Neighbor Spotted a Mountain Lion

[3chestnuts]

Hi everyone,

My neighbor spotted a mountain lion with his game camera on Sunday night (the timestamp on the photos is incorrect). I live in New Hampshire and am writing in hopes that someone with more experience with mountain lions will chime in.

I keep my horse and a pony at home and have two dogs. Every evening I take the dogs with me out to do the night check. What precautions should I take to ensure safety to myself and the animals? Would installing a flood light help? Am I overreacting?

I’ve never even given the possibility of big cats in the area a second thought, so I’m kind of taken aback by this discovery. Any insight is appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[shezabrazenmare]

Loud rock and roll music on a radio in the barn. And on the outside, rain proof speakers in the pastures. Big cats don’t like loud music. And watch the dogs. While packs of dogs have been used over centuries to hunt the big cats, one or two dogs might end up dead. If you have lots of deer and rabbits, then the cat will usually choose them over your equines. But ponies are small, so beware. And big cats are out day and night. So don’t think all is well during daylight hours. Big cats are beautiful but deadly.

[Hilary]

Well this isn’t about your horse but that is awesome - has he contacted fish & game - will be interesting to see what they say because they vehemently deny that there are mountain lions in NH.

And no one seems to have gotten any photos of them. Did you see it?

Fascinating!

As for your safety, I wouldn’t let your dogs run around loose at night - coyotes are a bigger problem! But your horses are probably safe. We have bears and coyotes and apparently a few wild boar and they don’t bother large animals.

[Anne_FS]

Second the question about the game commission. He needs to pass this along asap.

As for the denial of mountain lions, that’s passing away, and here’s the state game commission stories from multiple states now: any mountain lions we see in the East have come here from the West. :lol:

It’s a quibble, but I get what they’re saying. The “Eastern mountain lion,” whatever species that was, is gone. They are gone, passed on, ceased to be, bereft of life, joined the choir invisible, and whatever else Monty Python said.

There are, however, some Western mountain lions that have made the long journey east and those are what we are seeing, as in the case of the one in CT that was killed by a car.

As to OP’s story: COOL. Although I would certainly be alert to any unusual behavior in your horses day or certainly at night: running; bunched up at one end of the field; staring at something you can’t see.

Here’s some info that was just linked in my local paper this morning: http://blogs.twincities.com/outdoors/2014/10/07/photo-summer-wisconsin-mountain-lion-cougar-confirmed/

[3chestnuts]

Aw, man. Sorry guys. I was looking at the pictures on my phone before, but as I loaded them onto my computer, it actually looks like this just might be a Bobcat.

Talk about an optical illusion scaring me half to death! From my phone, it looked like the extended back leg was his tail. This is good news but certainly much less exciting. This is still a good reminder that there are creatures of all sorts lurking in the woods and I shouldn’t get too relaxed with keeping the dogs off leash.

Here are the pictures anyway.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=3ActHDJs5cPKg

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=3ActHDJs5cPCA

Thank you for all of the feedback!

[riderank_makebank]

That’s definitely a cougar. Cougars are effing assholes… they’re rare but when we deal with them up here its chaos. I’ve seen horses run through fences, ripped apart, dogs being packed away, stalking adults or children, they are not fun or cute. I’m an avid hunter and I take no chances. 9/10 they sneak away and you never see them again but be extremely careful. I don’t go out of my way to hunt them down, but when I encounter them I give them a fair warning otherwise they go for a dirt nap.

[Anne_FS]

Bobcats don’t have long tails. It’s why they’re called "bob"cats.

[ToTheNines]

Bobcat. Your picture shows a short bob tail. The person above needs to learn their zoology. I have zillions around here and they don’t bother the horses. I firmly believe they keep down the population of things I don’t want, such as rats, possum, deer, etc.

Please don’t make a big deal on FB etc, or you will have every redneck with a gun that thinks he/she needs to prove he/she is a big man out to trap it.

That, in fact, is my “redneck yahoo” test. Mention I saw a bobcat, and do they say “how cool” or want to tell me their own personal story about killing them.

[SmartAlex]

I can’t 100% tell if there is a long tail in the second photo or not. But I don’t think cougars have dark spots on the backs of their ears?

[Appsolute]

That is a mountain lion - I am positive.

We have MANY mountain lions and bob cats around here.

That sure looks like a mountain lion to me! Bob cats have point ears - and spotted coats.

Mountain lions have beidge coats - and yes, dark on the ears (see here) and here?

Flood light is a good idea. They generally do not go after people or horses -unless desperate.

Around here - I have NEVER heard of one going after horses, but I do know of MANY goats / alpacas / pigs etc that have been killed by them (neighbor slowly lost of of their alpacas and goats to a cat or cats).

What kind of housing do you have for your horses?

As for precautions - don’t go hiking around at night, and if you do during the day, make a lot of noise (we put a cow bell on our dog). Get some flood lights.

A rile isn’t a bad idea to have on hand.

We had one prowling around our back yard a few years ago - it eventually moved on (they have huge ranges that span hundreds of miles).

Local news story - a big cat was filmed standing on a car in a suburban neighborhood yesterday! :eek:

[NoDQhere]

That is NOT a cougar. It looks like a Bobcat. Slim chance it could be a Lynx, but it sure looks like a common Bobcat to me. Nothing for you to worry about, neither a Lynx nor a Bobcat will bother any larger animal.

[joiedevie99]

I agree, just a bobcat.

[Drive_NJ]

definitely NOT a Bobcat

Bobcat tails do not even reach the hocks
Bobcats have a ruff around the neck -like jowl beard
Bobcats have spots on their body coat and their hair is much coarser
Bobcats have stripes on their legs
Bobcats have shorter bodies front to back
Bobcats are smaller bodied overall

Definitely NOT a Bobcat

Not a Lynx either
Lynx have prominent tufts on their ears and much pointier ears
Lynx have spots on their bodies
Lynx have an even shorter tail than Bobcat - very cobtail
Lynx have jowl tufts and often a beard

[NoDQhere]

Look at the pictures again. The second picture shows the very short bob tail against the leg that is stretched back. The leg looks like the tail if you just glance at it but it you look closer you will see the black/white tip of the tail. looks about 4" long, just right for a Bobcat tail. Plus not all Bobcats have spots as adults and not all Lynx have large tufts on their ears. Seriously though, I’m 99% sure this is JUST a Bobcat.

[riderank_makebank]

[QUOTE=Drive NJ;7796192]
definitely NOT a Bobcat

Bobcat tails do not even reach the hocks
Bobcats have a ruff around the neck -like jowl beard
Bobcats have spots on their body coat and their hair is much coarser
Bobcats have stripes on their legs
Bobcats have shorter bodies front to back
Bobcats are smaller bodied overall

Definitely NOT a Bobcat

Not a Lynx either
Lynx have prominent tufts on their ears and much pointier ears
Lynx have spots on their bodies
Lynx have an even shorter tail than Bobcat - very cobtail
Lynx have jowl tufts and often a beard[/QUOTE]

THANK YOU!

You can obviously see its long tail, and cougars can have dark rims around their ears. Its sleek and long bodied, tall, not short and compact or fluffy and stripey/spotted (I’ve seen bobcats with faint or little striping too) with pointy ears. I’ve had enough encounters to know, maybe they’re different in Alberta. But whatever, just be careful.

[Bicoastal]

In Southern CA, there was at least one female mountain lion who had cubs annually. Obviously the male had to come around sometime ;).

The precautions we took were: put up the smaller stock every night, drive the mini closer to home when lion/s was spotted closer to home, and keep trash inaccessible.

The chickens, goats, sheep, mini donks, and mini horses were cooped or stalled before dusk and until after dawn. Dutch stall doors of the small hoofstock got the bottom and top doors shut.

I never worried about my 20lb dog and the mountain lion because the lions were rarely seen. I was more worried about him and the coyote packs seen up close & personal.

[Marshfield]

[QUOTE=ToTheNines;7796101]
Bobcat. Your picture shows a short bob tail. The person above needs to learn their zoology. I have zillions around here and they don’t bother the horses. I firmly believe they keep down the population of things I don’t want, such as rats, possum, deer, etc.[/QUOTE]

I thought I saw a full length tail in the photo. I’m in the next state over and have heard from very credible sources that we do have Mountain Lions around. Many years back now, I went to an Audobon (sp) presentation which presented credible evidence that Mountain Lions were in Ct.

[ToTheNines]

Geez, people that can’t even tell them from mountain lions are killing them for nothing! Not all bobcats are spotted. Picture shows short tail, and bobcat ears for sure. Not all bobcats are spotted. I have seen them that have a more solid tawny color.

Here ya’ go, if you’re still doubting;http://www.nbrr.org/identify

[merrygoround]

[QUOTE=NoDQhere;7796210]
Look at the pictures again. The second picture shows the very short bob tail against the leg that is stretched back. The leg looks like the tail if you just glance at it but it you look closer you will see the black/white tip of the tail. looks about 4" long, just right for a Bobcat tail. Plus not all Bobcats have spots as adults and not all Lynx have large tufts on their ears. Seriously though, I’m 99% sure this is JUST a Bobcat.[/QUOTE]

On second look I observed the same thing. That hind leg looks tailish. However there were two separate sightings of a mountain lion in central NY, several years ago. So they well may be about and roaming.

[Christa_P]

[QUOTE=ToTheNines;7796295]
Geez, people that can’t even tell them from mountain lions are killing them for nothing! Not all bobcats are spotted. Picture shows short tail, and bobcat ears for sure. Not all bobcats are spotted. I have seen them that have a more solid tawny color.

Here ya’ go, if you’re still doubting;http://www.nbrr.org/identify[/QUOTE]

I agree with Bobcat - the second picture shows a short tail if you look closely, the extended leg with a stripe gives the illusion of a long tail.

Also, the top picture of tabby kitten in the above link is hilarious - he looks nastier than the bobcat :).