Eastern Catamount Declared Extinct

In March of 2011, the Eastern Catamount was declared officially extinct by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

In 2011, Vermont forests and wildlife have rebounded from massive deforestation which was a result of economic activity in the 1800’s that included the cutting/burning of trees for potash and sheep grazing. There have been many reports of mountain lions in the Green Mountains spanning the years since 1881 when forested tracts started to return and the last officially recognized Eastern Panther the “Barnard Monster” was shot and killed.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Bennington Banner Archives

Bennington Banner January 12, 1946: Ginger's Travel Talk Excerpt:
"Again, lately several places up state are disturbed over the reported presence of panthers or maybe one panther who visits around and allows himself to be seen mostly in Windsor and Orange counties but occasionally slips over into Addison and Rutland."




Other Bennington Banner Panther mentions:
July 24, 1946: One seen in Heartwellville July 22nd
July 27, 1946: Fearson sees one in Readsboro
April 8, 1946: Prowls Searsburg Hills
October 19, 1945: Black type visits James Johnson's poultry house.

Deer Hunter Encounters Lion.




                           Transcript to follow........

Friday, July 29, 2011

Stories of Lions 2009

P. Katz on the porch of Powers Market tells us about the animal he saw crossing the road in Shaftsbury, Vermont
He looked just like the bronze of the mountain lion in Old Bennington, just a classic mountain lion.

OK I saw the mountain lion in the summer of 2009. We were driving on the White Creek road. My wife and I before we got to Cold Spring road. About thirty feet in front of us a mountain lion crossed the road, we stopped the car. He crossed the road slowly. We had a very good look at him. I said to my wife "Do you see what I see?" she said "I can't believe what I am seeing." He was close enough there was no mistaking what it was. We were thrilled, one of the most exciting things that happened to me that summer, it is thrilling to see one of those things.

Winter Crossing 1993.

Conversation with anonymous source on porch of home looking towards the mountains
It touched the yellow line and was gone in a flash!

My personal experience with a mountain lion. Initially the first time I was driving home at night in December, it was probably 1993 & the road I live on is rural & I saw for less than a second and a half an animal cross the road in front of me that came out of the side of the road and it touched the yellow line and was gone in a flash.
It was long, lean and had a three foot long tail.This was at night and the headlights were on the animal & I would have gone back to look for tracks but there wasn't any snow.
Do you remember the color?
Tawny-beautiful and there was no mistaking it when you see one-You know a coyote has a puffy tail and a deer has a white short tail and there is nothing else that has a three foot long tail that looks like a sausage.  
There was no way I was going to catch a glimpse in the woods it was dark. I was amazed and ecstatic-never thought I would see one again. 

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The Barnard Monster 1881.

 
Curator of the Bennington Museum Jamie Franklin shows us the 'Barnard Monster' 
Eastern Mountain Lion.