HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A mountain lion killed on a Connecticut highway last month had apparently walked halfway across the country from South Dakota, according to Connecticut environmental officials who said Tuesday that the journey of roughly 2,000 miles was one of the longest ever recorded for a land mammal.
The animal originated in the Black Hills region of South Dakota and was tracked by DNA from its hair and droppings as it passed through Minnesota and Wisconsin in 2009 and 2010, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Daniel Esty said at a news conference.
Biologists estimate the size of the mountain lion population at about 100,000 in North America, mostly living in western regions and seldom traveling more than 100 miles. It was the first confirmed wild mountain lion in Connecticut in more than 100 years.
"It is a testament to the adaptability of the species that it can travel so far from its original home in South Dakota to Connecticut," Esty said.
The lean, 140-pound male was killed June 11 when it was hit by a sport utility vehicle at night on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in the New Haven suburb of Milford.
Authorities initially believed it was a captive animal that escaped, but tests showed that it was not neutered or declawed and it had no implanted microchips, which are commonly used in domestic animals.
Tests also determined it was likely the same one that had been seen earlier in Greenwich, Conn., a New York City suburb 30 miles away. The death was followed by a flurry of big cat sightings in the suburbs of Connecticut, but experts dismissed most of them as unreliable. Government experts say no native mountain lions are believed to live in Connecticut.
Although it was an anomaly, Esty said the presence of the wild mountain lion is a good sign of the ability of Connecticut's conserved land to sustain wildlife.
He said the discovery is "a strong symbol of what we had all hoped for who work in the conservation area, that wilderness areas and biological diversity can be preserved and protected."
Genetic testing showed the cat had the same genetic structure of the mountain lion population in South Dakota's Black Hills region. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service Wildlife Genetics Laboratory in Missoula, Mont., matched the DNA with samples collected from a cat that was spotted in eastern Minnesota near Minneapolis and in northern Wisconsin from late 2009 through early 2010.
It was unclear what route the animal took to Connecticut. Biologists said it could have traveled south near urban areas or north through Canada.
STEPHEN DOCKERY
From Associated Press
http://my.earthlink.net/article/us?guid=20110726/92bd9334-ef54-410a-9dd2-58b0a74d8d92
Showing posts with label Connecticut. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Connecticut. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Two More Mountain Lion Sightings Reported
Two More Mountain Lion Sightings Reported
June 15, 201
By KIM VELSEY
The Hartford Courant
GREENWICH — Officials continue to receive reports of mountain lion sightings since one was struck by a car and killed on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford Saturday. But there's no new evidence to substantiate the sightings, officials say.
On Wednesday, two more residents reported seeing a mountain lion in Greenwich. The first report came in at noon, when a woman told the state Department of Environmental Protection that she was walking her dog on Lake Avenue by the New York border when a mountain lion being chased by two dogs ran in front of her.
Several hours later, an employee of the Fairview Golf Course on King Street reported seeing a mountain lion on a stone wall between the golf course and the Audubon property.
No evidence was found at either site, according to the DEP.
In the absence of any concrete proof of additional mountain lions, the DEP continues to believe that the animal killed in Milford was and is the only one in the state. The DEP believes that the mountain lion killed by a car was a captive that was released or escaped. It is illegal for a private individual to buy or keep a mountain lion in Connecticut and the Environmental Conservation Police Division is conducting a criminal investigation into the matter.
Wednesday's unconfirmed sightings in Greenwich follow three others. Two were reported on Sunday, the first by a motorist on North Street near the Merritt Parkway, and the second by a homeowner on John Street, whose property abuts the Audubon Center property. The DEP referred to another reported sighting on Monday as a "false alarm."
Despite a number of reported sightings over the years (the state receives 10 to 12 unconfirmed reports a year), the DEP says that there are no native mountain lions in Connecticut; the Eastern mountain lion was declared extinct in March by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The DEP will perform genetic testing on the Milford mountain lion to try to determine where it came from. In addition to DNA testing, a necropsy will be performed, looking for proof of a domestic diet or vaccinations. Spokesman Dwayne Gardner said results from the necropsy probably will be released in about a week.
http://articles.courant.com/2011-06-15/news/hc-mountain-lion-sightings-0616-20110615_1_audubon-center-property-mountain-lion-dna-testing
June 15, 201
By KIM VELSEY
The Hartford Courant
GREENWICH — Officials continue to receive reports of mountain lion sightings since one was struck by a car and killed on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford Saturday. But there's no new evidence to substantiate the sightings, officials say.
On Wednesday, two more residents reported seeing a mountain lion in Greenwich. The first report came in at noon, when a woman told the state Department of Environmental Protection that she was walking her dog on Lake Avenue by the New York border when a mountain lion being chased by two dogs ran in front of her.
Several hours later, an employee of the Fairview Golf Course on King Street reported seeing a mountain lion on a stone wall between the golf course and the Audubon property.
No evidence was found at either site, according to the DEP.
In the absence of any concrete proof of additional mountain lions, the DEP continues to believe that the animal killed in Milford was and is the only one in the state. The DEP believes that the mountain lion killed by a car was a captive that was released or escaped. It is illegal for a private individual to buy or keep a mountain lion in Connecticut and the Environmental Conservation Police Division is conducting a criminal investigation into the matter.
Wednesday's unconfirmed sightings in Greenwich follow three others. Two were reported on Sunday, the first by a motorist on North Street near the Merritt Parkway, and the second by a homeowner on John Street, whose property abuts the Audubon Center property. The DEP referred to another reported sighting on Monday as a "false alarm."
Despite a number of reported sightings over the years (the state receives 10 to 12 unconfirmed reports a year), the DEP says that there are no native mountain lions in Connecticut; the Eastern mountain lion was declared extinct in March by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The DEP will perform genetic testing on the Milford mountain lion to try to determine where it came from. In addition to DNA testing, a necropsy will be performed, looking for proof of a domestic diet or vaccinations. Spokesman Dwayne Gardner said results from the necropsy probably will be released in about a week.
http://articles.courant.com/2011-06-15/news/hc-mountain-lion-sightings-0616-20110615_1_audubon-center-property-mountain-lion-dna-testing
DEP: Dead Mountain Lion Was Held In Captivity
DEP: Dead Mountain Lion Was Held In Captivity
Officials believe only one wild cat has been stalking region.
Barbara Heins and Ronald DeRosa
June 13, 2011
The state Department of Environmental Protection's police unit is investigating whether a mountain lion killed on the Merritt Parkway in Milford over the weekend escaped from illegal captivity — despite the fact that the animal had no physical signs of being domesticated.
"Our division is actively investigating this case as a violation of Connecticut laws," said Lt. Kyle Overturf, of the state Environmental Conservation Police. "We really need the public's help on this case to follow the origins of this animal."
A mountain lion was killed on the Merritt Parkway Saturday morning after being struck by an SUV. This followed previous reports of sightings in Greenwich, some 40 miles away. DEP officials have said they believe it is the same animal even though they acknowledged they are continuing to receive reported mountain lion sightings, including two on Sunday in northern Greenwich.
During a conference call with reporters on Monday, DEP Deputy Commissioner Susan Frechette said her department is actively working to determine the origin of the slain animal recovered from the highway accident on the Wilbur Cross Parkway. She said the department also is conducting tests and analyzing paw prints and scat samples from other sightings, as well as working to collaborating with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation and research institutions in Florida and California.
"We do continue to state that there is no native population of mountain lions in Connecticut," Frechette said. She said residents in the Greenwich area and in the state should use precaution, by keeping small animals and children inside and applying "common sense" safety tips like not leaving dog or cat food outside.
Anyone who sees anything that looks like a mountain lion should call the DEP hotline at 860-424-3333, Frechette said.
Meanwhile, Overturf said his department is trying to determine whether the 140-pound male mountain lion came from a domestic situation either New York or within Connecticut. Noting that it is a crime to possess a wild animal in Connecticut, Overturf said several state agencies are corroborating with New York environmental officials to determine this animal's origin and is actively any pursuing leads that arise.
"Right now we have no permit mountain lions in Connecticut," Overturf said. "There are two permitted in New York and (EnCon police in New York) are following a lead there. Other than that we have no other lead right now."
In response to reporters' questions DEP Biologist Paul Rego said there was no actual physical indication the animal was in captive. He said the male animal was not neutered, had no collar, was not declawed and was, through a "cursory examination," a lean mountain lion. Rego noted that, more often, animals held in captivity or domestic situations are usually "out of shape."
In fact, the primary reason why the DEP believe the animal is an escaped mountain lion is because no such animals are known to exist in Connecticut, Rego said.
"It is so far from a source population is known to exist," he said. "That is the most logical explanation."
The DEP is analyzing DNA samples to determine whether the mountain lion is from a North American or South American source, Rego said. Often, those that are kept in captive hail from South America, he said.
Rego acknowledged that these animals can travel far, however, the closest areas where mountain lions are known to be are Florida, the Dakotas and some places in the far Midwest.
"If it's an animal from Florida that doesn't mean it's a dispersing animal," he said. "Some have gone 500 miles, but that still puts them 500 miles from Connecticut."
He added the mountain lion was no older than six years old.
Despite the fact that one animal has already been killed — and has been confirmed to likely be the same one previously sighted near Brunswick School in Greenwich — other mountain lion sightings continue to persist, even Monday morning.
Greenwich Police spokesman Lt. Kraig Gray said a sighting Sunday at a John Street residence in the backcountry section of northern Greenwich "was very credible. It was quite credible from five people from one family and they enjoyed enough time of viewing it to know what it was."
He added, "It was not the fleeting image" that officials have been seen in a photograph taken by a staff member of the Brunswick School. On June 5, staff at the private all-boys school on King Street, spotted a mountain lion on the campus, which abuts the Westchester County Airport.
The family reported watching the full-grown feline take two leaps to scale a 25-foot high retaining wall in the rear of their yard, according to Greenwich Emergency Management Director Dan Warzoha, a friend of the family who does not want to be identified.
The family's property abuts Audubon Greenwich property. Officials there closed its trails as a precaution Sunday. A message left Monday afternoon with Audubon officials was not immediately returned.
Gray said a motorist reported seeing "what they thought they saw it in a tree on the Merritt Parkway near the North Street exit." He said that sighting is considered unverified and that his department was notified by the state DEP of that incident. Further details were not immediately available.
Greenwich Police could not immediately provide information on a report a bobcat was struck and killed by a motor vehicle Friday night on King Street, in the area of the Convent of the Sacred Heart School campus.
As for other possible sightings, a mountain lion sighting was reported in Middlebury in early June and commenters on several Patch sites have reported their own sightings. The DEP has historically denied all of them, and Dennis Schain, department spokesman, reconfirmed Monday that these sightings usually turn out to be some other animal.
"Everything to a dog, to a coyote to a bobcat upon examination," Schain said.
On a lighter note, the Greenwich mountain lion continues its virtual life. Over the weekend, the GML's Facebook page has grown from less than 200 friends to more than 900 Monday afternoon.
Its latest post: Greenwich Mountain Lion wrote:
"Somebody call Barbara Walters for me, and let her know I'd like a spot on The View. It'd be perfect: I can growl at Elizabeth Hasselbeck and the other annoying women on the show when they say something annoying! Barbara going to commercial: "we'll be back, right after the GML finishes mauling Elizabeth...and maybe Sherry..."
http://newcanaan.patch.com/articles/dep-dead-mountain-lion-was-held-in-captivity
Officials believe only one wild cat has been stalking region.
Barbara Heins and Ronald DeRosa
June 13, 2011
The state Department of Environmental Protection's police unit is investigating whether a mountain lion killed on the Merritt Parkway in Milford over the weekend escaped from illegal captivity — despite the fact that the animal had no physical signs of being domesticated.
"Our division is actively investigating this case as a violation of Connecticut laws," said Lt. Kyle Overturf, of the state Environmental Conservation Police. "We really need the public's help on this case to follow the origins of this animal."
A mountain lion was killed on the Merritt Parkway Saturday morning after being struck by an SUV. This followed previous reports of sightings in Greenwich, some 40 miles away. DEP officials have said they believe it is the same animal even though they acknowledged they are continuing to receive reported mountain lion sightings, including two on Sunday in northern Greenwich.
During a conference call with reporters on Monday, DEP Deputy Commissioner Susan Frechette said her department is actively working to determine the origin of the slain animal recovered from the highway accident on the Wilbur Cross Parkway. She said the department also is conducting tests and analyzing paw prints and scat samples from other sightings, as well as working to collaborating with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation and research institutions in Florida and California.
"We do continue to state that there is no native population of mountain lions in Connecticut," Frechette said. She said residents in the Greenwich area and in the state should use precaution, by keeping small animals and children inside and applying "common sense" safety tips like not leaving dog or cat food outside.
Anyone who sees anything that looks like a mountain lion should call the DEP hotline at 860-424-3333, Frechette said.
Meanwhile, Overturf said his department is trying to determine whether the 140-pound male mountain lion came from a domestic situation either New York or within Connecticut. Noting that it is a crime to possess a wild animal in Connecticut, Overturf said several state agencies are corroborating with New York environmental officials to determine this animal's origin and is actively any pursuing leads that arise.
"Right now we have no permit mountain lions in Connecticut," Overturf said. "There are two permitted in New York and (EnCon police in New York) are following a lead there. Other than that we have no other lead right now."
In response to reporters' questions DEP Biologist Paul Rego said there was no actual physical indication the animal was in captive. He said the male animal was not neutered, had no collar, was not declawed and was, through a "cursory examination," a lean mountain lion. Rego noted that, more often, animals held in captivity or domestic situations are usually "out of shape."
In fact, the primary reason why the DEP believe the animal is an escaped mountain lion is because no such animals are known to exist in Connecticut, Rego said.
"It is so far from a source population is known to exist," he said. "That is the most logical explanation."
The DEP is analyzing DNA samples to determine whether the mountain lion is from a North American or South American source, Rego said. Often, those that are kept in captive hail from South America, he said.
Rego acknowledged that these animals can travel far, however, the closest areas where mountain lions are known to be are Florida, the Dakotas and some places in the far Midwest.
"If it's an animal from Florida that doesn't mean it's a dispersing animal," he said. "Some have gone 500 miles, but that still puts them 500 miles from Connecticut."
He added the mountain lion was no older than six years old.
Despite the fact that one animal has already been killed — and has been confirmed to likely be the same one previously sighted near Brunswick School in Greenwich — other mountain lion sightings continue to persist, even Monday morning.
Greenwich Police spokesman Lt. Kraig Gray said a sighting Sunday at a John Street residence in the backcountry section of northern Greenwich "was very credible. It was quite credible from five people from one family and they enjoyed enough time of viewing it to know what it was."
He added, "It was not the fleeting image" that officials have been seen in a photograph taken by a staff member of the Brunswick School. On June 5, staff at the private all-boys school on King Street, spotted a mountain lion on the campus, which abuts the Westchester County Airport.
The family reported watching the full-grown feline take two leaps to scale a 25-foot high retaining wall in the rear of their yard, according to Greenwich Emergency Management Director Dan Warzoha, a friend of the family who does not want to be identified.
The family's property abuts Audubon Greenwich property. Officials there closed its trails as a precaution Sunday. A message left Monday afternoon with Audubon officials was not immediately returned.
Gray said a motorist reported seeing "what they thought they saw it in a tree on the Merritt Parkway near the North Street exit." He said that sighting is considered unverified and that his department was notified by the state DEP of that incident. Further details were not immediately available.
Greenwich Police could not immediately provide information on a report a bobcat was struck and killed by a motor vehicle Friday night on King Street, in the area of the Convent of the Sacred Heart School campus.
As for other possible sightings, a mountain lion sighting was reported in Middlebury in early June and commenters on several Patch sites have reported their own sightings. The DEP has historically denied all of them, and Dennis Schain, department spokesman, reconfirmed Monday that these sightings usually turn out to be some other animal.
"Everything to a dog, to a coyote to a bobcat upon examination," Schain said.
On a lighter note, the Greenwich mountain lion continues its virtual life. Over the weekend, the GML's Facebook page has grown from less than 200 friends to more than 900 Monday afternoon.
Its latest post: Greenwich Mountain Lion wrote:
"Somebody call Barbara Walters for me, and let her know I'd like a spot on The View. It'd be perfect: I can growl at Elizabeth Hasselbeck and the other annoying women on the show when they say something annoying! Barbara going to commercial: "we'll be back, right after the GML finishes mauling Elizabeth...and maybe Sherry..."
http://newcanaan.patch.com/articles/dep-dead-mountain-lion-was-held-in-captivity
Claims of Mountain Lions Roaming in Connecticut Drew Groans ... Until Saturday
Claims of Mountain Lions Roaming in Connecticut Drew Groans ... Until Saturday
MOSI SECRET
June 12, 2011
In the not-so-wilds of Connecticut, the sightings have come with some regularity for years: Immense, muscled cats, with tails nearly as long as their torsos, emerging out of the forest, appearing first as a flash in the corner of the eye, and then suddenly, shockingly, in front of a motorist's car.
And for years, the responses to those who said they saw a mountain lion were as if they had said they had seen Bigfoot ripping through the Appalachians: You must have been mistaken. A wild eastern cougar? Never. Those are extinct.
Last week was no different, as various reports began trickling in of a mountain lion roaming around, in of all places, Greenwich, Conn.
There was a sighting near the Brunswick School on June 5. In another incident, a paramedic and an emergency medical technician were driving in an ambulance when they said a large cat jumped in front of them. A homeowner made a report around the same time.
A town conservation officer said the sightings were unlikely. But then someone came forward with a photograph. And early Saturday came indisputable evidence: flesh and bone.
Someone driving a Hyundai S.U.V. struck an animal on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford, about 45 miles east of Greenwich. The authorities were called, and the animal was confirmed dead. More to the point, it was also confirmed to be a mountain lion.
Officials took the mountain lion, a 140-pound male, to a state Department of Environmental Protection office; officials said they believed that the dead animal was the same one that had been seen around Greenwich.
The discovery and confirmation of the mountain lion's existence was an undeniable told-you-so moment for all those whose accounts of encountering a mountain lion were ever questioned, laughed at or worse.
Jeremy Joyell, 68, of Bristol, Conn., said he saw one in 2004. "I was driving up Route 63 in the evening," he recalled.
"It was August, so the sun was an hour away from setting in the west. I saw this animal come bounding down about 200 yards away. For once in my life I was driving at the speed limit. I saw it and it stopped.
"He ran right in front of the car. And I saw him. He was about eight feet long. Four feet of body and four feet of tail."
Mr. Joyell said that even though his sighting was never officially verified, the news that an actual mountain lion was found left him feeling vindicated.
"When I saw that today I felt better because those of us that have seen them know damn well what we saw," he said.
Patricia Sheeran, of Bloomfield, Conn., said she also saw a mountain lion about a quarter-mile from her home in 2007. "I was driving very slowly. And something caught my eye, and it was a mountain lion. It stopped, and I stopped. It had the standard black tip to its tail. It was big. And it walked off, and it walked back into the woods."
Earlier this year, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service released a report that said the eastern cougar was extinct. Other varieties of cougars, which are called mountain lions in some areas, can be found in Manitoba, Canada, North and South Dakota, Eastern Texas, Florida and possibly Oklahoma..
"We recognize that many people have seen cougars in the wild within the historical range of the eastern cougar," said Martin Miller, the service's Northeast region chief of endangered species. "However, we believe those cougars are not the eastern cougar subspecies. We found no information to support the existence of the eastern cougar."
During the review, the federal agency reviewed 108 confirmed accounts of cougar sightings from 1900 to 2010 and concluded that all the cougars were not native to the Northeast. They were different species mostly from South America or the West Coast.
The agency says there are thousands of unconfirmed reports of cougar sightings in the Eastern United States.
Officials suggested the lion killed in Milford may have been released or escaped from captivity.
"We still believe there is no native population," said Dennis Schain, a spokesman for the state's Department of Environmental Protection.
"We've never been presented with any credible evidence of a native population," he added. "There is a school of thought out there that we are knowingly denying it, but there is no reason the Department of Environmental Protection would do that."
Mr. Schain said the state was conducting tests to determine definitively that the dead cat was the same one that was spotted in Greenwich. They can compare paw prints and samples of the cat's droppings.
They were also fielding calls of new sightings: On Sunday, the Greenwich Police Department announced that a homeowner and his family saw "a large tan cat" in their backyard Sunday morning. "The cat was described by the family as a mountain lion," a statement said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/13/nyregion/mountain-lion-is-found-in-connecticut.html?_r=1
MOSI SECRET
June 12, 2011
In the not-so-wilds of Connecticut, the sightings have come with some regularity for years: Immense, muscled cats, with tails nearly as long as their torsos, emerging out of the forest, appearing first as a flash in the corner of the eye, and then suddenly, shockingly, in front of a motorist's car.
And for years, the responses to those who said they saw a mountain lion were as if they had said they had seen Bigfoot ripping through the Appalachians: You must have been mistaken. A wild eastern cougar? Never. Those are extinct.
Last week was no different, as various reports began trickling in of a mountain lion roaming around, in of all places, Greenwich, Conn.
There was a sighting near the Brunswick School on June 5. In another incident, a paramedic and an emergency medical technician were driving in an ambulance when they said a large cat jumped in front of them. A homeowner made a report around the same time.
A town conservation officer said the sightings were unlikely. But then someone came forward with a photograph. And early Saturday came indisputable evidence: flesh and bone.
Someone driving a Hyundai S.U.V. struck an animal on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford, about 45 miles east of Greenwich. The authorities were called, and the animal was confirmed dead. More to the point, it was also confirmed to be a mountain lion.
Officials took the mountain lion, a 140-pound male, to a state Department of Environmental Protection office; officials said they believed that the dead animal was the same one that had been seen around Greenwich.
The discovery and confirmation of the mountain lion's existence was an undeniable told-you-so moment for all those whose accounts of encountering a mountain lion were ever questioned, laughed at or worse.
Jeremy Joyell, 68, of Bristol, Conn., said he saw one in 2004. "I was driving up Route 63 in the evening," he recalled.
"It was August, so the sun was an hour away from setting in the west. I saw this animal come bounding down about 200 yards away. For once in my life I was driving at the speed limit. I saw it and it stopped.
"He ran right in front of the car. And I saw him. He was about eight feet long. Four feet of body and four feet of tail."
Mr. Joyell said that even though his sighting was never officially verified, the news that an actual mountain lion was found left him feeling vindicated.
"When I saw that today I felt better because those of us that have seen them know damn well what we saw," he said.
Patricia Sheeran, of Bloomfield, Conn., said she also saw a mountain lion about a quarter-mile from her home in 2007. "I was driving very slowly. And something caught my eye, and it was a mountain lion. It stopped, and I stopped. It had the standard black tip to its tail. It was big. And it walked off, and it walked back into the woods."
Earlier this year, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service released a report that said the eastern cougar was extinct. Other varieties of cougars, which are called mountain lions in some areas, can be found in Manitoba, Canada, North and South Dakota, Eastern Texas, Florida and possibly Oklahoma..
"We recognize that many people have seen cougars in the wild within the historical range of the eastern cougar," said Martin Miller, the service's Northeast region chief of endangered species. "However, we believe those cougars are not the eastern cougar subspecies. We found no information to support the existence of the eastern cougar."
During the review, the federal agency reviewed 108 confirmed accounts of cougar sightings from 1900 to 2010 and concluded that all the cougars were not native to the Northeast. They were different species mostly from South America or the West Coast.
The agency says there are thousands of unconfirmed reports of cougar sightings in the Eastern United States.
Officials suggested the lion killed in Milford may have been released or escaped from captivity.
"We still believe there is no native population," said Dennis Schain, a spokesman for the state's Department of Environmental Protection.
"We've never been presented with any credible evidence of a native population," he added. "There is a school of thought out there that we are knowingly denying it, but there is no reason the Department of Environmental Protection would do that."
Mr. Schain said the state was conducting tests to determine definitively that the dead cat was the same one that was spotted in Greenwich. They can compare paw prints and samples of the cat's droppings.
They were also fielding calls of new sightings: On Sunday, the Greenwich Police Department announced that a homeowner and his family saw "a large tan cat" in their backyard Sunday morning. "The cat was described by the family as a mountain lion," a statement said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/13/nyregion/mountain-lion-is-found-in-connecticut.html?_r=1
Monday, June 13, 2011
CONNECTICUT COUGAR
BOSTON (Reuters) – A mountain lion was killed just 70 miles from New York City early on Saturday morning, and officials were trying to determine if it was the same big cat spotted a week ago roaming the posh suburb of Greenwich, Connecticut.The 140-pound mountain lion was hit by a small SUV on a highway in Milford, Connecticut, early Saturday morning, and died from its injuries. The driver was unhurt, officials said.
With no native mountain lion population in the state, "it's possible and even likely" it is the same enormous cat with a long tail spotted last weekend in the New York City suburb some 30 miles away, said Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Dennis Schain.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110612/us_nm/us_mountainlion_killed
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
AN UNUSUAL VISITOR: Manatee spotted near Clinton marina
Susan Misur, New Haven Register
Saturday, August 21, 2010
CLINTON—The state logged its first manatee sighting of the summer this week when one of the marine mammals was spotted swimming near Cedar Island Marina Friday and in Bridgeport and Fairfield Wednesday.
Janelle Schuh, a stranding coordinator with Mystic Aquarium who handles reports of distressed animals, said Mystic received calls about the animal and that there are usually one to three manatee sightings a year.
They typically occur in late summer and early fall, and it’s unknown why the animals come this far north, since they most likely come from Florida, Schuh added.
Some manatees routinely come north year after year, but Schuh said she is not yet sure if the one spotted this week is one that usually comes to the Connecticut shore. She added that she’ll be sending photos residents took of the manatee to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to see if it matches the description of any in its database.
“There are definitely cases where the same individual animals are seen in the northeast in year’s past and it’s just a normal route for them, so to speak,” Schuh said.
Schuh believes the manatee seen in Bridgeport and Fairfield earlier this week is the same one found in the Cedar Island Marina Friday because of the time frame and proximity of the towns.
On Friday, the manatee was swimming in Clinton in about three feet of water, which Schuh says was normal behavior, as the mammals usually stay close to the shore and eat off the ocean floor. She wasn’t sure if it was an adult, which could weigh around 1,000 pounds.
Mystic employees will observe manatees or other animals spotted near the shoreline to ensure they aren’t in need of rescue, Schuh said.
“We let them do what they’re going to do until they’re showing behaviorally that they need some sort of rescue,” she explained. “If it was really injured, we’d go help it, like if it had gotten struck by a boat.”
If people spot a manatee near the Connecticut shoreline, they shouldn’t give it fresh water or food because it will stay in the area, Schuh. As the weather and water gets colder, it could be dangerous for the manatee to remain here.
“They’ll hang out by side of people’s boats if there’s a fresh water hose going over the side and drink underneath that,” she added. “As great as is to continue watching a manatee, we don’t want them to stay in an area where there is a lot of boats. They get acclimated quickly once you start feeding and giving them water.”
http://middletownpress.com/articles/2010/08/21/news/doc4c6ffe269a35f188177490.txt
Saturday, August 21, 2010
CLINTON—The state logged its first manatee sighting of the summer this week when one of the marine mammals was spotted swimming near Cedar Island Marina Friday and in Bridgeport and Fairfield Wednesday.
Janelle Schuh, a stranding coordinator with Mystic Aquarium who handles reports of distressed animals, said Mystic received calls about the animal and that there are usually one to three manatee sightings a year.
They typically occur in late summer and early fall, and it’s unknown why the animals come this far north, since they most likely come from Florida, Schuh added.
Some manatees routinely come north year after year, but Schuh said she is not yet sure if the one spotted this week is one that usually comes to the Connecticut shore. She added that she’ll be sending photos residents took of the manatee to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to see if it matches the description of any in its database.
“There are definitely cases where the same individual animals are seen in the northeast in year’s past and it’s just a normal route for them, so to speak,” Schuh said.
Schuh believes the manatee seen in Bridgeport and Fairfield earlier this week is the same one found in the Cedar Island Marina Friday because of the time frame and proximity of the towns.
On Friday, the manatee was swimming in Clinton in about three feet of water, which Schuh says was normal behavior, as the mammals usually stay close to the shore and eat off the ocean floor. She wasn’t sure if it was an adult, which could weigh around 1,000 pounds.
Mystic employees will observe manatees or other animals spotted near the shoreline to ensure they aren’t in need of rescue, Schuh said.
“We let them do what they’re going to do until they’re showing behaviorally that they need some sort of rescue,” she explained. “If it was really injured, we’d go help it, like if it had gotten struck by a boat.”
If people spot a manatee near the Connecticut shoreline, they shouldn’t give it fresh water or food because it will stay in the area, Schuh. As the weather and water gets colder, it could be dangerous for the manatee to remain here.
“They’ll hang out by side of people’s boats if there’s a fresh water hose going over the side and drink underneath that,” she added. “As great as is to continue watching a manatee, we don’t want them to stay in an area where there is a lot of boats. They get acclimated quickly once you start feeding and giving them water.”
http://middletownpress.com/articles/2010/08/21/news/doc4c6ffe269a35f188177490.txt
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Owner of chimp in mauling attack dies
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Connecticut woman whose chimpanzee mauled and blinded her friend last year, leading to lawsuits and a national debate over the regulation of exotic pets, has died, her attorney said Tuesday.
Sandy Herold died Monday night of a ruptured aortic aneurysm, lawyer Robert Golger said. She was 72.
Herold's 200-pound chimpanzee, Travis, went berserk in February 2009 after Herold asked her friend, Charla Nash, to help lure it back into her house in Stamford. The animal ripped off Nash's hands, nose, lips and eyelids before the animal was shot and killed by police.
"Ms. Herold had suffered a series of heartbreaking losses over the last several years, beginning with the death of her only child, then her husband, then her beloved chimp Travis, as well as the tragic maiming of friend and employee Charla Nash," Golger said in a statement. "In the end, her heart, which had been broken so many times before, could take no more."
The chimpanzee's rampage forced Herold to stab her beloved pet with a butcher knife and pound him with a shovel.
"For me to do something like that — put a knife in him — was like putting one in myself," she said afterward. The chimp turned around, she said, as if to say, "'Mom, what did you do?'"
Travis had appeared in TV commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola when he was younger, and at home he was treated like a member of the family. A family friend has said Herold fed the chimp steak, lobster, ice cream and Italian food.
Nash recently underwent a preliminary evaluation to determine whether she is a candidate for a face and hand transplant at a Harvard-affiliated hospital.
The mauling led Congress and state officials to consider strengthening laws against keeping exotic animals. A prosecutor said in December that Herold would not face criminal charges because there was no evidence she knowingly disregarded any risk the animal posed.
Nash's family sued Herold for $50 million and wants to sue the state for $150 million, saying officials failed to prevent the attack.
"Our sympathies go out to her family," said Bill Monaco, attorney for Nash's family.
Golger and Monaco said they expected the lawsuit to continue.
"The stress of defending a multimillion-dollar lawsuit and all that it entailed also weighed heavy on Sandy," Golger said. "She hated living alone in a house where she faced constant reminders of the vibrant and happy life she once led with her family and friends."
Golger described Herold as generous and an animal lover.
"In a world where too many people strive to just fit in, she stood out as a true individual," Golger said. "She marched to the beat of her own drum and was proud of it."
Sandy Herold stands next to her 200-pound chimpanzee, Travis, who was shot and killed by police after going berserk in February 2009 and injuring Harold's friend Charla Nash.
Sandy Herold died Monday night of a ruptured aortic aneurysm, lawyer Robert Golger said. She was 72.
Herold's 200-pound chimpanzee, Travis, went berserk in February 2009 after Herold asked her friend, Charla Nash, to help lure it back into her house in Stamford. The animal ripped off Nash's hands, nose, lips and eyelids before the animal was shot and killed by police.
"Ms. Herold had suffered a series of heartbreaking losses over the last several years, beginning with the death of her only child, then her husband, then her beloved chimp Travis, as well as the tragic maiming of friend and employee Charla Nash," Golger said in a statement. "In the end, her heart, which had been broken so many times before, could take no more."
The chimpanzee's rampage forced Herold to stab her beloved pet with a butcher knife and pound him with a shovel.
"For me to do something like that — put a knife in him — was like putting one in myself," she said afterward. The chimp turned around, she said, as if to say, "'Mom, what did you do?'"
Travis had appeared in TV commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola when he was younger, and at home he was treated like a member of the family. A family friend has said Herold fed the chimp steak, lobster, ice cream and Italian food.
Nash recently underwent a preliminary evaluation to determine whether she is a candidate for a face and hand transplant at a Harvard-affiliated hospital.
The mauling led Congress and state officials to consider strengthening laws against keeping exotic animals. A prosecutor said in December that Herold would not face criminal charges because there was no evidence she knowingly disregarded any risk the animal posed.
Nash's family sued Herold for $50 million and wants to sue the state for $150 million, saying officials failed to prevent the attack.
"Our sympathies go out to her family," said Bill Monaco, attorney for Nash's family.
Golger and Monaco said they expected the lawsuit to continue.
"The stress of defending a multimillion-dollar lawsuit and all that it entailed also weighed heavy on Sandy," Golger said. "She hated living alone in a house where she faced constant reminders of the vibrant and happy life she once led with her family and friends."
Golger described Herold as generous and an animal lover.
"In a world where too many people strive to just fit in, she stood out as a true individual," Golger said. "She marched to the beat of her own drum and was proud of it."
Sandy Herold stands next to her 200-pound chimpanzee, Travis, who was shot and killed by police after going berserk in February 2009 and injuring Harold's friend Charla Nash.
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