, along with bears and wolves, so libs can experience them in person.
I do feel that way. I don’t want to live in a world devoid of all things beautiful, mysterious and yes, a little dangerous.
I thought I saw a cougar near Baxley, GA several years ago. This was near the Altamaha River.
I had taken a hunter safety instructors course which included a presentation from a wildlife biologist. I talked to him later and he said there were no cougars in Mississippi. He also said they had around 50 alleged sightings every year.
When I phoned the local Georgia wildlife biologist, I told him I knew there were not supposed to be any left in that area and I was sure I was mistaken but I still wanted to report it.
He asked a bunch of questions and after we were through he said he would go out and check the place where I saw it. He said he too doubted it was a cougar but he said it was possible. My description of what it was doing and what it looked like were spot on according to him. He also said the place where I saw it was one of the few areas he could believe one lived if it had moved up from Florida.
My dad swears he’s seen and heard panthers late at night in the hills and hollers of southern West Virginia, back in the 50’s and 60’s. My uncles tell the same stories. There weren’t any deer there then, which the pumas might help explain. But now, there’s deer everywhere on my grandmother’s land. So, I don’t think there are any panthers around any more.
...nice
I guess they haven’t been to New Jersey
I'm with you, I hate the nasty little things.
And the owners don't even have the decency to leave them out at night so the coyotes can eat them.
Funny that they’re doing this just as reports of mountain lions have been popping up more and more in eastern states.
“Mountain lion confirmed in rural Greene County.” (IN)
http://naturalgeographic.net/?p=989
“Mountain Lion Spotted In Kernersville” (NC)
http://www.wxii12.com/video/26069853/detail.html
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The article seems to indicate that they’re western cougars.
No, you’re rude. You can disagree without being a vulgar ass.
That’s just not as fun.
...and 6+ billion strong.
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