Connecticut cougar sighting revealed as a hoax
March 7, 2008
Photos of a cougar, purportedly sighted in Simsbury, were e-mailed to Connecticut wildlife professionals, naturalists and even Boy Scout troops.
But it’s all a hoax. The big cats, also called mountain lions or pumas, can reach 100 pounds, but they live in the western United States.
In reality, Connecticut’s biggest cats are the reclusive bobcats, the largest of which tip the scales at around 30 pounds of carnivorous muscle.
About 160 scoutmasters within the Derby-based Housatonic Council of the Boy Scouts of America recently received e-mail copies of photos of the cougar, which was apparently photographed five years ago outside a home in Wyoming.
State Department of Environmental Protection officials and staff members of the Connecticut Audubon Society also received copies.
“I’m not sure what the distribution net was, but it’s way out there,” said Dale May, director of the DEP’s wildlife division. “I’ve had people from the DEP who called me who got it at home and they wanted to know if it’s true.”
May said it’s the third cougar fraud in recent months. The last trick featured a photo of a hunter holding up a dead cougar in New York state, but it was actually snapped five years earlier in Washington state, May said.
“Once bad information gets out there, bad information gets out there,” May said in a phone interview Wednesday. “The pictures are impressive.”
Whether the hoax is malicious or a fun-loving deception appears to be in the eye of the recipient.
I would just suggest that people rely on the state wildlife agency to be their authority, and if they have questions, consult us,” May said, noting in recent years sightings of coyotes, black bears and moose have been on the increase.”Other than what people occasionally report, there has never been a verified report in Connecticut, or the Northeast, of a cougar,” May said. “Bobcats are common and seem to be increasing.”
Milan Bull, senior director for science and education for the Fairfield-based Connecticut Audubon Society, said he hasn’t received queries from the public, but society staffers say the photos have been floating around the Internet for weeks.
“It gets people all worked up over nothing,” Bull said in a phone interview. “They hit a sensitive note over this.”
Bull thinks too many people in the state erroneously believe there are cougars in the woods.
“I’ve had a number of reports,” Bull said. “It always turns out to be a dog, coyote or cat. The mystique of the cougar in Connecticut continues.”
“The more you hear and see that people believe it, the most important (thing) is to reveal it as a hoax,” said May, the DEP executive. “The last couple hoaxes seem to have been sent to professionals in natural resources.”
People just love to spread rumors about this cat i find it rather funny that some believe that this cat resides in connecticut its like seeing bigfoot in your backyard using your grill to cook the neighbors cat ….
Andy, all it takes is one small comment and it just gets bigger and bigger every time it is mentioned. Like you said it is rather funny.
I have seen a mountain lion myself, with my own eyes, in northeastern CT. If this really is a hoax, it is sad. I can say for sure that there are cougar in CT and they have very large tails
Today I saw a big cat and through research and comparison I have come to the conclusion that I saw a mountion lion in my back yard. This cat was large, gray colored coat and had a thick, long tail. I live in Northeastern Connencticut.
coming back from lime rock on saturday, 8/15/09, 3:30 pm, route 63 south of goshen, a “cat” crossed my path, to big to be somebodys pet, tan in color, musclure body, long tail,about the size of my german shepard, 80 lbs. call it what you want, i’m calling it a mountain lion! I know what I saw!
I live in Goshen. My wife, sister in law, and 2 friends have all told me they have seen a very large cat cross 63 in th same area bill describes. There descriptions also match bills. They all say it is definatly too big for a bob cat and has a long tail.
In fact my sister in law has stopped running in that area because of it.
I have 30+ chickens. My property is in New Milford, CT. At 5:00 AM 06/20/2010 I looked out towards the coop…..
I didn’t know right away what I was seeing but quickly realized it was a Cougar. At first I thought it was a fox or something (it was reddish in color) but it was no doubt a big cat.
There are Mountain Lions in CT, no doubt in my mind.
I’ve heard the stories and the claims of the dep. I read an account of a sighting on mountain rd. in Simsbury. It may have been 4or 5 years ago but I also saw a cougar cross that road. I lived for years in Colorado. I know what a bobcat is i’ve seen them in simsbury as well. I’m quite sure I know what I saw.
Well I guess the mountain lion road kill in Milford, Ct helps settle the dispute. It is weird how DEP is in such denial. In the article in the Courant it stated that it was likely to be the same lion seen in Greenwich the day before. I have a hard time believing that the lion moved 40 miles in one day. I am not saying it is impossible, but i don’t think it to be likely. We have plenty of mountain lions in CT. We know what bobcats look like there isn’t much confusion between the two species.
there are most definately mountain lions in scotland ct!!! the tail… the dep can’t tell me that im seeing a bobcat when the thing had like a two or three foot tail, come on now, were not all blind and retarded… whether they are saying its a pet that got loose or whatnot, well apparently they dont know when it got loose cause that thing musta reproduced and spread like wildfire… they are all OVER CONNECTICUT NOW. anyone who doesn’t believe, just hasn’t seen cause once you see it, you NEVER forget!! I almost hit it with my car at about 8 in the morning and the next day the thing sat in my back yard!!! (scotland is allll woodsy area, ill face it, its the stixxxx)
I won’t claim that there is a large population of cougars in CT and the lack of evidence seems to support that theory (no tracks, scat, or kills)
However, I DO know there is at least one because I saw it crossing Rt. 85 in Waterford at 7:50 PM on July 26,2011. It was an unsual lull in the traffic which plies that road and I fully observed the cat come out of the woods on my left and cross 4 lanes before diving into the woods on my right.
This was no coyote or bobcat. The cat was about 5 ft long with the long black-tipped tail. This was no brief sighting in the woods either. It was in full view for at least 15 seconds and as it crossed my lane into the woods it was no more that 20 feet in front of me (I was able to watch it go into the brush through my passeger side window)
Like everyone else, I know what I saw. I have a keen interest in animals and would consider myself well educated on the subject. (my spouse remarked that if anyone would know what it was, it would be me). I can’t explain why it was here or where it came from (another ‘pet?”) or where it was going, but I can say for sure that it was a mountain lion.
The Waterford PD informed me that DEP says there are no Mountian lions in CT. Evidence is hard to come by as these cats are very elusive and quick (if you aren’t holding a camera to your eye you probably will be too late) I only wish I had a dash-cam because at that range there would be no mistaking the proof that at least one mountain lion exists in CT
Before my sighting, I had know idea how common my story is. A quick Google search turned up many similar stories of people who know what they saw but don’t really expect others to believe them.
Well..Now I believe them, and I hope others can be so lucky to see such an magnificent animal in the wild.
Hmm the Greenwich,CT cougar traveled from (St. Croix) south dakota, about 1500-1800 mile hike, CT DEEP confirms.
http://cheshire.patch.com/articles/connecticut-mountain-lion-traveled-from-south-dakota-12
Hmm..
I grew up[ in Northwestern CT. I happen to know what a bobcat looks like and what I saw back in 2005 meandering around the outskirts of the woods was not a bobcat or a dog or a bear, it was definitely a mountain lion. In time someone will probably have to shoot one or they will hit one on the road. This is no hoax folks, they are out there.
The mountain lion that I saw was beautiful. It was a buff color, longer and lower than my large dog, rounded ears,and a long tail curled up at the end. It weighed more than 100lbs. It was headed toward my neighbors who keeps pigs in a pen in his yard. The neighbor also saw the animal and reported it to the DEP who denied the report saying we must be mistaken.