"Over the past 40 years, however, The Berkshire Eagle has received reports about the big cats, which can weigh up to 200 pounds." Well, the Berkshire Eagle has also received reports of Big Foot sightings over the past 40 years as well, possibly more than cougar sightings (check out bfro.net for links to Berkshire Eagle articles). Does this mean that Big Foot is out there too?

I don't know. Does it? My point in writing this piece is that it's easy to dismiss reports of "strange" animals as the product of muddled minds. And while the state biologists are certainly doing their job when they demand empirical evidence, I wonder if they're too quick to dismiss some of the reports. With any luck, perhaps Mr. Madden will join our discussion. He'd have much to contribute.

Remember, too, that the African mountain gorilla wasn't "discovered" (at least by Europeans) until 1902. Until then, people who believed in gorillas might as well have told the world that they believed in Bigfoot.

Hope you'll come on back and join CR4, Guest.

hello to all Mountain Lion lovers.....Last summer I was in the middle of my work day while training a co-worker I spotted what I first believed to be a bobcat. We were driving down a back road in Lancaster,Ma (Mountain Lions are reportedly extinct here) when a large cat of an estimated 100lbs. compared to my dog which is an 80 lbs boxer. crossed the road about 50ft in front of our car. We sped up and caught another glimpse of the magnificent cat. Then it turned its head 180 degrees looked at the car and dashed off into the woods...Now like I said i originally thought it was a bobcat but they're are 2 distinct reasons why it was not. 1.the size of the cat, bobcats are normally from30-75 lbs while mountain lions are 70-145lbs. number 2 was the size of the cats tail it was2-3 ft in length compared to the bobcat with the very short tail.

Guest, please register here at CR4. I would like to PM you for details on this location. Maybe worth a day hike in the area.

Mountain lions have been sighted in most states at one time or another. Why would Massachusetts be any different? Living in an area where they are known to be (central Arizona), I've never seen one in the wild. I have seen footprints while hiking. Even in captivity (large enclosures), they can make themselves very scarce. Just remember that this is an animal that doesn't necessarily consider humans to be its better and certainly does not recognize that we are the top of the food chain.

there are many big cats in this country

I find it hard to believe that people don't believe there are big cats or other large animals in areas where they live.

At one time large animals like mountain lions and bears would stay away from populated places. But for them to survive they have no choice but to put up with human populations in their territory. My aunts abandoned farm had a black bear living on the property. No one wanted to believe me when I told them I saw the scat and tracks on one of my visits to the farm. Then my cousin stayed there one weekend and heard something in the middle of the night. He went out to investigate and saw the dam thing himself. He decided to sleep in the car instead of the tent that night.

Moose - while I can't comment on the legitimacy of that photo, I live in the next county over and know of a real photo taken by someone using similar technology in my town. I have also heard of a few sightings of mountain lions in a town (on a mountain, in fact) about 20 miles up the road. While perhaps scarce, these cats are out there!

Whether the state is hiding information for some reason or needs to conduct a more thorough study, they should definitely listen to people who have seen or have actual evidence of these animals.

I have personally seen one in northwestern Pa., and there are dozens of pictures of them in several counties around here. We are fairly certain there are at least two here in McKean county, as there are pictures, very good ones, of a pair roaming in a backyard just across the border in New York state. We aren't sure where they came from, but it is not too big a stretch to imagine others transversing the 300 miles to Mass., since there are so many remote wooded areas in between. It's not like they have to cross any major urban areas to get there. Or did they come here from there?

May not be a native, but nothing stops one from roaming where it can go. I'd err on the side of caution before dismissing the possibility.

From the Berkshire Eagle article:

"Over the past 40 years, The Eagle has sporadically chronicled mountain lion accounts, namely in the late 1960s and in 2000, when the Berkshires were awash with big cat sightings. Another rash of reported sightings this past summer renewed interest in the topic, pitting longtime woodsmen, who claim the species never fully disappeared from the Berkshires, against the scientific community, which points to the lack of empirical evidence.

In each reported sighting case, state wildlife officials believe that people likely witnessed bobcats, not cougars, and noted the frequency of the identification error."

I find it hard to believe that many people could mistake a 35 lb, stubby tailed bobcat for a 150+ lb mountain lion with a tail that is as long as the rest of it's body.

Besides which, Moose were thought to be long gone from the area and they've returned. Whose to say they wouldn't be followed by their natural predators?

the scientific community, which points to the lack of empirical evidence!!??
WHAT!??
That's a pretty dumb scientific community then!
Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.

If the cats were there before...then evidence is required to show that they AREN'T there..not vice versa... Please someone save us from this perverse missrepresentation of science.

I have evidence that I'm not there ..but I just a _small cat.

Del
PS (yeh yeh ..ok I know it's virtually impossible to prove the absence of something..hence humanities perverse belief in assorted deities)

Thanks for the comment, magpie. And welcome to CR4. Good to have you here.

During the early 1990s, I remember watching a TV documentary about how moose in danger of becoming extinct in the Northeast. Now, they're strolling through places like North Adams, MA.

As an avid, (rabid?), hiker and backpacker of Western Massachusetts, (and all of the North East for that matter), I just can't dispel some of these sightings. Back in November of 1977, I swear I saw a Catamount on the Money Brook trail, a side trail to the AT, near Mount Graylock. I stopped talking about it years ago, because I got sick of being asked, "and exactly how much had you smoked that day?"

I agree with Del, to paraphrase, you can't prove a negative.

Thanks for the comment, Bricktop. Money Brook is a nice trail. I haven't hiked it in many moons either, but the views are spectacular. As for those who accused you of sampling some of the local vegetation, I wonder if they themselves suffer from a certain delusion. Specifically, some folks try to explain away these big-cat sightings as "escaped circus animals". Somehow, I doubt that Ringling Brothers could outfit a circus from the re-capture of such cats.

As hard as they are to come by, if a circus ever did "lose" a lion (of any sort) or other big animal, they would have a search party out finding it until the cows (or moose) came home. They are not about to let an investment like that just up and wander off!

Here's another animal thought not to exist in Massachusetts, The Russian wild boar:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/10/wild_boar_struc.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed3

A side note, in the same area where this Russian wild boar was killed (Shirley MA), local officals are now warning residents that a Mountain Lion has been sighted. It has been seen by workers in a new development, as well as the local DPW director and Police officers. Notices were mailed out to all the residents by the developer, and police are telling residents to be aware. The police chief said the enviromental police have taken pictures of the tracks and will have an answer tomorrow.

Interesting, I've not heard about that. If you find any info on that, please pass it on.

http://wbztv.com/watercooler/pets/mountain.lion.shirley.2.865344.html

Several months ago a cougar was shot by police in a northern suburb of Chicago, IL. I know it's far from the Berkshires but this fellow was-back traced by DNA and food in his stomach back to North Dakota, through Minnesota.

I have one in oxford MA

I am buying camera's to try and get a photo. but my uncle has taken molds of some of the tracks

hopefully we will get a picture of it.

We had half a dozen deer that used to hang out in the back of the field, but we havent seen them arround the past month.

While on patrol as a full time police officer in the town of Northampton, Mass. which is located east of the Berkshires; I observed a full grown mountain lion cross my path in the area of Chesterfield and Kennedy Rd. I was caught completely off guard by the sighting. The cat crossed directly in front of my cruiser and was able to cross a 2 lane paved road in 2 leaps. The most distinctive feature that stuck out was the long tail that trailed behind as it ran. I determined that the cat was somewhere between 120 and 135 lbs, which was significantly larger than my 90 pound Germand shephard. My second observation, of a similar cat was in the area of Chesterfield Rd and Montague Rd not too far from the first sighting. The first observation occurred sometime around 2am, while the second was after 10:00am. The interesting part about the second sighting was that it occurred more than 5 years later. In my mind there is absolutely no doubt that mountain lions do exist in Massachusetts.

while driving on rt 62/31 in princeton my wife daughter and i watched a large cat cross the road in front of our car .the cat then stopped to look at us and lazily lope accross the field and into the woods .this cat was tauny with a long tail and larger than our 136lb yellow lab .we watched it for sometime between 8 and 10 minutes . it had a lashing tail with dark tip .i do not care what biologists think this cat was real and it was here .i have hunted my whole life and know what i saw.BIGGER THAN A 136 LB LAB THAT COULD CRUSH A BASKETBALL !!!!!!