Are Mountain Lions In Newtown?

By Kendra Bobowick

The sun was setting over Charter Ridge Road in October, while indoors, Sondra Bogursky looked out her living room window where she saw something walk into her front yard.

“It was huge, and had a catlike face,” she said. The animal had a long tail and as it walked it “looped around the yard.” She hurried to get a photo. “I was trying to take the screens out, but it was far away,” she said. The distance and dusk prevented her from catching the backyard visitor on camera.

She was reminded of the animal she saw in the fall by recent news of a mountain lion that was struck and killed by a car in Milford on June 11, along with reports of possibly the same animal sighted in Greenwich. Ms Bogursky wondered if she had seen a mountain lion.

“I think so,” she said. “It had a catlike walk and a long tail. It was tan.” She saw it again this spring, she said, and speculated that it might live in the nearby Paugussett State Forest. In October, however, she said, “I didn’t know what it was, but when I saw the [recent Milford/Greenwich news] pictures, it was the same size and color.” She said the animal she saw was “bigger than a golden retriever, maybe the size of a small deer.”

Animal Control Officer Carolee Mason said, “We may have one; I am almost sure we do not, but there is always that chance.” Among recent calls for wildlife was a bear sighting along School House Hill Road this month. Although the photos she received are blurred, she is sure it is a bear, she said.

Often in the spring and summer she and her staff receive calls from residents who are trying to figure out what they saw. Confirmed in the area are bobcats, coyotes, fisher cats, fox, and lynx, she said.

Her department often provides residents with paperwork detailing the different animals and their paw prints, said Assistant Animal Control Officer Matt Schaub. Animals in the feline families will not leave tracks with claw marks, as their claws are retracted when they walk. Impressions will be only of the pads, he said. Fox, coyote, and fisher cats will leave claw marks on the ground.

Regarding mountain lions, Mr Schaub said, “They are huge cats. If people are seeing them,” he said he “feels bad” if the sightings lack any other proof.

Animal Facts

The following descriptions are based on the state’s Department of Environmental Protection Wildlife Division’s fact sheets at ct.gov.

Bobcat: Males can be between 14 and 40 pounds and females between 10 and 30 pounds. The bobcat, also known as a lynx, hunts small animals, and may prey upon smaller domestic animals. The bobcat is a stout-bodied, medium-sized feline with a short tail, and tufted hair at the ears. The animal is yellow-or red-brown with faint black spots. They are twice the size of housecats. Bobcat tracks have an overall round appearance with four round toe pads in both front and rear prints. There is a fifth toe on the forefoot; however, it does not leave an impression because it is raised high on the foot. The claws do not leave an impression either because they are usually retracted.

Fisher cats, or fisher: Males are between eight and 14 pounds and females are between four and six pounds. The fisher has a long, slender body, short legs, and long tail. The fisher eats squirrel, mice, rabbit, carrion, birds, fruits, porcupines, and frogs. The fisher is a member of the weasel family. The animals is nocturnal.

Coyote: The German shepherd-like animal is more slender than a dog with wide, has pointed ears, a long tapered muzzle, slender legs, and a bushy tail carried low to the ground. The coat can be red, blond, or charcoal. Unsupervised pets, particularly outdoor cats or small dogs, are vulnerable to the coyote.

Newtown animal control provided the following information on the mountain lion, also known as a cougar, panther, or puma. The animal can weight from 80 to more than 200 pounds and lives in forests, remote mountains, and swamps. See more mountain lion facts at http://depts.washington.edu/natmap/facts/cougar_712.html.