CT resident claims to have seen mountain lion
April 23, 2008
Mountain Lion’s Lair video – By News Channel 8’s Bob Wilson
By News Channel 8’s Bob Wilson
Posted April 21, 2008
11:05 PM
Wallingford (WTNH) _ Is there a mountain lion roaming the countryside in Connecticut? One Wallingford resident says yes. Environmental experts aren’t so sure. So, with this said, should people be worried?
Bob Heilnan, of Wallingford, was out working in his field when he saw an animal cross in front of him. It looked just like a mountain lion.
“It walked across the field this way, disappeared in here and that is the den. DEP was here and they say that is a den,” Heilnan noted.
But is it a mountain lion den? That is the question. Heilnan continued to describe what he saw. “About 3 and a half feet long, tan and the tail has a black tip. And, as it walks, the tail and the front legs move together.”
DEP says mountain lions are not native to Connecticut. They wanted Heilnan to get a picture of the animal. So, he called a friend who has a special wildlife camera, he mounted it next to the den in front of the animals path.
“The camera has been put in place and it’s a special camera with a motion sensor and flash so that any animal that walks in front of it will the picture of what ever animal lives in the brush.”
Beth Webb lives across from the den. She knows that everything from rabbits to wood chucks live nearby. But, a mountain lion?
“We are a little concerned to see what is out there, in the field and long as it’s nothing dangerous that’s okay,” Webb noted.
As for Heilnan, he knows what he saw and he knows that there aren’t supposed to be mountain lions in Connecticut. “This is Connecticut. I know I have deer. I know I have coyote. I know I have muskrats living in my pond. But when you stop and think about it — there is a lot of game for him and this is the perfect place for him.”
After a little internet searching, reading, and checking up on this stuff I found it’s a pretty well established product in Canada and hails from Quebec where they have this funny habit of speaking a lot of French. Thus the name, Jig-A-Loo, and the company’s claim it derives from a saying they have up north, “I’ve got it!” 
I know there are Mt. lions in CT because I have seen them, on one occasion, in Kent in 2002.
The DEP is playing games w/ the public. They are aware of numerous sightings yet they refuse to acknowledge the big cat’s presence unless you give the “proof”.
Peter, I know there has been quite a few siting reports but, to my knowledge there has been no confirmations and for me personally I will believe it when I see it. No offense but a picture tells a thousand words.
It truly could be possible, heck years ago we hardly had any bears in Connecticut and now they estimate we have at least 300 of them roaming around and that is including the sow and cub I saw a few years ago.
What is SO HARD to understand this SIMPLE FACT:
The DEP WILL NOT simply except someones word for spotting a mountain lion. They investigate that all the time. MOST time it is MISTAKEN IDENTITY. What they require to take it seriously is SIMPLE: Hard evidence. Scat. Prints. A body. A pic.
But they just don’t get that stuff. They get calls, stories. This IS NOT HOW SCIENTISTS WORK. They NEED physical evidence to comfirm. Give it to them AND THEY WILL ACT. With all these sightings, doesn’t it strike SOMEONE funny that this is NO physical proof, as of yet???
People have said that there are no mountain lions in Kent, CT but I beg to differ. One one sunny September afternoon (2008) I was driving home on Rt. 7 (N) and one crossed in front of me and ran into the backyard of the Old Chestnut Inn. It was approximately 4 p.m. Other Kent residents say they’ve seen one too.
There are Bobcat thriving in CT. The difference being, Bobcat are smaller with stubby tails, Mountain Lion are larger with very long tails. I believe many “sightings” are reported by people who have in fact saw a Bobcat. I do however believe the Eastern Mountain Lion are living in CT. They found hair and scat in Mass.
The DEP does not want to admit Mountain Lions are in the state, which were manually were introduced to control the deer population in the 80’s. I came face to face with a mountain lion about a week ago ice fishing a wooded pond. If you cant tell the difference between a mountain lion and a bobcat then you need help. I am not going to say where, but it was in the snow and there are mountain lion tracks everywhere.
I saw a mountain lion a Roraback WMA in CT. I was done hunting, sitting in the back of my Jeep and taking off my boots at sunset. About 20 yards away I saw the brush moving across the street. I first thought it was a coyote, but soon a HUGE cat started to slink across the road toward me. It was about 1/2 the length the road. It had a small head and a muscular body. I frozen watching this monster, but when it entered the grass at the edge of the parking area, I realized that I could be in danger and jumped into the Jeep. I called the DEP as soon as I arrived home and they blew me off and told me it could have been a bobcat. SORRY! It was about 8 bobcats in size. I started asking around and discovered that a lot of people have seen them. A farmer in the area told me that he had a horse killed by one. I won’t hunt Roraback alone anymore since the largest caliber I can legally carry is a 22. Here’s the story I wrote with photos: http://rimfirehunting.blogspot.com/2007/09/hidden-dangers-at-roraback.html
Okay, I’m a mountain biker. All this mountain lion talk has me freaked out. But they could be out there. I was riding Cocknaponsett last week and the place was covered with big cat tracks. I think it was a bobcat or two. But still a big cat.
For survival sake, I read in Wired magazine that the standard response is wrong( face it and act big and loud). Wired says that while that is standard advice, and might be a last resort, the statistics say that people who run away far and fast have a better survival rate. When you run you don’t appear hurt or wounded and stuck. 1. Big cats don’t like to persue for long distances and are fastest at short distance. Running far away is best. 2. Don’t go in water. They are excellent swimmers and sometimes run prey into water. 3. Don’t climb a tree. So face it as a last resort, but first off RUN!!!
There are mountian Lions in CT. I have seen them more than once but I can definatly say that some people can mistake a bobcat for them. When I was 16 I hit a bob cat on rt 8. I was very up set and very stupid. I went and picked it up and put it in my trunk. I brought it home and showed my dad. This cat was huge. He was about the size of my pitbull and its head was about just as big. Had pointy hair on the tip of its ears, kinda spotted fur and ofcourse the stubby tail. I have a picture of it somewhere on my computer, I will have to find it. But bobcats are everywhere and If someone was to see one the size of the one I hit, and it was a quick glance, I can see where people would mistake it for a small mountian lion. Especially if people are excited at the time. There are two cases where I did come across a mountian lion tho.Both in the northwestr corner of CT. They are about twice the size of a bobcat, Have a very large rib cage and thick long tails. I dont think there are many but I hope to get a picture one day so I can prove that there are mountian Lions. Kinda like bears. I went my whole life never seeing them untill 2006 and now I see them all the time! In my eyes just let them be. Unless they are harming us there is no reason to harm them.
I really believe their ARE cougars in ct. BUT, there are a couple things that puzzle me.
People really CAN’T tell the diff between a bobcat and cougar. Google mountain lion in connecticut. Check out the first video. Some guy put this video on and stated that it was a cougar. Its not. And for the life of me, I canNOT understand how ANYONE can’t see the difference. The state has responded to cougar reports NUMEROUS times, were told over the phone that they had pics of the mountain lion. Upon arrival, they have looked at pictures of everything, from a doberman to a coyote to a bobcat.
And another thing………………..why not ONE hit by a car? Not one? I think the ML is very very rare still but I think they call ct home. Why not? State scientists have id’ed scat in Quabbin Res as belonging to a mountain lion. And thats Mass. So why not here?
And I see no LOGICAL reason for the state to be HIDING their existance.
Alright folks I’m gonna clarify a couple things for ya I cannot state them as facts for I was told this from someone I work with. A guy I work with has a friend in the dep. He told me that he was told there were 3 sets of lions (mountain,cougar,etc) placed in ct by the dep to cut down the coyote and fisher populations. They were put in three locales he said in the woodstock area in the Sharon/Cornwall area and the other he forgot. This makes alot of sense to me though. The dep will deny it simply for the fact that if they are here WHEN it comes out of the woods and drags a three year old from the sandbox in the backyard into the woods they don’t want to have anything to do with it. They put fishers in the northwest corner years ago to calm down the turkey population. Now they’re throughout ct and occasionally taking out house cats and small dogs. We do have a horrible problem with coyotes and they are the rabbit populations and grouse and pheasants. Lions would dramatically solve the problem. I think IF the dep put them here they should speak up. They are just considering their elusiveness they are rarely seen very very cautious. But that one time they come down and attack someone is what makes you wonder. Cause it does happen and quite a bit espeacially if your making fast movement (running,biking,etc).
I have a friend who works for the state, and he says the DEP has secretly been releasing Oompa-Loompas into the state to eat the Lions, Coyotes and Fisher Cats…. Only problem is that they prefer KFC, Taco Bell and Dunkin Donuts to Lion meat.
I see them swimming in state parks and beaches when its hot, so I know its true.
WELL TODAY IS OCTOBER 11 2009 MY WIFE AND I AND FRIENDS WERE BEHIND US WITH THEIR CAR WE WERE GOING FROM THOMASTON TO WATERVILLE AND WE WERE ON CARTER ROAD DRIVING ALL OF A SUDDEN A VERY LARGE CAT WITH LONG TAIL VERY LARGE MUSSLES IN THE LEGS CROSSED IN FRONT OF US I HAVE SEEN BOBCATS ONCE IN AWHILE BUT THIS WAS NO BOBCAT THIS WAS DEFINATLY A MOUNTAIN LION WHEN I CAME HOME I WENT TO GOOGLE.COM AND TYPED IN MOUNTAIN LION AND THERE WAS THE CAT WE SAW HE WENT INTO THE WOODS AND WE STOPPED AND HE AND I JUST STARED AT EACH OTHER THEN HE JUST TOOK OFF
This is an on-going debate between me and my father… I have seen a mountain lion twice, once in Granby, CT and once in Simsbury, both times at dusk while driving. I have two other friends who have had encounters with mountain lions – one was able to identify the scat – but the issue is that none of us at the time thought to notify the DEP, or were unable to get that ever-elusive physical evidence. To any of you reading these comments, if you are lucky enough to find a way to prove it, tell the DEP and perhaps some others to hold the DEP accountable. It would make an interesting news story, wouldn’t it? Especially if the DEP has been so reluctant to stand by sightings; I was surprised to read that here.