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Views and Opinions about Local Community, Technology and Politics.
Last year I reported on an email hoax titled, "Here
Kitty, Kitty" which purportedly showed a mountain lion looking through a
glass door in Simsbury. That email was in fact a hoax. Last week I met with Bo Ottmann, the founder of a local organization
called Cougars of the Valley. Bo is convinced that Mountain Lions are
established and do exist in Connecticut and he is out to prove it. Bo is
soliciting the public and offering a $50.00 reward to anyone who photographs a
mountain lion with an identifiable Connecticut landscape. 
In an article titled "Connecticut
Cougars: State Biologist Insist there Aren't Any Despite Many Reported
Sighting" published by the Hartford Courant last January, staff writer Steve
Grant explores the possibility. A more recent article titled, "Mountain Lions
in Connecticut" written by Brigitte Ruthman and published in the Republican
American also explores the possibility that Mountain Lions do exist in
Connecticut. Both articles include interviews from Connecticut State Biologist
Paul Rego, who adamantly denies the possibility of Mountain Lions in
Connecticut and Bo Ottmann who insist that they do inhabit
Connecticut.
Having personally seen tracks of what I believe to
be a Mountain Lion at both my home in Barkhamsted and my parents home in
Simsbury, I believe Bo. I own a large German Sheppard and the tracks I've seen
in the snow are much larger than my dog's prints. Apparently I am not the only
one who believes Bo. In an earlier
article written by Bridget Ruthman there are 72 comments, the majority of
which claim Mountain Lion sightings within the state. Several other websites are
devoted to the subject and have numerous credible claims of sightings. Two of
the sites; NorthEast
Cougar and New England
Mountain Lion Bulletin Board allow users to report Mountain Lion
sightings.
Ottman believes that the Connecticut DEP is
reluctant to admit that Mountain Lions exist in the State due to the cost
associated with protecting an endangered species and the amount of land and
other measures that would be required. The DEP denies this claim and says that
there simply have not been any confirmed sightings.
With the increase of wildlife populations in recent
years including Bear, Bobcat, Coyotes and others, it is conceivable that
Mountain Lions are among them. Attached to the bottom of this post is a PDF file
with descriptions, drawings and other Mountain Lion information. Please report
any sightings to Bo Ottmann
and keep your camera handy, you never know when your path may cross that of
Connecticut's most elusive resident.
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