By: Ray (Weather01089)
As most of you have heard and seen, a cougar was killed on June 15 2011, in Milford CT on route 15. The immediate response of the CT DEP was that they were investigating it as an illegally released pet”, aka the ole “its an escaped pet” theory.
A university became involved and did a necropsy, and samples were sent out for DNA. The Necropsy clearly showed this was no escaped pet for numerous reasons.
The DNA response came back. According to DEP, they identified the DNA as coming from a cat from South Dakota. And here comes this story of how this lone cat walked to CT from South Dakota. Seem odd? Well it is.
They claimed they had matched it with DNA found in upstate NY, and in Michigan,
exactly the same cat. There are some problems with this. One a quote in July 2011
(AFTER the cat was hit) from the NY wildlife agency:
“We still have no confirmed sightings of (wild) cougars in New York,”
said Lori Severino, spokesperson for the state Department of Environmental
Conservation. “As far as protocols go, any reported sightings or photos
that get sent to us, we certainly take them seriously. But we have never confirmed a
cougar in New York state. That’s still the case.”
Well if they never confirmed a cougar, where did this alleged DNA come from?
The cat would have to have been there before it got hit, and that statement was
made AFTER it got hit. (July 28, 2011, Syracuse Post Standard).
Then comes the DNA report itself. A copy was finally obtained after some
runaround. It states: “Preliminary substructure analysis shows that the animal
is MOST CLOSELY related to individuals from South Dakota.’ Then: “This does not mean
that is has a 99% chance of being directly from South Dakota, as there may be
other populations we don’t have samples from. Overall it appears this male has
a genetic profile similar to South Dakota Cougars”.
Well, before and since, cougars from Canada were also found to have this
DNA relationship. Credible experts feel that since the cougar ranged all of the
Northern US and Canada at one point, that there really is no “eastern Cougar”
subspecies, and that they are actually the same species. The letter also states
that a sample from Dec 17,2010 from a site in Lake George NY, was identified as a
cougar.
How odd. New York and Michigan at that point claimed they had never confirmed a
cougar. Yet, this cat is hit in Milford CT., and all these suddenly pop up.
The Tale of the cat travelling from South Dakota is at best a pretty weak
theory, scientifically dubious, and rather incredible. Its far more likely the origin
of this cat is FAR closer, if not a wandering resident. This story put out is
quite the stretch… and the probability leans pretty heavy that the cats origin is MUCH closer.
Hmmm, never gave a lot of thought to the South Dakota story. I was just pleased that they stopped trying to pass it off as anything but wild. Shame on me!
Well first it was an escaped pet, then when the rubber hits the road, now “don’t worry, its a lonely cat that managed to wander from South Dakota”!!
There also was a story in today’s Republican stating that the deer population was down “due to predators”. Apparently 19 collared fawns were found dead. They say that bobcats had a hand in this. If they are saying that some were cat kills, why are they all supposedly “bobcats”?
Well bobcats have been around for decades. So clearly there is something else going on here.
OR someone drove it here from South Dakota and released it here. There are a lot of groups that are trying to purposely populate the Mountain Lion back to the east coast. The very sad fact is there is NO room for them in Connecticut.
Well they really don’t have to repopulate them, they have been here all along, yes
in small numbers. The evidence goes back decades. But if that is true, what about
this claim of DNA from all over?
Did they say what they used to test for DNA? If it was scat then they could have easily spread that along the way? It just seems impossible for a cat to travel all that distance, navigate all the roads to get to Connecticut then run out in front of a car on the Merritt? Seems ridiculous! These repopulating organizations will stop at nothing to repopulate this area. Whos to say they have not been moving them here for decades?
It was scat allegedly in New York, but the state denied they had ever confirmed any when
asked by the press after the Milford cat was hit. (They did dance around with wording a bit).
Again, I highly doubt in 1927 (Huntington, MA per Mass Wildlife Bulletin), that some “repopulating” group
was picking up cats and bringing them here. There is a population in Canada, namely Quebec and New Brunswick,
that could easily expand to CT or MA. And DNA from these cats has also been found to be similar to the South Dakota cats.
Don’t forget, at one time, only 200 yrs ago, cougars populated most of the Northern and Eastern US and Canada, so fact is,
there probably was never really an “eastern” mountain lion subspecies. Claims were made that they could DNA that fine, but they
have since been pretty much shot down. Other confirmations have been “blamed” on this cat as well, including ones in Mass, and RI.
Boy this cat sure got around!
Yes your absolutely right something is fishy with this story! I feel really bad for the cat that was hit. if it was released, them shame on those people for sticking a cat somewhere it did not know. if it was in fact living in the area then its a shame it was hit by a car.
Many of the details of your story are incorrect. I know someone who was present at the necropsy.
Well what was posted isn’t made up, its from documents, and statements made by officials to papers etc. They are quotes. Some is from the ACTUAL DNA REPORT. So if its wrong, state WHAT is wrong and not be vague, and state how you know this, not that “someone involved told me”. Lots of people were told lots of things that the DNA report and the evidence does not back up. Remember, it was a public statement to the press immediately when the cat was hit that it was being investigated as a “released pet”, a conclusion never in evidence. Enlighten us and don’t be vague.