@coloradosun I am not sure I would be hiking alone on Crosier Mountain Trail after these multiple incidences.😧 #Colorado #mountainLion

Woman killed in suspected mountain lion attack while hiking in northern Colorado

A woman was killed in a suspected mountain lion attack while she was hiking alone in the mountains…
#NewsBeep #News #Headlines #AssociatedPress #Attack #mountainlion #outdoors #UnitedStates #Us #USA
https://www.newsbeep.com/345233/

Woman killed in suspected mountain lion attack while hiking in Colorado
A Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson said there were 'signs that this was consistent with a mountain lion attack but we can't say for sure.'
#attack #mountainlion #hiking #Colorado #USNews #mountainlionattack
https://globalnews.ca/news/11597120/mountain-lion-attack-colorado-woman-dead/

Woman killed in suspected mountain lion attack while hiking in Colorado
A Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson said there were 'signs that this was consistent with a mountain lion attack but we can't say for sure.'
#attack #mountainlion #hiking #Colorado #USNews #mountainlionattack
https://globalnews.ca/news/11597120/mountain-lion-attack-colorado-woman-dead/

Woman killed in suspected mountain lion attack while hiking in Colorado
A Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson said there were 'signs that this was consistent with a mountain lion attack but we can't say for sure.'
#attack #mountainlion #hiking #Colorado #USNews #mountainlionattack
https://globalnews.ca/news/11597120/mountain-lion-attack-colorado-woman-dead/

Skunk Confronts Mountain Lion in Incredible Trail Camera Footage https://petapixel.com/2025/12/22/skunk-confronts-mountain-lion-in-incredible-trail-camera-footage/ #angelesnationalforest #mountainlion #trailcamera #california #cameratrap #Features #cougar #skunk #News

Man Leaves Trail Camera in Cave for 10 Years, Captures Incredible Footage https://petapixel.com/2025/11/24/man-leaves-trail-camera-in-yellowstone-cave-grizzly-bear-den-for-10-years-captures-incredible-footage/ #mountainlion #grizzlybear #trailcamera #cameratrap #coyote #News

The present and future of the Eastern Cougar

Are mountain lions here in the eastern US? The answer is complicated. More critical is the question, “Should we actively bring them back?“

The infamous “black panther”

It’s interesting when new items about the same topic cluster together in time or space. Earlier this week, I was listening to an episode of Dark Outdoors podcast featuring Shadow Cats author Michael Mayes. The topic was the reports of “black panthers” in North America. This was a very rational and balanced take on the many reports of people claiming to see large black cats and what could reasonably account for the experiences.

What they can’t be is melanistic mountain lions because that is not a biological possibility, knowing what we know about the genetics of mountain lions and the fact that they have been hunted for centuries, including to extinction in the northeast U.S. Chester and Mike explained that a black coat variant is associated with cats that are patterned – leopards and jaguars – where the excess of dark pigment results in a melanistic individual. This isn’t an option for mountain lions, which are not patterned but uniformly tawny to gray with light underbellies. Give this episode a listen!

Sightings of eastern cougars

On this blog, the most vehement arguments I get in the comments is from people who insist that dowsing is real. Had I written content critical of big cat sightings in the northeast, I’m pretty sure this would result in the same outraged and insistent comments. It’s such a controversial topic! Yet, facts are facts: there is no evidence that wild mountain lions can be found in northeast states.

The example trotted out time after time is that of the young male that was killed in Connecticut in 2011. Testing showed that it was part of a population from the Black Hills of South Dakota, and that genetic testing matched samples of an animal confirmed as having been in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The animal had likely taken a northern route, through Canada, and came south, meaning it crossed at least one major river only to be done in by a car. He was an outlier and a loner.

Other cats that have been found in the east may or may not have been migrants. We don’t know. Consider the mystery of the October 2015 game camera photograph from Obion County, Tennessee that was authenticated by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. They report that there have been a handful of other sightings in western and middle Tennessee since that time. It’s unclear how many individuals account for the incidents, but it’s single digits.

Remember the Rochester lion from June of this year? That was almost certainly a captive animal that got loose in the New York town. We never got a conclusion to that mystery.

Otherwise, we don’t have photographic proof, definitive prints, or other bodies. So, it’s possible that a few intrepid males are making it this far, but there is not an established breeding population. Individuals are very rare.

Almost all the modern stories about mountain lions east of the Mississippi (north of Florida) are mistaken identifications or tall tales. (No, I don’t want to hear your stories, please. They won’t do anything to convince me.)

Should they, would they… come back?

Mountain lions were native to the eastern US until they were extirpated in the 1930s. There remains an argument regarding the “Eastern cougar” being its own subspecies. With modern genetic testing, the consensus is that the eastern cougar population was not distinct enough to be labeled a subspecies. (They are all Puma concolor, from Canada to Chile.) Therefore, an expansion of “western” animals to the east would be a repopulation. That’s the goal one organization, Mighty Earth affiliate Bring Catamounts Home, who advocate for rewilding – bringing the big cat back to the Northeastern US.

On 18 November 2025, an article in The Guardian floated the idea of introducing the mountain lion, or catamount, back into Vermont. Quoting Renee Seacor, the group’s northeastern rewilding director, Vermont is a leading contender for welcoming back the big cat. The amazing, rich forest lands of Vermont would be prime habitat, flush with deer, their main prey item. Vermonters are actively considering the proposition, with the majority of opinions being positive.

Without assistance, the animals would not be able to gain a foothold in the east in our lifetime. Here was a quote from the Guardian article that got my attention:

Reintroducing mountain lions to Vermont as a breeding population could happen naturally but it would take decades, Seacor estimated, as they migrate from the Dakotas to the Carolinas and Tennessee and up the Appalachian chain to the north-east.

Wait a second! They come from the Dakotas to the south and then up the Appalachians? That’s not right. How do they get across the Mississippi!? I messaged Bring Catamounts Home to ask about this confusing scenario, and Renee Seacor immediately got back to me. Renee confirmed that phrasing was incorrect. There is no basis for a scenario where the Carolinas and Tennessee as part of any potential recolonization route. (Always read news articles carefully. Big errors are not uncommon.)

Renee pointed me to a 2024 study in Biological Conservation journal using a model of carnivore range expansion applied to cougars. The model successfully predicted past historical recolonization. The projected model showed the most likely area to see a breeding population would be Manitoba, Canada by 2100. Natural expansion goes slowly, with the far more likely scenario that the population expands north into new areas.

The immediate issue, then, is not to worry about errant and rare individuals who may get lucky and make it all the way here. That effort would be for naught if they have no mates, and are not part of a cohort to reestablish the population. It’s going to take an intervention. But people are nervous about bringing back apex predators. Will they really take only wildlife prey and make an impact on the nuisance numbers of white-tail deer? Or will they threaten livestock, pets and children. Fear is a hard thing to overcome.

I’m not going to lie. When I’m walking around rocky woodlands in Pennsylvania, I think about what it would be like knowing there are mountain lions around. It’s freaky. But, in my mind, these are rightfully their spaces too. It’s an exciting idea.

#blackPanthers #catamount #easternCougar #mountainLion #mountainLionSightingPennsylvania #northeast #pumaConcolor #rewilding #tennessee #vermont

https://sharonahill.com/?p=10519

https://www.fogolf.com/1100170/not-your-normal-golfing-hazard/ ‘Not your normal golfing hazard’ #Golf #GolfCourse #GolfNews #MountainLion

Speedpaint to the Commission :blobfox:

#speedpaint #furryart #mountainlion #felineoc #gamergirl

Doorbell Camera Captures Mountain Lion Strolling into California Home https://petapixel.com/2025/10/01/doorbell-camera-captures-mountain-lion-strolling-into-california-home/ #doorbellcamera #mountainlion #ringdoorbell #cougar #News

Just saw my first mountain lion in the wild. I was in the garage and it walked across the driveway. It didn’t look at me. Luckily, the dogs were inside. #arizona #mountainlion

A mountain lion was caught on camera strolling past a man in a California state park. No one was injured, but officials are reminding visitors to stay alert and cautious in wildlife areas.
📺 Watch full coverage on YouTube: World News Scenes
#worldnewsscenes #BreakingNews #MountainLion #California #Wildlife

watching the magpie that comes each morning

A Story
Linda Hogan

#Poetry #LindaHogan #Story #Lynx #Wasp #Magpie #Snail #MountainLion

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/1710585/a-story

Mountain lion sightings are on the rise in nearby counties, and Nevada County families should stay prepared. From backyard safety to trail encounters, here’s your guide to staying safe while still enjoying everything our foothills have to offer.

Read the full guide below!

#NevadaCounty #MountainLionSafety #MountainLion #WildlifeAwareness #GoldCountry #hikingsafety #wildlife #IttyBitty4Life

http://ittybitty4life.com/2025/08/31/mountain-lion-safety-in-nevada-county-what-you-need-to-know/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Mountain lion bites girl, 11, in Malibu, chases her mother and sibling

A mountain lion bit an 11-year-old girl outside her home in Malibu on Sunday and then proceeded to…
#NewsBeep #News #Topstories #californiadepartment #child #Fish #girl #Headlines #lastweek #losangelescountysheriff #malibu #mother #mountainlion #official #scene #sibling #sunday #tira #TopStories #wildlifeofficer
https://www.newsbeep.com/54717/

Mini North American Animals Figurine Playset (Toymany)

Before I start this Blogpost, I must again thank @Kenc and the folks at Toymany for donating this review sample. It is very much appreciated. As with other Toymany set reviews, this is a general overview to introduce the animal toy community to the set and does not prevent others from doing more in-depth reviews of individual figures. I will be covering the animals based on family-level (or […]

Read more... https://animaltoyforum.com/blog/mini-north-american-animals-figurine-playset-toymany/

#Alces #AlcesAlces #alligatorSnappingTurtle #AmericanBaldEagle #AmericanBison #Antilocapra #AntilocapraAmericana #bighornSheep #Bison #BisonBison #brownBear #Canis #CanisLatrans #coyote #grayFox #Haliaeetus #HaliaeetusLeucocephalus #jaguar #KeyDeer #Macrochelys #MacrochelysSuwanniensis #MacrochelysTemmincki #Meleagris #MeleagrisGallopavo #Moose #mountainGoat #mountainLion #Odocoileus #OdocoileusVirginianus #OdocoileusVirginianusClavium #Oreamnos #OreamnosAmericanus #Ovis #OvisCanadensis #Panthera #PantheraOnca #Pronghorn #Puma #PumaConcolor #SuwaneeAlligatorSnappingTurtle #turkey #Urocyon #UrocyonCinereoargenteus #Ursus #UrsusArctos #whiteTailedDeer

Rochester mountain lion

Not kidding. There appears to be a legit video of a mountain lion walking a residential street in Rochester, NY in the early hours of 10 July 2025. Usually, these videos are questionable in veracity but in this case, you can see that the animal is large, since it passes behind the tree so we can fairly judge the size. It’s not unheard of for a puma to travel from the west, through Canada, and into the eastern US (bypassing the Mississippi), but it is rare to see. Or, it could be an escaped domestically kept puma. There have been no reports of this, however. People from the area are saying that other sightings have been reported to police and that the animal has escaped being cornered. First reported via Ring, Neighbors, and Facebook, the homeowner reported to the news station. It’s currently the top story in Rochester. Again, I’m leaning towards this being a legit big cat. But stay tuned. Unfortunately, odds are this will not end well for the cat, if it’s indeed real.

• ‘It’s happened before’: DEC investigates big cat sighting in Rochester
• Did a mountain lion stroll down a Rochester street?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGvD9WcV0ks

Unfortunately, these stories come with a ton of jerks making idiotic comments or posting their own hot take videos. The real story is whether this is a real puma roaming the area and where it came from.

Day two of mountain lion mania in Rochester

I’m sorry, I can’t stop laughing, check out the video at this link:

Man describes face-to-face encounter with mysterious large cat in Rochester

This guy is hilarious. Even the reporter and anchor can’t help but react as people LOVE to be on TV. Anyway, the new news is that this seems to be showing signs of a social panic where people are going to report seeing the creature when they are seeing something else instead. While wildlife officials in NY state they think this is a puma/cougar/mountain lion, they stated that due to its location, it’s more likely to be a domestically held escapee and not a wild cat travelling to that area. But that’s just playing the odds.

What’s really critical is people are claiming to see it but there seems to be NO additional evidence – no video or photos, no reports of attacks on small animals, no scat. That’s a bit weird.

We can all play guessing games – we always have mass speculation event when these sorts of things happen. Remember the 2023 lion in Berlin, Germany? Even the experts said an unclear photo of something in a wooded area was a lion. Police claimed to hear it. But it was wild boar, no lion. We all make mistakes. Yet, the video that sparked it all is intriguing. Was it someone’s pet? Did it find its way back to the owner? It’s REALLY tough to keep such an animal secured in an urban area.

• Have mountain lions returned to NY? Viral Rochester video sparks big cat questions
• Mysterious animal in viral video stirs up Rochester residents: Is a mountain lion in the city?

This news story is all anyone is talking about in this part of NY. Attached to every link on socials is a parade of people saying that they know that pumas are in the northeast. In 2011, a transient animal was killed in Connecticut that was traced back to a population in South Dakota, 1500 miles away! But note that it didn’t survive. It wasn’t breeding. It’s not implausible that transients make it here on occasion, or that people’s “pets” get out. How can we forget the 2021 neighborhood tiger in Houston?! Again, really obvious! Luckily, it was caught and surrendered to have a safer life.

The circus is underway!

Oh my gosh, the Rochester mountain lion/cougar is a star. It often takes several days for a local story to appear in international media. You won’t see much even on Xitter right now, but it’s all over Rochester area Facebook. So many businesses are posting photoshopped pictures of the puma to market their site. This is SO pop cryptid! I collected these from Facebook today. Check it out.

And, the new Internet star is Curtis Jones from the news reports! This guy is going to milk his 15 minutes of fame for all its worth.

I’ll keep updating this post as needed.

#cougar #mountainLion #puma #Rochester #RochesterCougar #RochesterMountainLion

https://sharonahill.com/?p=9967

Hiker Films ‘Amazing and Terrifying’ Close Encounter with Mountain Lion https://petapixel.com/2025/07/11/hiker-films-amazing-and-terrifying-close-encounter-with-mountain-lion/ #mountainlion #california #hiker #News