Mountain lion

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

This isn't my biggest, but it weighed 42 lbs. Compare it to me. I weigh 160. It looks a lot bigger than it is. Biggest ive caught was 46 lbs. He was an old male. Teeth were rotting. Im on the phone with the DEC, thumbs up because their coming to document it.

This one is only 16 lbs, from PA. Still looks a lot bigger than it is. Its paw is as big as my akita that weighs 85 lbs. By the way what would you think the average coyote weighs? Any idea?

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Edited November 19, 2014 by Great Lakes Lure Maker

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

I dont know what happened to the first pic, 42 lb cat, but here it is.

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[Nautitroller]

Les, very nice picture of a Fisher. For the past three years I have had a pair on my land in Danby, really cool to see, they put a serious hurt on the squirrel population. When I was a kid at a little league practice (1981) three of us saw what we thought was a black panther, it was about 100 yds away in an open field, no one believed us.... maybe it was a Fisher but still to this day I think it was a cougar.... also a good friend saw what he said was a mountain lion and this guy would never lie, he is a very good outdoorsman the kind of guy that didn't tell many people. Dunno, just plausible...

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[PeltHunter]

After seeing one within 50 yards while hunting in Montana and have another one coming up God knows how close to the tree behind me and my uncle sitting against a tree. I'm happy to believe there is none in New York. Nothing more eerie than hearing that scream in the brush behind you and never hearing anything coming or going.

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[Dylan585]

I have talked to the Amish folk around the letchworth area (specifically Angelica) and multiple have claimed to see mountain lion. Unfortunately they have no way of contacting the DEC or photographing. I think I'm going to write some sort of a paper on this at some point as I'm a senior. I will do some more research and put my findings in this post. Also, the DEC hasn't gotten back to my question yet on whether or not I could shoot a mountain lion

[eatsleeptrout]

Still waiting on the pic...

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[Dylan585]

Again... I've been hunting a property besides his... I'll have my dad get the pic from him tomorrow or I'll have him email it too me

[Sk8man]

John I should have noted that the pic of the Fisher was not taken by me.....I pulled it from the Internet to illustrate what they look like....I have done a lot of photography including many animals but have never been that close to a Fisher to get a shot

[EsoxAC3]

Great observation, Bosun......I would not have believed such large bobcats exist either....if I didnt see it on camera. Spoke with a DEC officer that winter while ice fishing and told him about trail cam pics. Asked his thoughts on an 85 + lb bobcat. He said, just like humans there are the top 5% that could reach that size. Of course that is not representative of the average specimen.

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Edited November 19, 2014 by EsoxAC3

[iceman05]

I've got 50 acres in alfred and this winter I had a fisher on trail cam....contacted the dec they stated that in recent years they have really moved into the southern tier and studying all sightings and have many hair traps in the area. Pretty cool and much bigger than I thought it would be.

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[Guppy35]

Here is another picture of a fisher, we had 2 different pictures on our trail cameras this year of a fisher.

 

 

(The date and time is obviously wrong on the camera)

Edited November 19, 2014 by Guppy35

[King Slammin]

I saw a mt lion on rt 18 in Appleton, ny about 7-8 yrs ago. It was late summer. We were looking across the street at what we thought was a deer with its reddish summer coat. Then we saw the tail swing around. I heard kids playing in the yard next to the field so we started to walk toward the cat. It saw us and spooked very easily. 100% positive it was a mt lion. Others is my area had seen it since but no sightings in about 5 yrs

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[Total Chaos]

I don't believe that MT Lions exist here in NY. Until someone can show a pic with an identifiable location within the state I just don't believe it. Here's a few pics of some Fishers from my trail cameras. I saw one last year while bow hunting.

[Guppy35]

Total Chaos - Cool pictures of the fishers, thanks for sharing!

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

So, we have plenty of fishers on trail cams but I don't here many people say they saw one in the wild.(not nearly as many who claim to see mtn lions) Plenty of people claim to have seen mtn lions, but no trail cam pics of one as of yet. Hmmm... I'm not a detective but it sounds like case closed to me. A few years ago I saw something that could resemble a mtn lion. I could not tell you what it was and could easily say it looked like a mtn lion. My guess is it was a fisher cat. I was aware they were plentiful and known trappers who had caught them, farmers who had sighted them and even had a pair living on my property that I saw occasionally, so I would have to say it was probably a fisher. Another time while logging my property we saw what looked like a mtn lion walking past the corner of the field where we were bucking logs. About 2 wks later I caught a blonde coyote that weighed 48 lbs. Obviously a pack leader because he was very aggressive in the trap and he was a good 10lbs heavier than an average coyote, which weighs between 32-37 lbs. Biggest coyote Iv'e ever caught and was 6ft long from head to tail. 

[Sea-IV]

On our property in the southern tier we have an active pair of fishers that for the first time got on camera. That was cool to see and I have been in my tree stand and seen them come through early morning to feed on a gut pile but most of the time they are I think they are nocturnal but don't quote me on it just my opinion from the times I have seen them.

[Fish Hunter]

Yep, fishers or pine martens or bobcats or coyotes do not look like a mountain lion.

Mountain lions look exactly like a mountain lion.........

[Steve.e]

They are in NY. I saw one last year in spencerport ny near ridge road and union st(2590 . pULLED OFF THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND WATCHED IT WALK INTO THE WOODS FOR ABOUT 30 YRDS. pLAIN AS DAY. 2 WEEKS LATER A FRIEND'S FRIEND SAW 2 TOGETHER NEAR BUFFALO RD AND MANITOU. My father in law's friend in prattsburg came over a hill on a dirt road and one was walking  down the side of the road., broad daylight. I also heard the one shot was tagged in the ear and was from Montana and he called the number on the tag and the game cop there said that  he couldn't have shot it here it was shipped to New york . The guy didn't say where he was from at the time.  Also black jaguars were released years ago, they are smaller than African jags about the same size as a mature coyote. saw on in Steuben county and read articles down there concerning them. My cousin saw one ,or more, 3 times in fairport around marsh rd. One time turkey calling and it walked in and sat 30yrd from him. He researched it after a "tip" from a NYS official and found that 10 mating pairs were released across NYS. DEC knows both are here.

Edited November 19, 2014 by Steve.e

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

I just read the DEC's website regarding mtn lions in NY. They claim that most reported sightings are a case of mistaken identity. Commonly mistaken animals are bobcats, fisher and coyotes. There were 2 reports that were confirmed. One was a 7.5 lb kitten, shot in the Adirondacks (1993) and the hunter thought it was a bobcat. This cats DNA proved it to be a released captive as its genes were from Africa. In 2010, Lake George NY The second, rather interestingly was spotted by DEC Colonel Dave Eggleston's wife, as she was doing dishes. This cat was investigated by Eggleston and Officer Louis Gerrain (a mtn lion skeptic). The pair found tracks in the snow and hair samples from where it had bedded. The samples detemined the cat was from the south Dakota area. It was later hit 6 months later in Milford Conn.

 

The DEC also strongly state that they have never re introduced mtn lions into NY," no matter what you've heard." Quote from DEC. 

 

Steve.e, I don't want to be ignorant here but don't you think if there were that many human sightings of cougars in the area your describing, wouldn't someone have one on a trail cam or some other device? Most people never see a bobcat or fisher all there life, but trail camera's sure seem to be catching them. There were quite a few fisher pics just in this post. I couldn't imagine how many pics exist across NY. If there were mtn lions, we would be seeing pics of them. 

Edited November 19, 2014 by Great Lakes Lure Maker

[Fish Hunter]

Trail cameras?

We had a real good 2 1/2 yr old buck on camera one year, twice.

It vanished and we thought someone killed it............I ended up with that very deer, a year later on Thanksgiving Day, now I don't have to look for it anymore..........it's right above the television.

Bet that a cougar might not be caught that often on camera either?Z?

Only a good suspicion..........

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

Trail cameras?

We had a real good 2 1/2 yr old buck on camera one year, twice.

It vanished and we thought someone killed it............I ended up with that very deer, a year later on Thanksgiving Day, now I don't have to look for it anymore..........it's right above the television.

Bet that a cougar might not be caught that often on camera either?Z?

Only a good suspicion..........

 

 

Fish hunter

It would only take one legitimate camera sighting to start a stir, but there are none.

 

If a trail cam can "out smart" a coyote, i'm sure cougars are no problem for them either. I doubt as though cougars have some special ability to avoid trail cameras. People in other parts of the country don't seem to have any trouble "catching' them on camera. Maybe because they actually have a population of cougars there? I obviously don't dispute the occasional cat passing through, but we do not have any sustainable populations of them in NYS. If we did, they would be on camera somewhere and hunters doing large drives and covering huge amounts of ground would have kicked one up at some point. Plenty of coyotes get flushed out by deer drives, a mtn lion wouldn't be an exception to that. 

Edited November 19, 2014 by Great Lakes Lure Maker

[Sk8man]

I'm with Great Lakes Lure Maker on this. I believe it is perhaps possible for a mountain lion to migrate elsewhere from its usual habitat when pushed out by various forces (development, competition from other species e.g. coyotes for food) and possibly transit through NYS  but given all the different places in NYS these alleged sightings have occurred there should be some camera footage someplace to support their presence and it just doesn't seem to be there. I also think that in looking at some of the Internet responses that many other alleged sightings have been made in other states (where they are not known for sure to inhabit) without confirmation or definitive proof and it seems to closely resemble the "Bigfoot"or "Sasquatch" phenomenon. It is not to say that for sure it does not exist ....but where is the proof?

Edited November 19, 2014 by Sk8man

[dawsonscreek]

Interesting. We are covering this topic the next couple weeks in my conservation class. I refuse to chime in as of now, because, like most of you, I am NOT formally informed on the subject. I know some facts but will keep them to myself. I can't believe I even posted this much, for fear of this turning into the same crap that happens on tributary forums. But, upon completion of the topic in class, I will post my two cents.

Edited November 20, 2014 by dawsonscreek

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

It would be interesting to hear what you know. Personally, the DEC's study into the topic supports the lack of proof into the matter. They have made available a lot of years of research into the subject and thats were I choose to get my info on the topic. I have to laugh when I hear someone say " I know its true because I heard it". I prefer to get to the facts, so it would be interesting to hear what you know.

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[Sea-IV]

There is also a proffesor at Cornell Co-Op that studies Mt.Lion movements and posted a article last year of some of his research here in NY from the alleged sightings. From the allegations he states that almost all of the tracks are from other predators and not Mt.Lion. In the article he actually encouraged people that were convinced to call and he would investigate the sightings.