RIP--The Eastern cougar has officially been declared extinct

[OLD and GRUMPY]

This is sad.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declared the eastern cougar subspecies (known as both Felis concolor couguar and Puma concolor couguar) officially extinct and removed it from the Federal List of Threatened and Endangered Wildlife. Cougars are also known as mountain lions, pumas and panthers.

In 2011, the USFWS began reviewing the eastern cougar's status under the Endangered Species Act and, in 2015, found no evidence that the cat still existed. The delisting of the eastern cougar from the USFWS endangered species list will become official on Feb. 22.   https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/eastern-cougar-officially-declared-extinct

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Don't worry this is not our Hollywood Cougar P22.   http://naaminis.com/smf/index.php?topic=5921.msg91221#msg91221

Last I saw he is still wandering the streets and hills of Hollywood eating cats and dogs. If the East Coast needs a few new cats we have more than enough. Will send some.

[linux_author]

that is a shame - but take heart that there is still some range left for these cats (part of the cougar family):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_panther

willie
on the Gulf of Mexico

[Uncle_Lee]

Well the people can stop worrying about their pets and children.
Never could understand why people let animals live that can eat their kids. It don't make sense. 

[Uncle Fatso]

Heck, my 26 year old nephew says the shopping malls and country clubs in Virginia are loaded with cougars.  Says a young man has to really be careful.

[WECSOG]

Probably typical politically-motivated drivel. I don't believe the one or more that live in my neck of the woods are the Western subspecies. Of course the DNR of my state declares there are none in the state, while threatening charges against anyone who shoots or traps one. And occasionally follows through with that threat.

[Uncle_Lee]

Probably typical politically-motivated drivel. I don't believe the one or more that live in my neck of the woods are the Western subspecies. Of course the DNR of my state declares there are none in the state, while threatening charges against anyone who shoots or traps one. And occasionally follows through with that threat.

Kill them by yourself and don't tell (brag) anyone.

[WECSOG]

Probably typical politically-motivated drivel. I don't believe the one or more that live in my neck of the woods are the Western subspecies. Of course the DNR of my state declares there are none in the state, while threatening charges against anyone who shoots or traps one. And occasionally follows through with that threat.

Kill them by yourself and don't tell (brag) anyone.

I'm not interested in killing it. As long as it sticks to its natural diet of deer and rabbits, I'm ok with it.

[heyjoe]

photos taken of mountain lions in new jersey

[Uncle_Lee]

Probably typical politically-motivated drivel. I don't believe the one or more that live in my neck of the woods are the Western subspecies. Of course the DNR of my state declares there are none in the state, while threatening charges against anyone who shoots or traps one. And occasionally follows through with that threat.

Kill them by yourself and don't tell (brag) anyone.

I'm not interested in killing it. As long as it sticks to its natural diet of deer and rabbits, I'm ok with it.

Hey, I am real OK with it.
I ain't going to miss a child. I don't have any. They will have to kill someone else's.

[heyjoe]

photos taken of mountain lions in new jersey

Pine Barrens?

one was sussex county and the other off 23

[Django2442]

I'm sure there's some agenda behind it, I live in the Maine and I can tell you I saw one in the woods behind my home about 3 years ago, my brain had a hard time processing what I was seeing at first as I didn't expect to see it and it's not something I'm used to seeing, when my eyes and brain connected all the hairs on my neck and arms stood up, didn't go for a walk, swimming or fishing without a sidearm and 12 gauge for a long time, fella down a little ways was night hunting coyotes in the woods and marsh across from me and saw one, we reported it and was told  "you didn't see it", he's a well respected experienced hunter and outdoorsmen and he insisted he saw it and they kept telling him "you didn't see it" I know of a number of hunters and outdoorsmen who have also seen cougars around here and they generally are told they saw a house cat or a bobcat,  bobcats are common around where I live, I see them several times a year my daughter and I saw one this morning, there is no mistaken what I saw, the size, it's musculature, the way it moved and most of all it's long tail with black tip.
I had read something about the biologist ( McCollough) that helped draft the federal status in 2011, he conceded that they were living here, but couldn't find evidence of a breeding population, he suspected that they were animals that were kept in captivity and then released or wondered from western states.

[redhawk4]

I own some land in the mountains with a lake. I've only seen a Cougar there once, I've suspected other times one was around, but did not see anything, my dog certainly seemed able to smell or sense something. A guy on a neighboring property put game cameras out around his cabin and commented that he wished he hadn't, when he saw so many Cougars and bears in the recorded pictures. My point is that even with a big population they are very hard to observe, so it would require an awful lot of time and effort to be able to verify with certainty there are no Cougars in any particular large area of land.

[autofull]

the heck with the cougars. the black bear population has grown big time in berks and schuylkill counties here in southeast pennsylvania. heck, we have ten deer a night here in our back yard. i have seen the bears though and im glad they were far away. i just hope they do not discover the feeding deer in my yard , i have bushes that they feed on. i only have glass patio doors and sometimes that gets kinda scary even with the buck deer. i wish i had a trail cam as my digital only shows glowing eyes on the display. i have never killed a wild animal and am not a hunter but i do own much larger caliber weapons than the pugs in my pocket  so any ruckus means a trip to where a stash gun is. sorry fer the ramblin but i have seen beavers and bobcats and bears in my days gone by but never a big cat. man that would be scary. perhaps i should start out with my old days of computing the threat level of my travels and carry what may be needed. just my two fer today.  kevin in pa. 

[waretrop]

Looks like this animal was dragging his tail in the show. What do you all think?

[ikoiko]

Tough to tell from the picture. Looks like a foot is skimming the snow between steps.

[waretrop]

Maybe...I have some good pics of it but have to go find them....