I saw a mountain lion in 2018, as I drove from Quebec into NH. It was huge, muscular and used its tail as a balance. I watched it run across the highway. As I went over the border (Pittsburg NH), I mentioned it to the Customs Agent. He said, my game warden friends tell me that officially mountain lions don't exist in NH. I laughed and said, I assume they don't check-in with you before crossing the border.
Lions seen in Rhode Island! Smithfield, north Smithfield, East Greenwich, Exited... 1 story, a guy was get 2 dogs in from outside. The dogs had been barking at something in back yard. Guy gets dogs in his PJs and house coat. Shines phone light 🔦 on wood slash pile. Only to see lion on pile watching crouched, eyes glowed when phone light was on it. Scary!
I'm from the great Smoky mountains area of east Tennessee and when I was a kid staying at my grandma's house we heard a god awful scream one night and mamaw told me it was a black panther and she should know her father killed one when she was a small child and that would have been about 1918 or so since she was born in 1912.... this was around 1978-79 when we heard the scream... I'll never forget it
I'm a East Tennessean too, I've heard & seen the typical mountain lion in our area & sightings are becoming more common. As far as your comments on solid black big cats in our area, I've never seen one but I've heard people talk about seeing them in our area & in western North Carolina & south West Virginia too, do I believe them, yes I do!! So personally I believe your families encounter as well!
My Dad and I personally witnessed a mountain Lion cross in front of us on the Greenbriar River Trail in West Virginia. It was around 10 yards in front of us and walked into the trees and dissapeared. It was absolutely a mountain Lion and not a Bobcat. We stopped a cyclist that approached us on the trail and told him what we saw. He replied back that about 100 yards up the trail that one crossed in front of him. There had to be another one besides the one we witnessed.
I have a lot of family in Pendleton County. I remember a story about a sheriff who they said was killed by a mountain lion. Don't know if there's any official report to confirm that.
One was sighted near Elkhorn Lake in 2014 by a muzzleloader hunter from Hampton. He said it followed him out to the dam breast from Hankey mtn. Round that same time one was seen on a farm with young cubs near Bridgewater.
Summer/fall of 2015 one was seen on a sheep farm near Broadway Va. Several neighbors reported hearing it call its young with whistles over a several week period.
I saw mine in Big Meadows on SNP. It appeared to be juvenile with a little of the mottled color remaining. It was Sept of 2001. It was stalking a group of 4 bedded deer who suddenly got up to leave. It slunk across the road 40 yards away to follow them. It turned and saw me but did not appear to be bothered by me. I’ve handled 20-25 lb Bobcats. This animal was clearly 50 to 60 lbs. the tail was unmistakable! It was def a lion. And less than 150 yards from the parking area.
Extremely well made video! I've seen every kind of animal that lives in the New England woods, from bear to moose, from fishers to bobcat, from porcupines to martens, foxes, otter, weasel, and mink. The only time I say a mountain lion I was doing brush work by myself deep in the northwest hills of Connecticut and even then I really only got a glimpse of the back half of it as it jumped over a stone wall and flicked that unmistakable tail..this was maybe 14 years ago now.
I used to work contractor security for First Energy. I was responsible for random patrols of various retired power plants in the tri state area. One plant was the Armstrong County power plant, Armstrong, Pa. It was decommissioned in 2013. My patrols were after dark at each location. One night I was sitting in my vehicle, engine off, at Armstrong. I heard five distinct, very close cries of a cougar. I saw no cat that evening. A few nights later, I was sitting in my vehicle along a fence line at Armstrong when I felt something bump the vehicle along the back. A few seconds later, about 50ft behind me I saw a cougar walk under a street light and disappear between buildings. I immediately gave chase with the vehicle. Moments later, I saw the cat once again. When it noticed me it bolted down an interior plant road and back in the direction of the river. I reported my sighting to First Energy and to the maintenance person due at the plant. I did not see or hear the animal after that night. This was, if memory serves me, in 2017.
My son woke me up around 2am and said there was something in the woods that woke him up. I went into his room and a few minutes later a cougar walked out of the woods and down a small hill across the bridge of our brook and it went behind my son's play scape. There was a full moon that night and it looked like the mountain lion was glowing, it was so bright. The tail on it was huge!! I heard that about a mile away the elementary school staff had seen one in the back of the school yard. This happened in Huntington, Massachusetts about 10-11 years ago. Absolutely an amazing sight to see.
As I said on the trailer: I live in eastern NC and officially they've been extinct for over a century. Although I've had park rangers and game wardens tell me privately they've been back in the state for awhile. I've heard them myself once or twice at night. I plan on treating it the same way I treat the other potentially dangerous animals in this area: if it leaves me alone I'll leave it alone.
Wow, I didn't know this was coming. I can't wait to see another STM production. I hope more people will decide to start supporting STM on TH-cam, because they really deserve it with such quality productions. Every video is top-notch ...
I live on Cape Cod, MA and had NEVER heard of this story...!!! Thank you for bringing it too my attention. I've lived here for nearly 35yrs now year round and consider myself a native. So this Truro story is VERY interesting too me. I live in Harwich, MA which is down cape about 40min as the crow flies from Truro. The thing is that part of the Cape is still quite "under developed" and has A LOT of forested trails, salt marshes, dunes, etc...Excellent birding as i've been doing that for 40yrs now. The landscape was obviously much different back when this mountain lion was going on the attack. I highly doubt we have them in the area now. Although people thought Fisher Cats (large weasel like predators) were gone from the Cape. And yet my neighbor spotted one on his trail cam early in the morning in his backyard...!!! So go figure. I guess we'll have too watch our small dogs and cats in our neighborhood. As Fisher's are powerful enough too kill a Lynx or Bobcat. There are many reports of them doing so all over the internet. They are like a ball of fury when they hunt.
Orvismc84 You are absolutely right. I believe that there is a huge list of different things that are def being covered up. From big cats to bigfoot and missing people/children to UFOs. Many of which take place in our national forests and parks that are run by Federal and State Wildlife Agencies.
A wonderful documentary! This brings to mind a book I recently read: "Coyote America" by Dan Flores. While the creatures are very different, reading about how the coyote not only resisted attempts to exterminate it but expanded its range to include Central Park makes me inclined to think that it is not so far-fetched to think that something analogous, albeit much more modest, might be happening with the mountain lion. There are a reported 600 or so of them in Ontario and Quebec which share a very long, often heavily-forested border with the eastern U.S.
As a Mainer, Ive grown up with stories of cougars and I believe them. They're the most adaptable big cats in the world. Even if they're not in the eastern US that doesn't mean they wouldn't come back. The same thing is happening with wolves.
@@EranRicos That is true. Though I will point out that cougars out west have been documented sleeping coniferous trees which honestly looks cool but is rare considering their more terrestrial life style.
Still have em in south Florida . A few years back a Florida panther was killed in Georgia. Entirely plausible they could repopulate the south east and Canadian cougars could repopulate the northeast .
I saw one in Maine in the early 1990s. And there was no mistaking it for a different animal. Also, a few years later, a man in the next town over caught one on video camera
What always amazed me about Mountain lion is their agility and Elusiveness. Their ability to leap and bound almost unbelievably through Cliffsides to me was insane.
A friend of mine who is a Zoologist was in Albany County New York near the Helderberg Mountains where he saw a Mountain lion running across the road, before he could get out his cell phone and take a picture it was gone. If this man says there are Mountain Lions in New York I will believe that.
Thank you for this !!! I've gotten sick & tired of the townships telling us "There are NO mountain lions in our state!" So here's MY eye witness account ! It was way back about 60 years ago, up in Green County, NY at a small farm in the big mountains. I was visiting a friend when her boyfriend drove up and we went out to talk to him. He said "Wanna see what I shot in the barnyard ?" He opened the car trunk and a beautiful mountain lion filled the entire trunk. It was indeed beautiful, and I couldn't help but pet it's side. He was still soft, so it hadn't been too long before he came up to show her. I've heard of others being seen ~ but I haven't seen any other....dead or alive. We did see a huge lynx cross the road in front of our car one night . . . . and see lots of coyotes ~ some quite big, maybe wolf size ! Only saw a bobcat 'kitten' once, and not up close. Did see a photo of a huge one that had been shot by a hunting buddy! Our wildlife are more welcome than some of the city 'wildlife' we've been encountering !!!
* Needed to add that the wildlife have trouble 'following the state wildlife laws' because they can't read the state 'boarder' signs !!! They were created to occupy the forests and fields ! And eat what is there and available ! We've had many black bears on our little farm ..... they've done no harm .... but I'd rather they weren't so close = they probably wish our place wasn't so close to the forest either ! =) ......
Interesting documentary, in Europe (including Denmark where I live) we also have the occasional sightings of out-of-place mountain lions but those are obviously either escapees from captivity or misidentifications of indigenous Old World species. Great nature photography as well, makes me want to go to rural New England myself!
First off, I LOVE this documentary!!! I’ve got a small related story of my own. The time would’ve been in the early to mid 90s. I grew up on the outskirts of Randallstown/Granite/Woodstock, MD. The area is about 25 minutes outside of the Baltimore City line yet, mere minutes from Howard and Carroll County lines (driving). This area is surrounded by the Patapsco Valley State Park. A large river, stream tributaries, history of erosion, valleys everywhere, plenty of wildlife, no hunting permitted within the park, rocks, cliffs, quarries, etc. All that to say, our neighbors had a black lab retriever. Mid-large size dog; straight pointy ears; stood tall; decent size tail that ended in a point. Random spring-summer day, I thought I saw our neighbor’s dog come up from the path in the woods to the path entrance from the edge of our yard. I was in our ground floor den and went to our French doors to get ready to go outside to greet the dog. This is a more rural area and was normal for the dog to run free and randomly show up on our property. I went to grab the doorknob but, as I looked, something wasn’t right. It indeed was all black!! First, I noticed the head. Very round; short snout; rounded short ears. Then I noticed the body was lower and more lax. Lastly, I noticed the tail. It was very long and sloped towards the ground and swooped up at the very end. My young brain immediately associated Bagheera with what I saw. I immediately started to panic a bit because I didn’t know if my Dad was outside working or not. I left the room to try and tell someone. I eventually did find my Dad and told him what I saw. I don’t think he believed me lol. Nevertheless, we all were safe and I never saw anything like that again. Didn’t think to try and look for prints or anything like that. I did see another report online in that area that backed up my story within that timeframe. I believe they reported it as black too. I’m 💯 on what I saw. Don’t know if it was a rare black mountain lion or a rare escaped black panther exotic pet. Short side note… I do know (based off the sounds made and some research) I have had an invisible, night stalker encounter with a bobcat in those parts one night too. My friends in that area had minor bobcat brushes and noises as well. They had named it “The Beastie” lol. That was more mid-late 90s / early 2000s. These cats are amazing and “not supposed” to be around these parts. But, could they have been??? There’s coyotes there now that didn’t use to be then. Just maybe, perhaps 🤔
The best documentary on the subject to date. People see cougars in New England occasionally but for every one sighted, you are being watched 100 times more by the cougars. With the woodlands in NE and game animals the cougars hunt, common sense would dictate that, yes, they are out there. I wouldn't want it to be any other way, either. I knew a guy from Arizona who used to hunt mountain lions and when I asked him why he gave it up, he said "I noticed mountain lion tracks in my backtracking that weren't there on my way in and had to question who was hunting who. I got scared once too many times. Those things are ghosts." As they should be. Thanks for the wonderful documentary.
I know Ohio is not considered a New England state, but there have been several sightings of Mountain lions. I've heard of sightings around Columbiana County Jefferson County and Harrison County.
I lived in Aroostook County in the first decade of the 21st century. I was friends with a senior border patrol officer. He assured me that mountain lions and wolves in Maine. He said they had seen both and caught them numerous times on cameras.
This was an exceptional video! I appreciate all the research and evidence presented….a tremendous amount of work went into this production. Beautiful cinematography. Well done!
My brother had a mountain lion in his driveway about a month ago. He's up in Bradford N.H. His neighbor asked if it was the tan one or the black one. So I guess there's a few of them around that area. My wife and I lived in a fairly rural area of Haverhill, Ma. and we saw a mountain lion there back in July 2006. We have friends up in Maine who will also confirm that Wolves are here as well.
I think it's a good probability that 95% of hikers and skiers aren't taking time to notice much of tracks that they pass over. Seeing how there have been reported sightings from New England to Florida, I feel it highly possible that the Eastern Cougar just might still be around, just so wary that they stay out of sight and away from human traffic areas.
I do realize people wanted to protect their livestock but ts a shame these magnificent creatures were hunted down and killed.A lot of people have deep superstitons when it comes to cats in general then you take one that weighs nearly 200 pounds and that doesnt help matters.I saw a bobcat for the first time and remember how i felt,couldn't imagine seing a big cat like the mountain lion.You do such amazing work and always look forwards to the next one
I stopped on a road at night to save what I thought was a litter of kittens someone dumped. Little did I know a massive growl came from the darkness and I just backed myself to my car. That cat could've killed me if it wanted to! I think it new I came with luv but don't push it lol
A mountain Lion ran in front of my Jeep last night in Columbus, New Jersey. That's what brought me to this video. I didn't report it to Fish and Game because I know what they will say. There were sightings in Chatsworth, Marlboro, Galloway, and up in northern NJ. Fish and Game denies all of the sightings.
My daughter and I saw one run across the road in front of my car in 2017 in Methuen MA. I asked her if she saw it and she said it looked like a mountain lion and I agreed. Then 2 weeks later, I saw it again in a field about a tenth of a mile from where we first saw it. This is about a half mile from the NH border.
We live in Central Arkansas & they swear up & down we don’t have them. My husband came out of the VA at FT. Roots from work and there was a mountain lion walking in the parking lot, taking its time and many others saw it as well.
Fmr Arkansan here 👋Back when I lived there, I examined a cast of an apparent mountain lion track that had been allegedly made at a state park in west-central AR with some rugged terrain and a dense population of deer. This cast checked out as _Felis_ _concolor_ according to standards published by the Eastern Cougar Network and the Worcester (MA) Science Center. Best wishes 💯
Great documentary, thanks. This is a very big subject in New York. Many people claim to see mountain lions and the DEC always say they don't exist here
They don’t exactly say that but use a very more diplomatic answer of “ Eastern cougars (mountain lions) do not have a native, self sustaining population in New York State.”
@@RCast-sc6fy Their exact words! They also insist that the cougars came from somewhere else as if that matters. New York has more than 400 miles of border with Ontario and Quebec. The cats don't care.
I live in eastern Canada. The province of Nova Scotia. Apparently the eastern cougar is extinct here but there have still been sightings and people think they are still here! Very interested in this documentary!
My Grandmother used to tell tales of seeing large cats when her and my grandfather lived in a, then, very rural area in Southern New Brunswick. Even a few stories of them attacking people's family dogs in the night. Locally called "Indian Devils"
My father said he saw a cougar outside of Mcconnellsburg PA in 1977. Was hunting rabbit and came across a herd of whitetail in an empty cornfield in the distance. Said he watched the herd for a minute before something launched out of the nearby brush and chased the herd back into the wood. Always said it scared the hell out of him, just due to the sheer unexpectedness of the sighting.
Anyone who thinks that mountain lions aren’t living in the East has never done any real looking. They are so much more adaptable, athletic, and intelligent than most of us can believe. Not even surprised that one was killed less than an hour from NYC.
I witnessed one in my driveway in 2016 in Southern New Hampshire. I did work for fish and game and asked them if they are here and he said no with a smile. I replied well there was one in my drive way a few nights previously. It was 4 ft tall sitting head to butt. Shortly after it was reported a few towns over.
We all have to remember that they were here first, it's in their DNA and they will migrate to where the food is. We have moved into their territories, so we need to make the changes to protect whatever needs protecting. They are a very beautiful animal. GREAT VIDEO!!!
Living in Michigan I know of 2 people that claim they've seen a cougar in the lower peninsula of Michigan. Black bears have been moving back into the area, and I've noticed more coyote activity too. It's not too unreasonable to think that they could move back into the area especially with so many whitetails and turkey around. These folks that claim to have seen them strike me as honest people and I don't see any reason for them to lie. My wife and I were hiking in sleeping bear a few summers back and came across an enormous set of cat tracks. These tracks were bigger than the palm of my hand with fingers fully flexed. It's my personal belief that cougars are in the lower peninsula of Michigan.
The wolves will hopefully take care of the yotes down there . There’s been a few elk that have made it to the UP so maybe some moose could Make it down soon. I know fishers have made it
@@brodyhess5553 I have personally seen fishers three times. Twice in my own back yard but it was at two different houses, and about 15ish years apart. My wife and I saw another fisher in a corn field of all places. Thought it was a woodchuck at first glance then it started to run off when it saw us, that undulating weasel motion when they run is unmistakable.
I had a "big cat" shadow me while walking my dog late at night in my neighborhood in Wasilla, Alaska. I called fish and game and the said there had been several sightings, and they believed the big cats to be coming from Canada.
The early sixties, I and two of my friends had a cougar run up the bank of the road, jump over the cable, run across the road not twenty feet in front of us and over that cable, then down into the woods. We froze as we saw it come up out of the forest. After it left, we were really excited. We had to look it up in our book we had just to be sure.when we told the adults they kept saying that we must have seen something else. Then we took them down to where we saw it and showed them the big tracks in the sand on the sides of the road. They got serious after seeing that and tried to figure out if there was a place around where one could have been kept and escaped. There wasn't any. I wish we had thought about making a cast or at least taken a picture of the tracks then but the excitement of what we saw just overrode that thought. I know that I'll never forget that or forget what it looked like. They were here then so they and more, must be still here. This was in N. Billerica, MA. Which at that time would have had a corridor of almost solid forest up and into Southern NH that wasn't far away.
I landed here from a personal experience the other day. I was turkey hunting in lake red rock iowa on 4/30/2024. I was calling a turkey and getting responses for a while and then it went silent for about 30 mins i kept trying to call with no response. 30 yards in front of me in the brush a mountain lion stepped out. I was in full camo face covering but i stood up fast with adrenaline and spooked it off. i watched it run to my left and it was probably 6 ft long. Iowa DNR confirmed it with scat and paw prints where i was hunting.
Such good and well put together Documentaries much appreciated. I was at the Federared women's state forest in New Salem/Petersham last fall and and caught a mountain lion out of the corner of my eye as it was walking away from me I'll never for get that dark tip on it's long tail and the way it was looking back at me as it was trotting away . Scary to know they're out there and very elusive.
In N.C where I am we are blessed with our wildlife, including the puma. Where I live, the puma are melanistic. We have alot of swamp and deep forest around here and there's rivers and creeks everywhere. Anyways, one day night while driving I seen a melanistic puma standing beside the road along a creek, as I seen it my cousin that was riding with me asked me did I see what he seen, I told him yes. Beside the road was a cat, not a bobcat, not a black lab dog. But, what I seen was a cat the size of a black lab, too big to he a bobcat and not the shape of a dog, it was a huge puma. I've heard of them being around before, then seen one myself. Where I live, you don't walk at night, it's way too dangerous. We have the largest black bear around, some 500-700 lbs, there's also bobcat, coyote, red wolf, alligator, all the species of US vipers, coral snake, and lastly the melanistic puma. I live in a part of the Great Dismal swamp outer region. There's areas around here that there's no gas station for nearly 50-75 miles, one complete stretch of swamp for nearly 40 miles. It's not a place to break down, nor walk at night. Plus there's the chance, a real good chance of meeting crazy hillbilly people also.
I learned of this from the @itlcatskillspidcast and immediately watched it, because I’ve been doubted since my 8/31/2018 sighting on Military Road in Lake Placid NY. It it was crouched and growling at me, and then walked away. There was no question that it was a lion by its size, ears, face, and tail.
I saw a mountain Lion in central Maryland back in 1992. It crossed the road about 50 yards in front of me. I went to the local Natural Resources office the next morning to report what I had seen. The two game wardens there laughed me out of the office. There was another sighting about 20 miles from my encounter about a month later that made the local news. The authorities are not always forthcoming.
Like seriously all the Tigers found in the lower east side & Lord knows how many private collections. We should be grateful that a hybrid super cat ain't out walking around
growing up in NH my dad told me stories of how his friends that worked at a golf course in southern NH had seen one in the early morning on the greens.. and i know multiple other people that have/heard stories of sightings
I don't live in NE but I've seen what they say is a black panther in SETx. It's actually a black jag that has moved from Mexico over the years and is all over now. It has black spots and a long luxurious tail, it's as big if not bigger than a cougar. Beautiful cat. The female would walk thru in heat, scratching trees and marking up the area. The scream from one sounds like a woman being killed, it's wild to hear. We do have cougars too in the area. A guy that had hogs penned up had gotten attacked and killed by one. Amazing animals these big cats. Glad they are protected. I've talked to some guy in Canada that wanted to kill them. Well that might be ok in Canada, but not here in the States. Steve on How to Hunt commented he wanted to come kill them. For such a big hunter, you'd think he'd know they were protected here in the states. He does come down to the south and hunt turkeys, I've heard him say.
Mountain Lions are LEGALLY hunted every year in the United States right now till this day. Arizona, Colorado, Montana etc. U must be talking about Jaguars. Those that have moved from Mexico into Texas and Arizona are protected. And yes in most states Mountain Lions are illegal to hunt. But there is several states where you can hunt them legally. There is tons of videos of people hunting them right here on TH-cam.
I lived in Kentucky when I was younger, very young in the late 70's early 80's actually. We lived in a pretty rural area. My dad's family had owned the property we lived on for many many years.... We were almost atop a mountain. At night you could hear what sounded like a female screaming. Sometimes my older brothers and sisters would try to mock them to scare us I now live in Florida. North Central Florida. I'm also in a rural area here. In what would be 2019 I had gone to visit a friend. She has a gate that you have to get out of your vehicle to open and close. I had visited with her until say around midnight. Upon leaving I got out to open the gate I get back into my vehicle to pull through the gate. I see this animal to the right of the gate inside of her property line following her fence but even as I get out to close the gate behind me it hadn't yet registered to what I saw. Once I get back into my vehicle I all of a sudden think about its tail... A long tail... Almost deer in color and that slinky swagger of a cat.... You bet I all of a sudden got a huge chill down my spine. I still can't believe I was that close to this animal and was none the wiser. Needles to say I always pay attention now when in her area.
My mother has a photo from one of her trail cameras that we believe is definitely a catamount walking through her back yard. Her house is near the intersection of South Stream Road and Maple Grove Road Bennington/Pownal Vermont. The photo is from a few years ago and she still has it.
I constantly have people tell me they have seen a mountain lion themselves or know someone who has. I also know there is a giant turtle species in Lake Champlain that's around 30 foot long.
@@goshawk224 listen you can think all you want but I have seen the photo for myself and I absolutely do not lie or tell stories that are not factual. I will be going to see my mother this weekend and I will get the original picture and show it to the world. That way, I have the proof that you need to back up my comment.
@@berkshirecountybigfoot Hey, I'm trying to back you up here. I do not doubt you at all. Sorry for the confusion. I know they are here. Coverups are going on. Big turtles in Lake Champlain are on video and photographed. Thats being covered up as well.
@@goshawk224 MY BAD! It was the way I read or took your comment. Sorry for any confusion. My entire life I have never ever heard about big turtles in lake champlain and I grew up in the state of Vermont. But, I will definitely look into now. Thank you and again, I apologize.
Yep in the early 2000s was a report of a Jaguar in the north east corner of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana , as it turned out to be a male and female Jaguars who either escape from their owner.as turned out. Both Animals were put down
Enjoyed this video a lot. I think that the big cats could survive and do well in the East especially if they have a good food supply. They ate smart and versatile and would do well. Makes sense to me.
Really enjoyed your video/story. The proof of any sighting is with the witnesses. I´m sure there can be cases of mis-identification, but it´s highly unlikely that all sightings are mistaken identity.
While hunting has been on the decline for decades , and cougars having the ability to remain unseen its no surprise to me at least. Seen one in southwest Pennsylvania and was called crazy
I live in northern Virginia right on the West Virginia line and we have mountain lions. I saw what appeared to me to be a black one once. Labrador sized.
YOu guys nailed it on this one. I live in Western Ma, have track pictures and just this week someone had a sighting. Somehow, though, I almost feel like it's best State Game doesn't know. The less people know the safer the Mountain Lions are.
I live in WV. As a child i have infact heard a mtn lion here. Probably around '99. It was the sound u hear in shows and movies like the classic unmistakable sound of one yelling. I know there was one here at that point
Also i beleive i seen tracks. But i was just a kid and it was the 90s so i didnt think it was special. And also didnt have a camera. But i 100% heard one here.
So, three weeks ago, here in Berks County PA, where I am born and raised, on my land, which is 5 acres, with a wide creek flowing through it, surrounded by a 100 acre farm and a 300 acre farm, my father and I heard a mountain lion killing a deer in my back yard in the night and I ran out with a head lamp , to try to see it, but it was down on the creek bank, and my head lamp was above it and as I was about 40 feet away, it growled at me so directly that my dad and I ran back in the house. I live in Colorado and have seen many mountain lions in the wild. Even though I could not see it, this animal , this big cat that growled at me was so large it could of killed me easily and on a primal level, both my father and I knew that! And this morning, I heard the screams of a female mountain lion, so fully in my woods. I heard them before 1.5 years ago, but had not heard them since and I did not know what they were before. but heard them again last night in the woods across the creek, I am 99.9% sure, there is a mountain lion back in the woods. This section of woods is private and about 350 acres total and has no access to the public and rarely are any property owners on that side of the creek, there is no bridge or anything. I am 99.9% sure we have them here in northern/northeastern Berks, County, PA towards Hawk Mountain.
I grew up in the Northern Catskills. In the 90s there were still many old farmers and mountain people living in the area. I was told that mountain lions were still very much part of life there. Locally there was supposedly a dark melanistic one. In 2009 the DEC confirmed a sighting on route 214 to be legitimate as they were able to track it. The local history books from the 1800s are FILLED with tales of cougars. People were terrified of them. One young girl had to shelter in her log cabin and watch in horror through the logs as two cougars killed a pig, ate it, and then lounge in the sun for a long spell. We have so much forest here. It’s very easy to pick a direction and walk in the woods and not come to a house or road for many miles. There are tons of deer. We have a huge bear population so it’s easy to see how well the area can maintain a population of mountain lions. I would venture to guess that the amount of these animals living in upstate NY is unknowable. It’s difficult enough to see them in the Catskills let alone the enormous Adirondack range, much of which is untrodden and so thick in the understory that filming them is nearly futile.
I saw one in Maine in the early 1990s. And there was no mistaking it for a different animal. Also, a few years later, a man in the next town over caught one on video camera
We absolutely have them in North Carolina. I think I saw a juvenile one time. I have heard they are actually Florida Panthers which have been brought in to control the deer and feral hogs.
I have never seen a live cougar, but have been aware of their presence many times. I have lived in many States, and travelled nearly all 50, including residing in Montana, Nevada and Colorado
While working on a survey crew in early 2000's I found a couple big cat tracks at a cellphone tower site in NE Pennsylvania....I would've photographed them, but it was before cellphone camera's were common
I'm speaking with some experience on this subject, once having been director of science on an enormous private nature reserve along the central Niobrara river in Nebraska. Shortly after starting there I had one of the state's earlier verified occurrences, basically in my yard, consisting of tracks of which I made plaster casts that were sent to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the only body authorized to verify occurrences. (Those casts are within arms' reach as I type this). During the years I was there I learned to identify all sorts of lion sign, tracks, scat, kills, to my satisfaction. I could go out near anytime and find sign, often again basically in my yard. Despite having spent hundreds of hours poking around the preserve's wilderness back country, I never did see one. OK, first off, I'm not saying there aren't some surviving Puma concolors in New England. It's certainly possible, but there are a number of points about this whole phenomenon that need to be made. Nebraska went through this whole cycle decades ago. There were reports going back decades based on sightings, but no physical evidence, until 1991 when one was shot in the Pine Ridge in extreme northwest Nebraska. Today that area is one with a documented breeding population, along with the Wildcat Hills, south of Scottsbluff, and my old stomping grounds on the central Niobrara. Even so, over 90% of the "sighting" reports that come in prove to be mistaken identity or outright hoaxes in cases that can be investigated. For example, if the evidence includes a photo, a Game and Parks representative will go to the site of the alleged photo. Often there is no such site, a hoax, or if there is, scale is introduced to the scene to properly size whatever was in the photo. More often than not it turns out to be a big yellow tom cat. All verifications require some form of physical evidence, e.g. photo, unequivocal tracks, scat with DNA confirmation, hair with DNA, dead lions, kills if they bare characteristic marks, etc. Hoaxes still happen. A year or two ago the Omaha World-Herald newspaper made a big deal of a deer up a tree in northeastern Nebraska. This was verified as lion doings by the Winnebago Village Parks department, whoever or whatever that may be. Again, only the state G&P is authorized to verify these things. The problem with this whole yarn is that if there is a reliable record of lions making tree caches I am unable to find it in the scientific literature. The newspaper got rolled. On the other hand, there are thousands of trail cams out across known lion range. While photo captures are somewhat rare, there are enough that they don't even make the news unless in the "cornbelt" eastern third of the state. Finally, regarding the famous Black Hills to Connecticut cat. Shortly after this happened I was talking to the G&P guy in charge of all things mountain lions. I offered a theory to account for these long-distance movements, namely that dispersing males are looking for vacant territories WITH females. The further east they go, the less apt they are to find that. They don't set out to walk to the East Coast, they just keep walking over the next hill. Oddly enough I soon started hearing that explanation for lions turning up all over the east. My G&P guy spread my notion around amongst this colleagues. Females are under no such pressure to move on. Young ones generally grab the first vacant space close to where they were raised and wait for a male to show up. Hence all the long-range cats are young males. Without both sexes a breeding population popping up is for obvious not going to happen. The day will probably come when lions are firmly reestablished in New England and other parts of the east. But experience and science show it's a long, slow process.
In 2004 I spotted a mountain lion in Connecticut. It crossed the road right in front of me along RT. 202 just south of Bantam heading towards Litchfield. No doubt about it whatsoever. I could describe it in detail but I'd merely be describing a mountain lion. I know _exactly_ what I saw. After speaking with some people from the DEEP (Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection), and how dismissive they were, I never bothered filing an official report. I've spoken to at least a half-dozen other people who have had similar sightings since then. When you see one, there's just no mistaking it for anything else. The lion that was later hit by a car and killed in 2011 was estimated to be between two and five years old, so clearly a different animal altogether. Based on my experiences at the time and since then, I will never waste my time with the DEEP ever again.
For over 40 yrs the Michigan DNR demanded there were no Mt. Lionds in the lower peninsula, even after continual eyewitness reports. Even our neighbor, as a park ranger, reported his sighting. Now they have admitted minimal existance. My sighting was in the summer of 1993
When I was in high school at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield, Me 1990. There was a den with a mother and cubs seen and living on the town's kiddle ski slope, near the golf course. There should be records in the local police records, as they would close the slope once tracks were spotted. People would see the mother and her cubs all around the slope. Wouldn't be surprised if there isn't photos around with the locals.
There's a Sasquatch in the middle of the screen @11:02 standing behind the 2 guys contemplating if he should push them over the cliff, but is uncertain if he can snag the drone remote during the process.
They're here in New England, perhaps they were never "extinct". I lived in NY state, directly on the border of Massachusetts. I saw a Black Panther take the width of my driveway in one leap. A local well seasoned hunter living in an adjacent town saw a Black Panther when he was out deer hunting. I got to witness this because my dog started to bark so I ran out of the house to see what the fuss was. I got a good look at the cat, it was maybe 65 feet away. Some years later there was a tawny Cougar directly outside my house. I opened the sliding glass door to my bedroom and startled the cat, which was not more than 20 feet away. Trust me I know what I saw, nothing compares to a mountain lion, they're huge, with that long tail that curls up at the hocks. I've seen bobcats countless times having lived in the woods for decades. I've seen fisher, marten, mink, bear, fox, coyote, and all the common small mammals we have in the wild. Now I live in Massachusetts, and have heard from credible people who have seen Cougars. Recently, summer 2023, I was photographing a coyote in a field and talking to an observer, who had seen a Cougar on the road we were on in southern Berkshire County, took a photo, and sent it to Mass Audubon. Mass Audubon respond to this woman verifying it was a Cougar, which she knew anyway. Also, when I was living in NY, several horses were killed in my area of town in a manner consistent with the way Cougars would make a kill, and the horse carcasses had plant material scratched up over them. NY state officials came out to investigate, and my neighbor, the town dog officer, was party to that and told me this story. There were also good photos of a Cougar in my area published in our local free paper, as well as photos of a female Cougar with 2 cubs taken on Green River Rd. in Williamstown, MA.
great job love all cats but at around the 17:13 to 17:16 over his right shoulder looks like something walks past but at the distance it is away from them ? as to what it was ,just wondering if you seen this and your thoughts on what it might be again great job on all your vids thanks
But what is interesting is the cases of people coming into contact with a cougar or mountain lion and seeing it vanish into thin air. What I wonder is if what we are dealing with is the same scary cases that we hear with these hellhounds and black dogs. I can only imagine there are some cases of people spotting these things in their houses only to see them disappear again into thin air. Just my thoughts.
A mountain lion was a struck and killed by a car on a wooded highway in Connecticut they believed originated from out west. I have personally seen a lynx in CT, myself also.
I saw a mountain lion in 2018, as I drove from Quebec into NH. It was huge, muscular and used its tail as a balance. I watched it run across the highway. As I went over the border (Pittsburg NH), I mentioned it to the Customs Agent. He said, my game warden friends tell me that officially mountain lions don't exist in NH. I laughed and said, I assume they don't check-in with you before crossing the border.
Sometimes they find deer carcass high up in trees in Massachusetts.
I was in Pittsburgh last weekend and saw a massive moose.
I saw tracks 45 minutes south of Pittsburgh in Lancaster New Hampshirite
Lions seen in Rhode Island! Smithfield, north Smithfield, East Greenwich, Exited... 1 story, a guy was get 2 dogs in from outside. The dogs had been barking at something in back yard. Guy gets dogs in his PJs and house coat. Shines phone light 🔦 on wood slash pile. Only to see lion on pile watching crouched, eyes glowed when phone light was on it. Scary!
I've seen one in West Texas where I live 🧐 and in Utah where I grew up.
I'm from the great Smoky mountains area of east Tennessee and when I was a kid staying at my grandma's house we heard a god awful scream one night and mamaw told me it was a black panther and she should know her father killed one when she was a small child and that would have been about 1918 or so since she was born in 1912.... this was around 1978-79 when we heard the scream... I'll never forget it
I'm in TN too ha...I'm closer to Nashville though
sasquatch
Sounds like a mountain lion.
I'm a East Tennessean too, I've heard & seen the typical mountain lion in our area & sightings are becoming more common. As far as your comments on solid black big cats in our area, I've never seen one but I've heard people talk about seeing them in our area & in western North Carolina & south West Virginia too, do I believe them, yes I do!! So personally I believe your families encounter as well!
How in any way would anyone be able to claim that the Smokies were devoid of a nearly invisible animal? It’s a huge range full of food.
My Dad and I personally witnessed a mountain Lion cross in front of us on the Greenbriar River Trail in West Virginia. It was around 10 yards in front of us and walked into the trees and dissapeared. It was absolutely a mountain Lion and not a Bobcat. We stopped a cyclist that approached us on the trail and told him what we saw. He replied back that about 100 yards up the trail that one crossed in front of him. There had to be another one besides the one we witnessed.
I have a lot of family in Pendleton County. I remember a story about a sheriff who they said was killed by a mountain lion.
Don't know if there's any official report to confirm that.
And then u woke up. Nice dream
One was sighted near Elkhorn Lake in 2014 by a muzzleloader hunter from Hampton. He said it followed him out to the dam breast from Hankey mtn. Round that same time one was seen on a farm with young cubs near Bridgewater.
Summer/fall of 2015 one was seen on a sheep farm near Broadway Va. Several neighbors reported hearing it call its young with whistles over a several week period.
I saw mine in Big Meadows on SNP. It appeared to be juvenile with a little of the mottled color remaining. It was Sept of 2001. It was stalking a group of 4 bedded deer who suddenly got up to leave. It slunk across the road 40 yards away to follow them. It turned and saw me but did not appear to be bothered by me. I’ve handled 20-25 lb Bobcats. This animal was clearly 50 to 60 lbs. the tail was unmistakable! It was def a lion. And less than 150 yards from the parking area.
Extremely well made video! I've seen every kind of animal that lives in the New England woods, from bear to moose, from fishers to bobcat, from porcupines to martens, foxes, otter, weasel, and mink. The only time I say a mountain lion I was doing brush work by myself deep in the northwest hills of Connecticut and even then I really only got a glimpse of the back half of it as it jumped over a stone wall and flicked that unmistakable tail..this was maybe 14 years ago now.
I used to work contractor security for First Energy. I was responsible for random patrols of various retired power plants in the tri state area. One plant was the Armstrong County power plant, Armstrong, Pa. It was decommissioned in 2013.
My patrols were after dark at each location. One night I was sitting in my vehicle, engine off, at Armstrong. I heard five distinct, very close cries of a cougar. I saw no cat that evening. A few nights later, I was sitting in my vehicle along a fence line at Armstrong when I felt something bump the vehicle along the back. A few seconds later, about 50ft behind me I saw a cougar walk under a street light and disappear between buildings. I immediately gave chase with the vehicle. Moments later, I saw the cat once again. When it noticed me it bolted down an interior plant road and back in the direction of the river. I reported my sighting to First Energy and to the maintenance person due at the plant. I did not see or hear the animal after that night. This was, if memory serves me, in 2017.
You did a VERY good job Alex putting this documentary together. Thank you i appreciate all the work your team does. Huge fan of your channel.
#smalltownmosters
My son woke me up around 2am and said there was something in the woods that woke him up. I went into his room and a few minutes later a cougar walked out of the woods and down a small hill across the bridge of our brook and it went behind my son's play scape. There was a full moon that night and it looked like the mountain lion was glowing, it was so bright. The tail on it was huge!!
I heard that about a mile away the elementary school staff had seen one in the back of the school yard. This happened in Huntington, Massachusetts about 10-11 years ago. Absolutely an amazing sight to see.
As I said on the trailer: I live in eastern NC and officially they've been extinct for over a century. Although I've had park rangers and game wardens tell me privately they've been back in the state for awhile. I've heard them myself once or twice at night.
I plan on treating it the same way I treat the other potentially dangerous animals in this area: if it leaves me alone I'll leave it alone.
I live in the Piedmont of NC up near the state line. I can assure you that they are back in our state and just north of us in Virginia.
@@brianclayton3898 Have you seen one in NC? If so where at?
Wow, I didn't know this was coming. I can't wait to see another STM production. I hope more people will decide to start
supporting STM on TH-cam, because they really deserve it with such quality productions. Every video is top-notch ...
Better than anything discovery channel or any of those networks have pumped out. Very impressed.
I live on Cape Cod, MA and had NEVER heard of this story...!!! Thank you for bringing it too my attention. I've lived here for nearly 35yrs now year round and consider myself a native. So this Truro story is VERY interesting too me. I live in Harwich, MA which is down cape about 40min as the crow flies from Truro. The thing is that part of the Cape is still quite "under developed" and has A LOT of forested trails, salt marshes, dunes, etc...Excellent birding as i've been doing that for 40yrs now. The landscape was obviously much different back when this mountain lion was going on the attack. I highly doubt we have them in the area now. Although people thought Fisher Cats (large weasel like predators) were gone from the Cape. And yet my neighbor spotted one on his trail cam early in the morning in his backyard...!!! So go figure. I guess we'll have too watch our small dogs and cats in our neighborhood. As Fisher's are powerful enough too kill a Lynx or Bobcat. There are many reports of them doing so all over the internet. They are like a ball of fury when they hunt.
Imagine what the wildlife agencies are doing to cover up Bigfoot sightings if they're trying to cover up Mountain Lion sightings lol
You are absolutely right!
Orvismc84 You are absolutely right. I believe that there is a huge list of different things that are def being covered up. From big cats to bigfoot and missing people/children to UFOs. Many of which take place in our national forests and parks that are run by Federal and State Wildlife Agencies.
@@howardfreeland5595 o we E in my wat okch a hi untie qk www K Kong
There is no proof of bigfoot 🤣
@@ryanmiller327 There are loads of proof including DNA. Either you don't believe in science or have closed your mind.
A wonderful documentary! This brings to mind a book I recently read: "Coyote America" by Dan Flores. While the creatures are very different, reading about how the coyote not only resisted attempts to exterminate it but expanded its range to include Central Park makes me inclined to think that it is not so far-fetched to think that something analogous, albeit much more modest, might be happening with the mountain lion. There are a reported 600 or so of them in Ontario and Quebec which share a very long, often heavily-forested border with the eastern U.S.
I'm in Ontario and they are definitely here.
As a Mainer, Ive grown up with stories of cougars and I believe them. They're the most adaptable big cats in the world. Even if they're not in the eastern US that doesn't mean they wouldn't come back. The same thing is happening with wolves.
The most adaptable big cat is the leopard. Cougars are similar, but leopards are more arboreal.
@@EranRicos That is true. Though I will point out that cougars out west have been documented sleeping coniferous trees which honestly looks cool but is rare considering their more terrestrial life style.
Still have em in south Florida . A few years back a Florida panther was killed in Georgia. Entirely plausible they could repopulate the south east and Canadian cougars could repopulate the northeast .
I saw one in Maine in the early 1990s. And there was no mistaking it for a different animal. Also, a few years later, a man in the next town over caught one on video camera
What always amazed me about Mountain lion is their agility and Elusiveness. Their ability to leap and bound almost unbelievably through Cliffsides to me was insane.
A friend of mine who is a Zoologist was in Albany County New York near the Helderberg Mountains where he saw a Mountain lion running across the road, before he could get out his cell phone and take a picture it was gone. If this man says there are Mountain Lions in New York I will believe that.
There was a sighting of one this week in the southern adks north of Saratoga. Plenty of people in the great sacandaga lake region have had sightings
Thank you for this !!! I've gotten sick & tired of the townships telling us "There are NO mountain lions in our state!"
So here's MY eye witness account ! It was way back about 60 years ago, up in Green County, NY at a small
farm in the big mountains. I was visiting a friend when her boyfriend drove up and we went out to talk to him. He
said "Wanna see what I shot in the barnyard ?" He opened the car trunk and a beautiful mountain lion filled the
entire trunk. It was indeed beautiful, and I couldn't help but pet it's side. He was still soft, so it hadn't been too
long before he came up to show her. I've heard of others being seen ~ but I haven't seen any other....dead or alive.
We did see a huge lynx cross the road in front of our car one night . . . . and see lots of coyotes ~ some quite big,
maybe wolf size ! Only saw a bobcat 'kitten' once, and not up close. Did see a photo of a huge one that had been
shot by a hunting buddy! Our wildlife are more welcome than some of the city 'wildlife' we've been encountering !!!
* Needed to add that the wildlife have trouble 'following the state wildlife laws' because they can't read the state 'boarder' signs !!! They were created to occupy the forests and fields ! And eat what is there
and available ! We've had many black bears on our little farm ..... they've done no harm .... but I'd rather
they weren't so close = they probably wish our place wasn't so close to the forest either ! =) ......
Interesting documentary, in Europe (including Denmark where I live) we also have the occasional sightings of out-of-place mountain lions but those are obviously either escapees from captivity or misidentifications of indigenous Old World species. Great nature photography as well, makes me want to go to rural New England myself!
Hello from New Hampshire
First off, I LOVE this documentary!!! I’ve got a small related story of my own. The time would’ve been in the early to mid 90s. I grew up on the outskirts of Randallstown/Granite/Woodstock, MD. The area is about 25 minutes outside of the Baltimore City line yet, mere minutes from Howard and Carroll County lines (driving). This area is surrounded by the Patapsco Valley State Park. A large river, stream tributaries, history of erosion, valleys everywhere, plenty of wildlife, no hunting permitted within the park, rocks, cliffs, quarries, etc. All that to say, our neighbors had a black lab retriever. Mid-large size dog; straight pointy ears; stood tall; decent size tail that ended in a point. Random spring-summer day, I thought I saw our neighbor’s dog come up from the path in the woods to the path entrance from the edge of our yard. I was in our ground floor den and went to our French doors to get ready to go outside to greet the dog. This is a more rural area and was normal for the dog to run free and randomly show up on our property. I went to grab the doorknob but, as I looked, something wasn’t right. It indeed was all black!! First, I noticed the head. Very round; short snout; rounded short ears. Then I noticed the body was lower and more lax. Lastly, I noticed the tail. It was very long and sloped towards the ground and swooped up at the very end. My young brain immediately associated Bagheera with what I saw. I immediately started to panic a bit because I didn’t know if my Dad was outside working or not. I left the room to try and tell someone. I eventually did find my Dad and told him what I saw. I don’t think he believed me lol. Nevertheless, we all were safe and I never saw anything like that again. Didn’t think to try and look for prints or anything like that. I did see another report online in that area that backed up my story within that timeframe. I believe they reported it as black too. I’m 💯 on what I saw. Don’t know if it was a rare black mountain lion or a rare escaped black panther exotic pet. Short side note… I do know (based off the sounds made and some research) I have had an invisible, night stalker encounter with a bobcat in those parts one night too. My friends in that area had minor bobcat brushes and noises as well. They had named it “The Beastie” lol. That was more mid-late 90s / early 2000s. These cats are amazing and “not supposed” to be around these parts. But, could they have been??? There’s coyotes there now that didn’t use to be then. Just maybe, perhaps 🤔
The best documentary on the subject to date. People see cougars in New England occasionally but for every one sighted, you are being watched 100 times more by the cougars. With the woodlands in NE and game animals the cougars hunt, common sense would dictate that, yes, they are out there. I wouldn't want it to be any other way, either. I knew a guy from Arizona who used to hunt mountain lions and when I asked him why he gave it up, he said "I noticed mountain lion tracks in my backtracking that weren't there on my way in and had to question who was hunting who. I got scared once too many times. Those things are ghosts." As they should be. Thanks for the wonderful documentary.
I know Ohio is not considered a New England state, but there have been several sightings of Mountain lions. I've heard of sightings around Columbiana County Jefferson County and Harrison County.
I'm in Ohio and you are absolutely right!
Bear have made their way back to Ohio also.
I lived in Aroostook County in the first decade of the 21st century. I was friends with a senior border patrol officer. He assured me that mountain lions and wolves in Maine. He said they had seen both and caught them numerous times on cameras.
As always this will be good from the STM team can’t wait, see you on the 1st September guys 🥃🥃🏴
This was an exceptional video! I appreciate all the research and evidence presented….a tremendous amount of work went into this production. Beautiful cinematography. Well done!
Well done documentary STM , quite obvious that state wildlife agencies do not want these cats verified .
My brother had a mountain lion in his driveway about a month ago. He's up in Bradford N.H.
His neighbor asked if it was the tan one or the black one. So I guess there's a few of them around that area.
My wife and I lived in a fairly rural area of Haverhill, Ma. and we saw a mountain lion there back in July 2006.
We have friends up in Maine who will also confirm that Wolves are here as well.
I think it's a good probability that 95% of hikers and skiers aren't taking time to notice much of tracks that they pass over. Seeing how there have been reported sightings from New England to Florida, I feel it highly possible that the Eastern Cougar just might still be around, just so wary that they stay out of sight and away from human traffic areas.
I do realize people wanted to protect their livestock but ts a shame these magnificent creatures were hunted down and killed.A lot of people have deep superstitons when it comes to cats in general then you take one that weighs nearly 200 pounds and that doesnt help matters.I saw a bobcat for the first time and remember how i felt,couldn't imagine seing a big cat like the mountain lion.You do such amazing work and always look forwards to the next one
I stopped on a road at night to save what I thought was a litter of kittens someone dumped. Little did I know a massive growl came from the darkness and I just backed myself to my car. That cat could've killed me if it wanted to! I think it new I came with luv but don't push it lol
A mountain Lion ran in front of my Jeep last night in Columbus, New Jersey. That's what brought me to this video. I didn't report it to Fish and Game because I know what they will say. There were sightings in Chatsworth, Marlboro, Galloway, and up in northern NJ. Fish and Game denies all of the sightings.
My daughter and I saw one run across the road in front of my car in 2017 in Methuen MA. I asked her if she saw it and she said it looked like a mountain lion and I agreed. Then 2 weeks later, I saw it again in a field about a tenth of a mile from where we first saw it. This is about a half mile from the NH border.
My wife and I saw one in Haverhill back in 2006. Although it's disappearing fast, there used to be a lot of woods in West Haverhill.
Alex’s film making skills are leveling up! Great work man.
We live in Central Arkansas & they swear up & down we don’t have them. My husband came out of the VA at FT. Roots from work and there was a mountain lion walking in the parking lot, taking its time and many others saw it as well.
Fmr Arkansan here 👋Back when I lived there, I examined a cast of an apparent mountain lion track that had been allegedly made at a state park in west-central AR with some rugged terrain and a dense population of deer. This cast checked out as _Felis_ _concolor_ according to standards published by the Eastern Cougar Network and the Worcester (MA) Science Center. Best wishes 💯
Great documentary, thanks. This is a very big subject in New York. Many people claim to see mountain lions and the DEC always say they don't exist here
They don’t exactly say that but use a very more diplomatic answer of “ Eastern cougars (mountain lions) do not have a native, self sustaining population in New York State.”
My mother saw one in Warren County two years ago.
I live in NY upstate. They are here!
@@RCast-sc6fy Their exact words! They also insist that the cougars came from somewhere else as if that matters. New York has more than 400 miles of border with Ontario and Quebec. The cats don't care.
They say that in Kansas too (and we are close to the rockies). Every farmer I've talked to has seen them, or signs at the very least.
I live in eastern Canada. The province of Nova Scotia. Apparently the eastern cougar is extinct here but there have still been sightings and people think they are still here! Very interested in this documentary!
My Grandmother used to tell tales of seeing large cats when her and my grandfather lived in a, then, very rural area in Southern New Brunswick. Even a few stories of them attacking people's family dogs in the night. Locally called "Indian Devils"
Yet another superb documentary. Thanks STM
My father said he saw a cougar outside of Mcconnellsburg PA in 1977. Was hunting rabbit and came across a herd of whitetail in an empty cornfield in the distance. Said he watched the herd for a minute before something launched out of the nearby brush and chased the herd back into the wood. Always said it scared the hell out of him, just due to the sheer unexpectedness of the sighting.
Anyone who thinks that mountain lions aren’t living in the East has never done any real looking. They are so much more adaptable, athletic, and intelligent than most of us can believe.
Not even surprised that one was killed less than an hour from NYC.
I witnessed one in my driveway in 2016 in Southern New Hampshire. I did work for fish and game and asked them if they are here and he said no with a smile. I replied well there was one in my drive way a few nights previously. It was 4 ft tall sitting head to butt. Shortly after it was reported a few towns over.
So well done and a plethora of great footage and evidence. Plus the individuals interviewed were very well spoken and knowledgeable. 👏👏👏
We all have to remember that they were here first, it's in their DNA and they will migrate to where the food is. We have moved into their territories, so we need to make the changes to protect whatever needs protecting. They are a very beautiful animal. GREAT VIDEO!!!
That's not necessarily true and man has just as much or actually more right to all the lands of the earth, for we have dominion.
Living in Michigan I know of 2 people that claim they've seen a cougar in the lower peninsula of Michigan. Black bears have been moving back into the area, and I've noticed more coyote activity too. It's not too unreasonable to think that they could move back into the area especially with so many whitetails and turkey around. These folks that claim to have seen them strike me as honest people and I don't see any reason for them to lie. My wife and I were hiking in sleeping bear a few summers back and came across an enormous set of cat tracks. These tracks were bigger than the palm of my hand with fingers fully flexed. It's my personal belief that cougars are in the lower peninsula of Michigan.
The wolves will hopefully take care of the yotes down there . There’s been a few elk that have made it to the UP so maybe some moose could
Make it down soon. I know fishers have made it
@@brodyhess5553 I have personally seen fishers three times. Twice in my own back yard but it was at two different houses, and about 15ish years apart. My wife and I saw another fisher in a corn field of all places. Thought it was a woodchuck at first glance then it started to run off when it saw us, that undulating weasel motion when they run is unmistakable.
@@samuelferrell9257 lucky! I’ve been hearing about a few lynx . Wouldn’t shock me if they eventually make South. Thanks for that tidbit
They're back in Kentucky and Tennessee. They found cubs in Eastern Kentucky a couple years ago.
I had a "big cat" shadow me while walking my dog late at night in my neighborhood in Wasilla, Alaska. I called fish and game and the said there had been several sightings, and they believed the big cats to be coming from Canada.
The early sixties, I and two of my friends had a cougar run up the bank of the road, jump over the cable, run across the road not twenty feet in front of us and over that cable, then down into the woods. We froze as we saw it come up out of the forest. After it left, we were really excited. We had to look it up in our book we had just to be sure.when we told the adults they kept saying that we must have seen something else. Then we took them down to where we saw it and showed them the big tracks in the sand on the sides of the road. They got serious after seeing that and tried to figure out if there was a place around where one could have been kept and escaped. There wasn't any. I wish we had thought about making a cast or at least taken a picture of the tracks then but the excitement of what we saw just overrode that thought.
I know that I'll never forget that or forget what it looked like. They were here then so they and more, must be still here.
This was in N. Billerica, MA. Which at that time would have had a corridor of almost solid forest up and into Southern NH that wasn't far away.
I'm from Tenn. and went to Billerica for a training class about 3 years ago. I imagine it has a lot less undeveloped area nowadays.
I've seen 2 here in Vermont. One, another person saw it at the same time. The other was less than 30 yards from me as I was bow hunting deer.
your mom goes to college
I landed here from a personal experience the other day. I was turkey hunting in lake red rock iowa on 4/30/2024. I was calling a turkey and getting responses for a while and then it went silent for about 30 mins i kept trying to call with no response. 30 yards in front of me in the brush a mountain lion stepped out. I was in full camo face covering but i stood up fast with adrenaline and spooked it off. i watched it run to my left and it was probably 6 ft long. Iowa DNR confirmed it with scat and paw prints where i was hunting.
Such good and well put together Documentaries much appreciated. I was at the Federared women's state forest in New Salem/Petersham last fall and and caught a mountain lion out of the corner of my eye as it was walking away from me I'll never for get that dark tip on it's long tail and the way it was looking back at me as it was trotting away . Scary to know they're out there and very elusive.
In N.C where I am we are blessed with our wildlife, including the puma. Where I live, the puma are melanistic. We have alot of swamp and deep forest around here and there's rivers and creeks everywhere. Anyways, one day night while driving I seen a melanistic puma standing beside the road along a creek, as I seen it my cousin that was riding with me asked me did I see what he seen, I told him yes. Beside the road was a cat, not a bobcat, not a black lab dog. But, what I seen was a cat the size of a black lab, too big to he a bobcat and not the shape of a dog, it was a huge puma. I've heard of them being around before, then seen one myself. Where I live, you don't walk at night, it's way too dangerous. We have the largest black bear around, some 500-700 lbs, there's also bobcat, coyote, red wolf, alligator, all the species of US vipers, coral snake, and lastly the melanistic puma. I live in a part of the Great Dismal swamp outer region. There's areas around here that there's no gas station for nearly 50-75 miles, one complete stretch of swamp for nearly 40 miles. It's not a place to break down, nor walk at night. Plus there's the chance, a real good chance of meeting crazy hillbilly people also.
Ive seen 2 in 5 years in PA. Mountain Lions are alive and well here.
I saw one in Venango county PA
@@mikebeatty7814 Warren co.
This was extremely interesting. Pumas are beloved here in Southern California. I really hope they are successful in New England.
Got a photo of a couple of them on my property in WV with my game cam. Beautiful creatures
@Ryan Skoutelas Am I able to post it on here. I did post it on Alexsanders FB post on this however
Sees notification. Whoo!
Checks the date. Dag nabitt!
I learned of this from the @itlcatskillspidcast and immediately watched it, because I’ve been doubted since my 8/31/2018 sighting on Military Road in Lake Placid NY. It it was crouched and growling at me, and then walked away. There was no question that it was a lion by its size, ears, face, and tail.
I saw a mountain Lion in central Maryland back in 1992. It crossed the road about 50 yards in front of me. I went to the local Natural Resources office the next morning to report what I had seen. The two game wardens there laughed me out of the office. There was another sighting about 20 miles from my encounter about a month later that made the local news. The authorities are not always forthcoming.
Like seriously all the Tigers found in the lower east side & Lord knows how many private collections. We should be grateful that a hybrid super cat ain't out walking around
The way you speak I can tell you have a passion for this information. Thank you for sharing!
growing up in NH my dad told me stories of how his friends that worked at a golf course in southern NH had seen one in the early morning on the greens.. and i know multiple other people that have/heard stories of sightings
I don't live in NE but I've seen what they say is a black panther in SETx. It's actually a black jag that has moved from Mexico over the years and is all over now. It has black spots and a long luxurious tail, it's as big if not bigger than a cougar. Beautiful cat. The female would walk thru in heat, scratching trees and marking up the area. The scream from one sounds like a woman being killed, it's wild to hear. We do have cougars too in the area. A guy that had hogs penned up had gotten attacked and killed by one. Amazing animals these big cats. Glad they are protected. I've talked to some guy in Canada that wanted to kill them. Well that might be ok in Canada, but not here in the States. Steve on How to Hunt commented he wanted to come kill them. For such a big hunter, you'd think he'd know they were protected here in the states. He does come down to the south and hunt turkeys, I've heard him say.
Mountain Lions are LEGALLY hunted every year in the United States right now till this day. Arizona, Colorado, Montana etc. U must be talking about Jaguars. Those that have moved from Mexico into Texas and Arizona are protected. And yes in most states Mountain Lions are illegal to hunt. But there is several states where you can hunt them legally. There is tons of videos of people hunting them right here on TH-cam.
@@matthewpoole8764 did you not read where i6 said black jag!
He wants to kill them because he's ignorant.
I lived in Kentucky when I was younger, very young in the late 70's early 80's actually. We lived in a pretty rural area. My dad's family had owned the property we lived on for many many years.... We were almost atop a mountain. At night you could hear what sounded like a female screaming. Sometimes my older brothers and sisters would try to mock them to scare us
I now live in Florida. North Central Florida. I'm also in a rural area here. In what would be 2019 I had gone to visit a friend. She has a gate that you have to get out of your vehicle to open and close. I had visited with her until say around midnight. Upon leaving I got out to open the gate I get back into my vehicle to pull through the gate. I see this animal to the right of the gate inside of her property line following her fence but even as I get out to close the gate behind me it hadn't yet registered to what I saw. Once I get back into my vehicle I all of a sudden think about its tail... A long tail... Almost deer in color and that slinky swagger of a cat.... You bet I all of a sudden got a huge chill down my spine. I still can't believe I was that close to this animal and was none the wiser. Needles to say I always pay attention now when in her area.
My mother has a photo from one of her trail cameras that we believe is definitely a catamount walking through her back yard. Her house is near the intersection of South Stream Road and Maple Grove Road Bennington/Pownal Vermont. The photo is from a few years ago and she still has it.
I constantly have people tell me they have seen a mountain lion themselves or know someone who has. I also know there is a giant turtle species in Lake Champlain that's around 30 foot long.
@@goshawk224 listen you can think all you want but I have seen the photo for myself and I absolutely do not lie or tell stories that are not factual. I will be going to see my mother this weekend and I will get the original picture and show it to the world. That way, I have the proof that you need to back up my comment.
@@berkshirecountybigfoot Hey, I'm trying to back you up here. I do not doubt you at all. Sorry for the confusion. I know they are here. Coverups are going on. Big turtles in Lake Champlain are on video and photographed. Thats being covered up as well.
@@goshawk224 MY BAD! It was the way I read or took your comment. Sorry for any confusion. My entire life I have never ever heard about big turtles in lake champlain and I grew up in the state of Vermont. But, I will definitely look into now. Thank you and again, I apologize.
Yep in the early 2000s was a report of a Jaguar in the north east corner of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana , as it turned out to be a male and female Jaguars who either escape from their owner.as turned out. Both Animals were put down
Enjoyed this video a lot. I think that the big cats could survive and do well in the East especially if they have a good food supply. They ate smart and versatile and would do well. Makes sense to me.
Really enjoyed your video/story. The proof of any sighting is with the witnesses. I´m sure there can be cases of mis-identification, but it´s highly unlikely that all sightings are mistaken identity.
Excellent documentary, Alek & STM! Well done!
wonderful documentary. Have you guys done one on the coy-wolves?
While hunting has been on the decline for decades , and cougars having the ability to remain unseen its no surprise to me at least. Seen one in southwest Pennsylvania and was called crazy
I live on the island of Cape Breton in the province of Nova Scotia. I’ve seen two cougars in my lifetime. They’re been seen in Newfoundland as well
I live in northern Virginia right on the West Virginia line and we have mountain lions. I saw what appeared to me to be a black one once. Labrador sized.
YOu guys nailed it on this one. I live in Western Ma, have track pictures and just this week someone had a sighting. Somehow, though, I almost feel like it's best State Game doesn't know. The less people know the safer the Mountain Lions are.
my Dad saw one with a few of his workers in 2001 and I know of a few more sightings here in the Berkshires of Massachusetts where I live
I live in WV. As a child i have infact heard a mtn lion here. Probably around '99. It was the sound u hear in shows and movies like the classic unmistakable sound of one yelling. I know there was one here at that point
Also i beleive i seen tracks. But i was just a kid and it was the 90s so i didnt think it was special. And also didnt have a camera. But i 100% heard one here.
Will this one ever get a DVD release? I personally loved this one and would like to add it to my ever-growing cryptozoology collection ^^'
That was a fascinating documentary!
So, three weeks ago, here in Berks County PA, where I am born and raised, on my land, which is 5 acres, with a wide creek flowing through it, surrounded by a 100 acre farm and a 300 acre farm, my father and I heard a mountain lion killing a deer in my back yard in the night and I ran out with a head lamp , to try to see it, but it was down on the creek bank, and my head lamp was above it and as I was about 40 feet away, it growled at me so directly that my dad and I ran back in the house. I live in Colorado and have seen many mountain lions in the wild. Even though I could not see it, this animal , this big cat that growled at me was so large it could of killed me easily and on a primal level, both my father and I knew that! And this morning, I heard the screams of a female mountain lion, so fully in my woods. I heard them before 1.5 years ago, but had not heard them since and I did not know what they were before. but heard them again last night in the woods across the creek, I am 99.9% sure, there is a mountain lion back in the woods. This section of woods is private and about 350 acres total and has no access to the public and rarely are any property owners on that side of the creek, there is no bridge or anything. I am 99.9% sure we have them here in northern/northeastern Berks, County, PA towards Hawk Mountain.
I grew up in the Northern Catskills. In the 90s there were still many old farmers and mountain people living in the area. I was told that mountain lions were still very much part of life there. Locally there was supposedly a dark melanistic one.
In 2009 the DEC confirmed a sighting on route 214 to be legitimate as they were able to track it.
The local history books from the 1800s are FILLED with tales of cougars. People were terrified of them. One young girl had to shelter in her log cabin and watch in horror through the logs as two cougars killed a pig, ate it, and then lounge in the sun for a long spell.
We have so much forest here. It’s very easy to pick a direction and walk in the woods and not come to a house or road for many miles. There are tons of deer. We have a huge bear population so it’s easy to see how well the area can maintain a population of mountain lions.
I would venture to guess that the amount of these animals living in upstate NY is unknowable. It’s difficult enough to see them in the Catskills let alone the enormous Adirondack range, much of which is untrodden and so thick in the understory that filming them is nearly futile.
I saw one in Maine in the early 1990s. And there was no mistaking it for a different animal. Also, a few years later, a man in the next town over caught one on video camera
We absolutely have them in North Carolina. I think I saw a juvenile one time. I have heard they are actually Florida Panthers which have been brought in to control the deer and feral hogs.
I have never seen a live cougar, but have been aware of their presence many times. I have lived in many States, and travelled nearly all 50, including residing in Montana, Nevada and Colorado
While working on a survey crew in early 2000's I found a couple big cat tracks at a cellphone tower site in NE Pennsylvania....I would've photographed them, but it was before cellphone camera's were common
Love small town monsters keep up the good work greets from Holland
They are in North Carolina to . Me and a friend seen one 15 years ago. In Carteret county.
I seen one in Bladen co. know plenty of other people that had seen them too! Where in Carteret did y'all see it?
2 days ago a guy got attacked by one near where I live. I'm a few miles from the Olympic Project nest sight.
🐾That was a good documentary! 🐈⬛
We've recently about a couple of weeks ago had a sighting in the area of West Chazy NY and last year in the Danamora mountain are in Clinton County NY
Yes they have been seen near Altona ny
I'm speaking with some experience on this subject, once having been director of science on an enormous private nature reserve along the central Niobrara river in Nebraska. Shortly after starting there I had one of the state's earlier verified occurrences, basically in my yard, consisting of tracks of which I made plaster casts that were sent to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, the only body authorized to verify occurrences. (Those casts are within arms' reach as I type this). During the years I was there I learned to identify all sorts of lion sign, tracks, scat, kills, to my satisfaction. I could go out near anytime and find sign, often again basically in my yard. Despite having spent hundreds of hours poking around the preserve's wilderness back country, I never did see one.
OK, first off, I'm not saying there aren't some surviving Puma concolors in New England. It's certainly possible, but there are a number of points about this whole phenomenon that need to be made. Nebraska went through this whole cycle decades ago. There were reports going back decades based on sightings, but no physical evidence, until 1991 when one was shot in the Pine Ridge in extreme northwest Nebraska. Today that area is one with a documented breeding population, along with the Wildcat Hills, south of Scottsbluff, and my old stomping grounds on the central Niobrara.
Even so, over 90% of the "sighting" reports that come in prove to be mistaken identity or outright hoaxes in cases that can be investigated. For example, if the evidence includes a photo, a Game and Parks representative will go to the site of the alleged photo. Often there is no such site, a hoax, or if there is, scale is introduced to the scene to properly size whatever was in the photo. More often than not it turns out to be a big yellow tom cat. All verifications require some form of physical evidence, e.g. photo, unequivocal tracks, scat with DNA confirmation, hair with DNA, dead lions, kills if they bare characteristic marks, etc. Hoaxes still happen. A year or two ago the Omaha World-Herald newspaper made a big deal of a deer up a tree in northeastern Nebraska. This was verified as lion doings by the Winnebago Village Parks department, whoever or whatever that may be. Again, only the state G&P is authorized to verify these things. The problem with this whole yarn is that if there is a reliable record of lions making tree caches I am unable to find it in the scientific literature. The newspaper got rolled.
On the other hand, there are thousands of trail cams out across known lion range. While photo captures are somewhat rare, there are enough that they don't even make the news unless in the "cornbelt" eastern third of the state.
Finally, regarding the famous Black Hills to Connecticut cat. Shortly after this happened I was talking to the G&P guy in charge of all things mountain lions. I offered a theory to account for these long-distance movements, namely that dispersing males are looking for vacant territories WITH females. The further east they go, the less apt they are to find that. They don't set out to walk to the East Coast, they just keep walking over the next hill. Oddly enough I soon started hearing that explanation for lions turning up all over the east. My G&P guy spread my notion around amongst this colleagues. Females are under no such pressure to move on. Young ones generally grab the first vacant space close to where they were raised and wait for a male to show up. Hence all the long-range cats are young males. Without both sexes a breeding population popping up is for obvious not going to happen.
The day will probably come when lions are firmly reestablished in New England and other parts of the east. But experience and science show it's a long, slow process.
thanks for the informative and eloquent comment
In 2004 I spotted a mountain lion in Connecticut. It crossed the road right in front of me along RT. 202 just south of Bantam heading towards Litchfield. No doubt about it whatsoever. I could describe it in detail but I'd merely be describing a mountain lion. I know _exactly_ what I saw. After speaking with some people from the DEEP (Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection), and how dismissive they were, I never bothered filing an official report. I've spoken to at least a half-dozen other people who have had similar sightings since then. When you see one, there's just no mistaking it for anything else. The lion that was later hit by a car and killed in 2011 was estimated to be between two and five years old, so clearly a different animal altogether. Based on my experiences at the time and since then, I will never waste my time with the DEEP ever again.
For over 40 yrs the Michigan DNR demanded there were no Mt. Lionds in the lower peninsula, even after continual eyewitness reports. Even our neighbor, as a park ranger, reported his sighting. Now they have admitted minimal existance. My sighting was in the summer of 1993
When I was in high school at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield, Me 1990. There was a den with a mother and cubs seen and living on the town's kiddle ski slope, near the golf course. There should be records in the local police records, as they would close the slope once tracks were spotted. People would see the mother and her cubs all around the slope. Wouldn't be surprised if there isn't photos around with the locals.
They have returned to Tennessee and Kentucky. A few years ago, they located cubs in Eastern Kentucky.
This was really great, I loved it!
Five minutes in and I subbed immediately. Thanks!
There's a Sasquatch in the middle of the screen @11:02 standing behind the 2 guys contemplating if he should push them over the cliff, but is uncertain if he can snag the drone remote during the process.
They're here in New England, perhaps they were never "extinct". I lived in NY state, directly on the border of Massachusetts. I saw a Black Panther take the width of my driveway in one leap. A local well seasoned hunter living in an adjacent town saw a Black Panther when he was out deer hunting. I got to witness this because my dog started to bark so I ran out of the house to see what the fuss was. I got a good look at the cat, it was maybe 65 feet away. Some years later there was a tawny Cougar directly outside my house. I opened the sliding glass door to my bedroom and startled the cat, which was not more than 20 feet away. Trust me I know what I saw, nothing compares to a mountain lion, they're huge, with that long tail that curls up at the hocks. I've seen bobcats countless times having lived in the woods for decades. I've seen fisher, marten, mink, bear, fox, coyote, and all the common small mammals we have in the wild. Now I live in Massachusetts, and have heard from credible people who have seen Cougars. Recently, summer 2023, I was photographing a coyote in a field and talking to an observer, who had seen a Cougar on the road we were on in southern Berkshire County, took a photo, and sent it to Mass Audubon. Mass Audubon respond to this woman verifying it was a Cougar, which she knew anyway. Also, when I was living in NY, several horses were killed in my area of town in a manner consistent with the way Cougars would make a kill, and the horse carcasses had plant material scratched up over them. NY state officials came out to investigate, and my neighbor, the town dog officer, was party to that and told me this story. There were also good photos of a Cougar in my area published in our local free paper, as well as photos of a female Cougar with 2 cubs taken on Green River Rd. in Williamstown, MA.
great job love all cats but at around the 17:13 to 17:16 over his right shoulder looks like something walks past but at the distance it is away from them ? as to what it was ,just wondering if you seen this and your thoughts on what it might be again great job on all your vids thanks
Awesome documentary. Small Town Monsters ...YES !
But what is interesting is the cases of people coming into contact with a cougar or mountain lion and seeing it vanish into thin air.
What I wonder is if what we are dealing with is the same scary cases that we hear with these hellhounds and black dogs. I can only imagine there are some cases of people spotting these things in their houses only to see them disappear again into thin air.
Just my thoughts.
They're here in Northeastern Ontario but officially they aren't according to the ministry of resources.
Same thing is happening in Western NY. We have sightings and the DEC says they are not here.
North Central PA.
@@naedrentsek895 they are in the Bradford area for sure
A mountain lion was a struck and killed by a car on a wooded highway in Connecticut they believed originated from out west.
I have personally seen a lynx in CT, myself also.
It never stops amazing me how animals bounce back from humans destroying them..