More information is available here. If Sundays were added to the legal waterfowl seasons, Pennsylvania waterfowl hunters would actually lose hunting opportunities. Keep in mind, just as the elk herd calls northcentral Pennsylvania home, so do plenty of human residents and camp owners. Maybe someday, one of those fake cougar sightings will turn out to be true. Supplemental feeding causes deer and elk to concentrate, which facilitates the spread of diseases like CWD. Photos submitted as mountain lions are typically feral housecats. Adult mentors, (21 years of age or older), may take out more than one junior hunter at a time as long as each junior hunter under the age of 16 is within sight and verbal control of the mentor. This can lead to property damage, or worse, dangerous human-bear interactions. This ensures that all hens have had opportunities to breed with gobblers, and lay their full clutch of eggs, uninterrupted by hunters. Which Penn State Campus Is Best For Criminal Justice? DNA tests confirmed the big cat originated in South Dakota and that it also previously had been tracked in 2009 and 2010 through Wisconsin and Minnesota, where the animal's DNA had previously been collected through blood, hair and droppings. Continuing with that thought, if that were so, then it'd be possible, if not very likely, that the Eastern puma would be an Endangered Species. pgccomments@pa.gov for their messages to be shared with the Board of Game Commissioners and appropriate staff. They haven't been . Commissioners are appointed from various geographical districts of the state to ensure uniform representation for all residents. When it comes to turkey hunting, Pennsylvania is unique, and for good reason. Weather, especially during spring nesting season can affect turkey populations. Many of the reports I receive are extremely credible. So, theyll respond swiftly to a dose of pepper spray, meaning theyll almost always beat a hasty retreat. Over the last few years I've done several Questions of the Month regarding Mountain Lions, or Pumas as they should properly be called, in the Mid-Atlantic States and in Pennsylvania. Are the Latest Fast CF Cards worth the Expense? Click here for more information about HuntFishPA. Obviously, other pumas must be about, and the series of ridges extending north and east and west from my location could all be included as critical habitat as well. In Pennsylvania, most burns take place in March, April, May and November when grass is dormant and leaves are off, allowing sunlight and wind to dry the forest floor. All of these forests are, with few exceptions, open to hunting, and hunting is a very important industry in Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, Maryland, and Virginia. Would my mountain ridge be declared 'Critical Habitat' for the puma? In Yellowstone, definite puma country (perhaps not ideal habitat, but pumas are found in every section of Yellowstone), I've spoken to guys on road crews and with rangers, each with 20 years of field or road experience in Yellowstone, and the ranger had only seen 2 (both road kills and together) and the road crew guys two or three in all their years. Click here for full harvest reporting details. As part of the American Marten Reintroduction Feasibility Assessment the Game Commission conducted extensive diet research from across the marten's range and found that marten eat primarily rodents, followed by a high percentage of insects and plants. Is a mountain lion bigger than a bobcat? The stride was around 21 inches, and they ambled along at a leisurely pace. The mountain lion will most likely attempt to tackle you and crush your skull or bite your throat. Everyone else, when reporting, were frustrated as they were told they had seen a bobcat. My house is in a heavily-wooded area. Click here for full harvest reporting details. Mountain Lion / Cougar sighting in Pennsylvania - October 2019 (Part 2) Flatsquatch Productions 1.8K subscribers Subscribe 4.7K views 3 years ago Scott describes his mountain lion /. I have not spoken with a Game Commission officer personally, so I don't know whether anyone killing a puma in Pennsylvania could do so without legal repercussions. Why are rifles being banned for fall turkey hunting in the 2021 season? If we don't see it, it doesn't exist. Predominantly staying out of sight, when it is seen the bobcat is sometimes mistaken for the common housecat or a mountain lion. If the tag were there, this critical data would be lost as the heads would be unidentifiable. Check out the tails of the two! Little is known of the wolf in Pennsylvania, or if indeed the same animal now called the Eastern coyote in fact might have been similar to the wolf of the past. Harvest tags will continue to be issued in physical form on durable stock. Our management and research have shown that we shouldn't overharvest females, so we set the fall season length conservatively. While the dead cougar had been roaming free in the forests of northwestern. I'll be anxious to learn of your report. We work closely with wildlife biologists to ensure that while some nests may be lost throughout the year due to prescribed fire activities, the burns are restoring acres of healthy habitat that ensure significantly more nests will be successful for many years into the future. Yet there is a taste for meat of threatened wild animals in other parts of the worldtoo many species to list, said Allan. *Please note: You must have permission from private landowners before entering their property. Anyone, ages 11 and up, can currently register for Pennsylvanias online Hunter-Trapper Education course. Fish . Fish and Wildlife Service officially declared the Eastern subspecies of the mountain lion extinct, which would seem to bolster the skeptics. The State Museum of Pennsylvania, in Harrisburg, displays a taxidermy mount of a mountain lion in glass case, with the notation, "This lion, found near Hawk Mountain in Berks County around 1871, is the last native mountain lion known to have been shot in Pennsylvania.". The population declined significantly and experienced a near total reproductive failure in 2018. Each hunting license comes with one fall turkey tag (and one spring tag), so we regulate fall harvest by season length. Prescribed burns also reduce the severity of unplanned wildfires by removing leaves, thick grasses, and forest debris that accumulate without regular fire. Stay calm. To be fair, I've also spoken with people who, at first, thought they'd seen a puma only to find, to their embarassment, that they were looking at a house cat! This animal is much bigger. How is CWD spread? For information about local game lands, please reach out to the Game Commission region office that serves the county in which the lands are located. In response to COVID-19, is the Game Commission considering additional hunting opportunities or changes to existing hunting regulations? Occasionally, though, humans fool them. They are there to help us. (I know, there are no mule deer in PA, well except for the ones held in canned hunt preserves . During times of the year where natural food sources are low, bears sometimes help themselves to food that is easily accessible, including bird feeders, trash cans and pet food left outside within a bears reach. Theories include the Nittany Lion, Mountain Lion, Puma, Cougar, Bobcat and even an actual black eastern Panther . Are the Latest Fast CF Cards worth the Expense? If cougar reintroduction were to become a serious consideration, the game commission would first need to conduct a feasibility assessment, a "long and careful process," in Keller's estimation, that ends with a recommendation for or against reintroducing a species. I love the big cats and devote a huge amount of my field time photographing African lions, leopards, cheetahs, and in 2011, tigers. Although it is beneficial to provide contact information in case game wardens have follow-up questions, callers may remain confidential. Hunter-Trapper Education course records dating back to 1987 are maintained on a computer database. In some areas, entire populations of a species exhibit this trait, for unlike albinism, which results in a conspicuous white color and light-sensitive pink eyes, there are no ill effects with melanism. *Please note: Our state game wardens are responsible for many things, from protecting wildlife, to enforcing hunting regulations, conducting search and rescues, assisting with biological research, educating the public about wildlife and more. Hunters who support modernizing the antlerless deer license application process in Pennsylvania should contact their state Senator and/or state Representative and ask them to support Senate Bill 431. By the mid-1900s pumas were eliminated from almost all of the eastern states, and by mid-century were officially extinct east of the Mississippi, except . Michelle LaRue, executive director of the Cougar Network and a research ecologist at the University of Minnesota, will discuss the eastern expansion of cougars from their core range in the western U.S. at 7 p.m. in Moravian College's Haupert Union Building, Bethlehem. Follow Kristin & PhillyVoice on Twitter: @kristin_hunt
My next task was to estimate the size of the cat. Thank you in advance for helping to protect Pennsylvania wildlife. They're able to hunt deer in suburban areas where it's not safe to hunt. For the sake of clarity, the lowest portion of the wall supporting the railing to the right is 6.75 inches in height (this is directly beside and in front of the cat in question). But no one that I've communicated with had these preconceptions, and seeing what they saw was a complete surprise. I've worked with students of all ages and backgrounds, and I love helping them unlock their full potential. Based on the available imagery, its impossible for me to say with confidence whether were looking at a huge bobcat or a small cougar/mountain lion. If I scaled Mace up to the filmed cats minimum shoulder height of 18 inches, it suggests a body weight of just over 50 pounds. In an October study, researchers identified several regions along the East Coast that could be suitable habitats, including a section of Pennsylvania north of Du Bois and northeast of Williamsport. A sample permission slip is available on page 4 of the 2022-23 Hunting and Trapping Digest. The photographer had no reason to stage the shot -- indeed, the composition and background was terrible, and not what you'd expect for something staged, but the shot wasn't perfectly clear. It is important to note that these symptoms are characteristic of many diseases other than CWD. The board also prohibited the use of rifles in the fall season to potentially further reduce the harvest by 20 percent, statewide. The agency is primarily funded by hunting and furtaker license sales, as well as State Game Lands timber, mineral, oil/gas revenues, a federal excise tax on sporting arms and ammunition, and assets that have been procured with license dollars. This process continues until the whole unit is burned out. No big game harvest tags will be issued to mentored hunters who are under 7 years old at the time of application. The application period for elk hunting licenses opens when general hunting licenses go on sale on Monday, June 16, 2021, and closes July 31. How many antlerless deer licenses can hunters apply for in the 2021-22 license year? Share on Social Pennsylvanias 1.6 million acres of state game lands are open for public access, at this time. Based on the image below, wherein I have used red dots to outline the cats body, I am a bit hard pressed to say that it is a bobcat. If it were, it would be listed. This is a question that resounds with many Pennsylvanians whether they are outdoor enthusiasts or not. Keystone State. (PennLive has investigated many reports of mountain lions, and other mystery creatures, and has found no confirming evidence. Given the cougar's effectiveness as a deer population control, some biologists think this eastern push is a good thing one that should even be encouraged or helped along. Using our cat Mace, again, as reference, lets try and see. Hunters and trappers buying licenses online will continue to be mailed all durable-stock license panels, including harvest tags, and will also be given access to eLicenses. Those cats for which DNA evidence was recovered had come east from South Dakota, part of the known, modern-day, U.S. mountain lion range. But they are less shy of pets and livestock, and they don't necessarily stay in the woods, either. Where can I see the Game Commissions CWD surveillance results? In Pennsylvania, one of the most important things that trapping provides is data and information used to help assess and make decisions on management of this suite of species. There have been no "confirmed" reports of mountain lions, AKA Puma concolor, in Pennsylvania since the late 1800s. Are hunters OK with fewer deer?". They, like all cats, have extremely sensitive noses and dont like having them abused. What if Im hunting in an area where CWD is known to exist? A Rural Legend -- The Search For Pennsylvania Mountain Lions | Penn State University A recent rumor of a cougar killed by a vehicle on Interstate 80 attracted some attention at Penn State. Help prevent negative human-bear conflicts and keep Pennsylvania bears wild by: Removing potential bear snacks, like pet food or bird feeders, and putting them inside overnight. It is lawful for individuals to find and retain deer and elk antlers on public land, so long as they were shed through natural causes. I'm a photographer, yet I've never had a chance to snap a photograph of one of these bears. HuntFishPA, is equipped to provide hunters and trappers with electronic versions of the licenses they buy. I am hoping that more and more people will learn of my own interest in this, and will pass on this information and that I'll receive more reports and, hopefully, sometime, a game camera photo that is definitive.
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