After a woman in Hornell NY photographed a cougar on her porch the NY DEC [Dept of Environmental Conservation] for the first time admitted that there are cougars in NY.They said that there were 10 cougars living in the area between Hornell and Wellsboro PA !!For many years the two states have denied that there were cats in their sta tes .

Just last month a DEC biologist spoke our our Conservation Club. He says the DEC is not aware of any (repeat any) confirmed sightings of cougar in NYS. He is aware of the porch picture and proved that it existed on the internet as a western state cougar at least 5 years ago. They would love to find a dead cougar someplace, if it is true. They get calls, but never repeat calls from anybody. I think cougar in NY is an urban legend.

He did say that people have been known to let captive exotic pets loose in the woods. most of the time they are declawed, etc so do not survive very long.

The wildlife dept in Oklahoma has contended for years that no mountain lions were in the state. All that came to a halt when a cougar was hit and killed by a train about 4 miles from where I work, in the North central part of the state. It had a radio collar on it, and they tracked the origin to be North Dakota That cat had traveled over 1000 miles. Now they admit to a small group in the Witchita Mountains, in the South west part of the state.

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All that came to a halt when a cougar was hit and killed by a train about 4 miles from where I work, in the North central part of the state.

Wouldn't be anywhere near Ponca City, would it. I have relatives there. Lived there for a few years as a kid.

-Steve

They do exist in NEW YORK or I must have had acid put in my kool aid.

Until I see a link to some factual information (such as on the NYSDEC website), I too chalk this up to urban myth, just like the coyote stocking program in PA.

As stated many times before, if cougars existed in NY, then why haven't any been hit by cars, left scat or tracks, been photographed by trailcams, been confirmed by cattle kills, etc.?

While cougars in limited numbers might be an interesting addition to our wildlife, there is simply no factual evidence that I've seen to support their existence.

There is a cougar living and killing in a residential area of Bend, Oregon, a resort town here in Oregon.
It is being treated as nothing special and the residents are being told to live with it. It is not a priority
for the government hunter. I know that in most areas of the USA cougars are unusual. I just wanted to give
you an example where they are just normal, local, wildlife.

erict, 'coyote stocking program in PA'? That's one animal that doesn't have to be stocked ,they're everywhere and I've certainly seen them in NE PA and NY.As for cougars I've talked to people in various states who have personally seen them, people who are very knowledgable and have no reason to tell tall tales.

There are no mountain lions in Florida. Or mountains. The earth is flat.

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Originally posted by Old Elk Hunter:
There is a cougar living and killing in a residential area of Bend, Oregon, a resort town here in Oregon.
It is being treated as nothing special and the residents are being told to live with it. It is not a priority
for the government hunter. I know that in most areas of the USA cougars are unusual. I just wanted to give
you an example where they are just normal, local, wildlife.

When I was living in Bishop and Mammoth Lakes California Mt Lions were just part of life. It was a regular occurance to hear of dogs/cats or even the occasional person attacked my mt lions.

I had a government hunter tell me once that there had never been Mt. Lions in Texas, east of Junction TX., because none had been seen, no tracks had been found, none had been hit by a car etc. This was pure ignorance on his part. I know of several lions that have been killed in and around Brownwood, TX. and a few in the hill country. Just because you dont see scat, tracks etc doesnt mean they arent there. They are ellusive creatures and arent prone to advertising their presence and just because some wisecracker from a government agency says they arent there doesnt mean much to me. They are usually long on book knowledge and short on field craft.

I know lots of hunters that live in the west that don't run dogs that haven't ever seen a mountain lion. The areas around the citys may not have cats in New York. Dec has lied about wolves, Moose, and fish before. Why not about lions. By the way I saw a lion 1.5 miles west of the Vermont border( lake champlain) near a protected 2000 acre area that is loaded with game. That was 9 years ago. I have never seen any sign , tracks or kills before or since that day. Maybe that lion was vacationing in the adrondacks like the rest of N.Y.