Return of the ...Mountain Lion?
It is not impossible mountain lions could eventually return to the stateIt took the longest known trek by a mountain lion in the United States. Over the course of 18 months it crossed several states and international borders before being struck and killed by an SUV on Route 15 in Milford. Kind of anti-climatic for an animal that had that much of an accomplishment, don't you think?
Once news broke of the animal's death, the rivers of denial came flooding out of the DEP. The mountain lion had to have been a pet that had been released into the wild where its survival was certainly doomed.
Then the news came out that the animal was in fact not a former pet but an animal that had traveled from as far away as South Dakota based on evidence from reported sightings, paw prints and scat samples.
The Connecticut mountain lion, dubbed "St. Croix," was first sighted in Greenwich in early June but it is not the first sighting of a mountain lion that has been reported in Connecticut.
The Eastern Mountain Lion, which once roamed freely through Connecticut, was officially declared extinct by the US Fish and Wildlife Service earlier this year. In spite of this, reports of mountain lion sightings have persisted over the years.
Aside from the sightings of St. Croix, none of these reported mountain lion sightings have been confirmed. The possibility that other reported mountain lion sightings were in fact actual mountain lions does exist. Mountain lions are most active at dawn and dusk and are capable of running at very fast speeds.
And let's be honest for a moment here: if you were to come across a very large animal, would your first instinct really be to take a picture or run to safety? It's probably safe to assume that it's the latter.
It's okay though, because according to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection there are no mountain lions in Connecticut and there cannot, ever, be mountain lions in Connecticut! None, at all, whatsoever. It is completely impossible.
It is not entirely inconceivable that mountain lions do in fact live in Connecticut and surrounding areas, even if it is not very likely. Perhaps it would be beneficial to the residents of Connecticut if, instead of harping on about the impossibility of mountain lions in the state, state officials also provided some tips on what to do if one comes across the animal.
If anything,
Once news broke of the animal's death, the rivers of denial came flooding out of the DEP. The mountain lion had to have been a pet that had been released into the wild where its survival was certainly doomed.
Then the news came out that the animal was in fact not a former pet but an animal that had traveled from as far away as South Dakota based on evidence from reported sightings, paw prints and scat samples.
The Connecticut mountain lion, dubbed "St. Croix," was first sighted in Greenwich in early June but it is not the first sighting of a mountain lion that has been reported in Connecticut.
The Eastern Mountain Lion, which once roamed freely through Connecticut, was officially declared extinct by the US Fish and Wildlife Service earlier this year. In spite of this, reports of mountain lion sightings have persisted over the years.
Aside from the sightings of St. Croix, none of these reported mountain lion sightings have been confirmed. The possibility that other reported mountain lion sightings were in fact actual mountain lions does exist. Mountain lions are most active at dawn and dusk and are capable of running at very fast speeds.
And let's be honest for a moment here: if you were to come across a very large animal, would your first instinct really be to take a picture or run to safety? It's probably safe to assume that it's the latter.
It's okay though, because according to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection there are no mountain lions in Connecticut and there cannot, ever, be mountain lions in Connecticut! None, at all, whatsoever. It is completely impossible.
It is not entirely inconceivable that mountain lions do in fact live in Connecticut and surrounding areas, even if it is not very likely. Perhaps it would be beneficial to the residents of Connecticut if, instead of harping on about the impossibility of mountain lions in the state, state officials also provided some tips on what to do if one comes across the animal.
If anything,
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment