First lynx survey conducted in Vermont
FERDINAND, Vt. -
Vermont's far northeast corner is a vast wilderness -- one that stretches as far as the eye can see.
But this land is being settled. Not by people, but by lynx.
a pair of Canadian Lynx have been spotted together in Vermont
"There's not many kicking around, but people do see them," Chris Bernier with Vermont Fish & Wildlife.
This week wildlife experts set off on snowmobiles to conduct the state's first-ever lynx survey using a grid system established in Maine, where the cats number in the hundreds.
Lynx hunting snowshoe rabbit
No one knows exactly how many lynx there are in Vermont, but wildlife officials hope this fresh fallen snow will act as a canvas, helping them paint a better picture of lynx activity."The habitat is perfect for lynx. We're right at the southern end of their range," says Rachel Cliche with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
But lynx have never been abundant in Vermont. (at least since European settlement in the 1700's-blogger Rick) From 1797 to 1998 there were only four confirmed sightings.
Lynx are not always ".300" hitters,,,,,,,rabbits often elude their clutches
"We were thinking then we were just seeing some transients being pushed out of their core habitat in Maine and Canada," Bernier says.But that all started to change about 14 years ago. Since 1998 there have been eleven -- all but one in the northeast part of the state.
"The question is, are they gong to stay here? Are they going to set up shop? And will we ever see a breeding population? At this point there's no proof, but we don't know," Bernier says.But there is hope.
Michael Bancroft was snowmobiling east of Island Pond last winter and snapped these pictures, showing not one, but two cats traveling together. "I managed to get 13 photos of them," he says. "It was just a cool thing to see. I didn't think about how rare it was."
The challenge now is to confirm what many suspect. That the cats are here to stay. Teams this week found five confirmed sets of tracks. The animals live primarily in spruce forests, where snowshoe hare are abundant. In Canada, they number in the thousands.
The cats look similar to bobcats, but bobcats have white on the tip of their tail, smaller legs, and smaller feet.
"Once you've seen the feet of a lynx, there's no mistaking it from a bobcat," Bernier says.We will likely never see a big lynx population in Vermont, but there is hope that the cats are back. "It would be awesome. I'd be psyched to see one. Absolutely," Bernier says.It's a rare sight seen by only a select few over the centuries.
Wildlife officials hope to conduct two more surveys this winter and then repeat them several years from now to compare the data.
But this land is being settled. Not by people, but by lynx.
a pair of Canadian Lynx have been spotted together in Vermont
"There's not many kicking around, but people do see them," Chris Bernier with Vermont Fish & Wildlife.
This week wildlife experts set off on snowmobiles to conduct the state's first-ever lynx survey using a grid system established in Maine, where the cats number in the hundreds.
Lynx hunting snowshoe rabbit
No one knows exactly how many lynx there are in Vermont, but wildlife officials hope this fresh fallen snow will act as a canvas, helping them paint a better picture of lynx activity."The habitat is perfect for lynx. We're right at the southern end of their range," says Rachel Cliche with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
But lynx have never been abundant in Vermont. (at least since European settlement in the 1700's-blogger Rick) From 1797 to 1998 there were only four confirmed sightings.
Lynx are not always ".300" hitters,,,,,,,rabbits often elude their clutches
"We were thinking then we were just seeing some transients being pushed out of their core habitat in Maine and Canada," Bernier says.But that all started to change about 14 years ago. Since 1998 there have been eleven -- all but one in the northeast part of the state.
"The question is, are they gong to stay here? Are they going to set up shop? And will we ever see a breeding population? At this point there's no proof, but we don't know," Bernier says.But there is hope.
Michael Bancroft was snowmobiling east of Island Pond last winter and snapped these pictures, showing not one, but two cats traveling together. "I managed to get 13 photos of them," he says. "It was just a cool thing to see. I didn't think about how rare it was."
The challenge now is to confirm what many suspect. That the cats are here to stay. Teams this week found five confirmed sets of tracks. The animals live primarily in spruce forests, where snowshoe hare are abundant. In Canada, they number in the thousands.
The cats look similar to bobcats, but bobcats have white on the tip of their tail, smaller legs, and smaller feet.
"Once you've seen the feet of a lynx, there's no mistaking it from a bobcat," Bernier says.We will likely never see a big lynx population in Vermont, but there is hope that the cats are back. "It would be awesome. I'd be psyched to see one. Absolutely," Bernier says.It's a rare sight seen by only a select few over the centuries.
Wildlife officials hope to conduct two more surveys this winter and then repeat them several years from now to compare the data.
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