Cougar spotted in Keene, New Hampshire?
Kyle JarvisTwo months after a cougar was killed in Connecticut, could Keene have its own big cat?
Mountain lions, also known as cougars, were declared extinct in the east by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service earlier this year. Despite sightings reported throughout New England, including the Monadnock Region, wildlife biologists say the animals aren't known to trek the thousands of miles from lands where their populations currently thrive, such as the western U.S. and Canada.
But in June, a cougar hit and killed by a motorist in Milford, Conn., was later determined to have traveled 1,500 miles from South Dakota to New England, stunning wildlife biologists.
The debate hit a bit closer to home last week, as Swanzey resident Bruce Bohannon had an encounter with what he believes was a cougar Thursday morning in Keene.
While crossing through the gate on the rail trail by Route 101 on his bicycle at about 7:45 a.m., Bohannon saw something unusual.
"I looked up, and I saw this big cat," he said. "I've seen a bobcat, and this was no bobcat. It had a long tail, two to three feet, not a bobtail.
"I saw it right in front of me," Bohannon said. "What surprised me was it was right in the periphery of Keene. But there's a lot of deer down there. If it was looking for something to eat, that's a good place to look."Bohannon said the animal was 18 to 24 inches tall at the shoulder, and was dark tan and light brown. "It was only for a moment," he said. "He sort of stopped and looked over his shoulder, and when he saw me he took right off."
This was not Bohannon's first experience with the cat, having crossed paths with what he now believes was a cougar while grooming snowmobile trails last year off Route 12 in Westmoreland, although he wasn't sure about what he'd seen until his second sighting last week. "I saw one last winter," he said. "It ran right out in front of me and ran down the trail."
Bohannon reported his most recent sighting in Keene to Arthur I."Bud" Winsor, assistant director of the physical plant at Keene State College and head of the school's grounds crew, because his sighting was so close to campus. "My guys went to check it out but they didn't see it," Winsor said. "You never know. Never say never, they just found that (cougar) in Connecticut.
"Bruce is a very reliable person, I wouldn't doubt him for a second," Winsor said. Amanda G. Warman, director of campus safety at Keene State, issued a campus-wide warning Thursday afternoon, advising people not to approach such an animal and to report any sightings to N.H. Fish and Game.
Ted W. Walski, a wildlife biologist with Fish and Game in Keene who fields dozens of reported cougar sightings each year, believes it would be tough to track a cougar in that area. "It's difficult to look for tracks in that grassy environment,"said Walski, who believes most sightings can be attributed to misidentification or cases of escaped pets. "You're not going to find droppings in that kind of habitat unless you have 100 people with their noses to the ground."
Even so, the cougar believers have a new member of their community."I don't have any doubt in my mind what I saw was a cougar,"Bohannon said. "Now that I'm convinced of what I'm seeing, I'm going to get out and look for tracks."
But in June, a cougar hit and killed by a motorist in Milford, Conn., was later determined to have traveled 1,500 miles from South Dakota to New England, stunning wildlife biologists.
The debate hit a bit closer to home last week, as Swanzey resident Bruce Bohannon had an encounter with what he believes was a cougar Thursday morning in Keene.
While crossing through the gate on the rail trail by Route 101 on his bicycle at about 7:45 a.m., Bohannon saw something unusual.
"I looked up, and I saw this big cat," he said. "I've seen a bobcat, and this was no bobcat. It had a long tail, two to three feet, not a bobtail.
"I saw it right in front of me," Bohannon said. "What surprised me was it was right in the periphery of Keene. But there's a lot of deer down there. If it was looking for something to eat, that's a good place to look."Bohannon said the animal was 18 to 24 inches tall at the shoulder, and was dark tan and light brown. "It was only for a moment," he said. "He sort of stopped and looked over his shoulder, and when he saw me he took right off."
This was not Bohannon's first experience with the cat, having crossed paths with what he now believes was a cougar while grooming snowmobile trails last year off Route 12 in Westmoreland, although he wasn't sure about what he'd seen until his second sighting last week. "I saw one last winter," he said. "It ran right out in front of me and ran down the trail."
Bohannon reported his most recent sighting in Keene to Arthur I."Bud" Winsor, assistant director of the physical plant at Keene State College and head of the school's grounds crew, because his sighting was so close to campus. "My guys went to check it out but they didn't see it," Winsor said. "You never know. Never say never, they just found that (cougar) in Connecticut.
"Bruce is a very reliable person, I wouldn't doubt him for a second," Winsor said. Amanda G. Warman, director of campus safety at Keene State, issued a campus-wide warning Thursday afternoon, advising people not to approach such an animal and to report any sightings to N.H. Fish and Game.
Ted W. Walski, a wildlife biologist with Fish and Game in Keene who fields dozens of reported cougar sightings each year, believes it would be tough to track a cougar in that area. "It's difficult to look for tracks in that grassy environment,"said Walski, who believes most sightings can be attributed to misidentification or cases of escaped pets. "You're not going to find droppings in that kind of habitat unless you have 100 people with their noses to the ground."
Even so, the cougar believers have a new member of their community."I don't have any doubt in my mind what I saw was a cougar,"Bohannon said. "Now that I'm convinced of what I'm seeing, I'm going to get out and look for tracks."
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