By and large there seems to be enthusiasm for cougars along our Adirondack Coast, but what was even more interesting were the number of reports that cougars are already here. John suspects that cougar sightings are evidence of young dispersing males, searching unsuccessfully for mates and not of a local functioning population of cougars.
Andy McDougal, Essex resident and pundit on all matters controversial, political and/or related to Lake Champlain waterspouts, took up the cougar question and generated some fascinating feedback on Facebook. We’ve culled some of the most intriguing accounts of cougar sightings for you below. (Thanks, Andy!)
Local Accounts of Cougar Sightings
Here are some first- and second-hand accounts of cougar sightings in and around Essex, NY.
Andy MacDougal: I would be shocked to find out that they aren’t actually here in small numbers. I have spoken to several who have personally seen cougars. Most of them are perfectly reputable and believable. One such story was from 2 people that told me what they saw separately from one another. About 15 years back, Jim Burt saw what he knew to be a mountain lion with a strange hobble from his old place in Whallonsburgh along the Clark Road. He picked up binoculars and could see that the cat was missing its front paw but had a fairly large stump left over. A few years later, I heard Jeff Marcotte telling how he was certain that he saw a three legged mountain lion on his way to teach school in Westport along the Lake Shore Rd. I told each about the other’s story.
Also, Maghan Nichols saw a large dark colored lion cross in front of her car right between Katie ‘s house and the Village Meat. That was around 2006.
Katie Shepard: Wow, right by my house?! Is she sure it was some kind of big cat and not a dog? If she was driving it might have been more of a blur. Though I suppose it’s hard to mistake a feline form from a canine one…
Andy MacDougal: She is certain, Katie. Long swooping tail. We saw a bobcat while bike riding by Larry Bliss house on the middle road. It was much larger than that.
Cougar Sightings (Photo: Wikipedia)
Tina K Evens: Large black 3 legged cat seen many times by my old house on Clark Road. Was also seen by many others and I think Jeff Marcotte also had it cross in front of him while driving to Westport School circa 1999-2004 As well just a mile or so from that area my brother and I came face to face with similar cat while fixing fence around 1979-1980. I have also called it a black panther.
Tina K Evens: Oh almost forgot my Dad used to speak of seeing a dark colored large cat often off Angier Hill Road late 60’s chasing cows in the pasture.
Carolyn Collins Vanderhoof: We saw a Mountain Lion on our way to the Hank Williams show at the Depot Theatre! It was very impressive in flight across Ledge Hill Road. They move through our area hunting fawns.
Carolyn Collins Vanderhoof: I read recent good information that mountain lions certainly move through our area in the Spring, some from as far as Canada and Wisconsin. They have long muscular bodies and run at a straight focused fast pace when a fawn is scented. When you see one it is like no other animal but the black jaguar.
Gretel H. Schueller: I saw one near middle road. 90% [sure it was a cougar], right gait, size, definitely feline, long tail,about 2 weeks ago. I’ve imagined seeing them before but this time I got a decent look.
Tom Warner: I am in southwestern Massachusetts [and] I saw one about 60 feet from my studio. I heard they were around but thought it was just a rumor but then the “rumor ” crouched down like my kitty does to go after a mouse and I retreated in to my studio to watch from inside. After a while she left and I was disappointed I didn’t have my camera! Oh they are around.
Kathy Henderson: 4-5 years ago, sighting just before old Essex store. 100% sure what it was. It was early morning (7ish) Month of October. [And] 1982 Wadhams. Fishing in bouquet by falls. 3pm. Cat was walking water edge.
Mark Kupperman: Five years ago at our place on school st. A sleek powerful grey and gold cougar ran gracefully across the lawn area 20 ft from me and my x. Came out of the quarry across from the driveway. We called various adk authorities. None came to investigate. Their contention: it was not a wild animal, it was someone’s escaped pet…
Dwayne Cross Jr.: Now there was a Big cat that ran across the road below where Dale Clark use to live [that was out by Black Kettle] Can’t think of the guys Name in the big White house there, But I thought it was a Big bob cat, Maybe it wasn’t tho, and that was a long time ago!
James Ashline: 2002 or 03 Bryant and I both saw a large…large black cat here in town. It was a solid black cat the size of a large dog. I called DEC to report the sighting and the treated me like a nut job. Tried to tell me it was a fisher.
Cody Ashline: Saw mt lions in Vermont all the time and I swear I saw one on my snowmobile this year.
Joe Santillo: We’ve seen one on a couple different occasions across the road from my mom’s house when we were younger. Everyone says nonsense, but I know what I saw lol. Definitely wasn’t a bobcat.
Mae Santillo: I remember seeing one Joey!! And it wasn’t a bobcat, no. I spent forever back there in my teens trying to see one again but never did!
Joi Larucci: I had one run in front of my car on Coonrod Rd one night about 4-4 1/2 yrs ago about 11pm during the winter.
Tom Stransky: I saw a cougar in Essex once.
Cougar Sightings (Photo: Wikipedia)
Jason Walker: Walker road as a kid we saw a big cat. I was too little to differentiate the difference between verities. It gave me a different perspective of our forestlands. Teresa Sayward saw one and called DEC they said she was wrong. It was real close to her in an almost stopped or stopped car. She knew what she was looking at.
Tina K Evens: There is a book I believe written by Peter Hald? The gentleman that used to live in the house where Tom and Sheera Broderick live now on Angier Hill Road. It was about Coon Mountain which is behind that house. I believe in that book there was mention of cats and another “creature” more like big foot that was seen in that area. I think it also talked about the mine settlement area that was between there and the lake that was abandoned and possibly one reason was that “creature” scared them off.
John Davis: Good comments all; my hope grows that we will welcome them whether or not they are already here. If they are here, we need more, to play their key roles in trimming herbivore numbers and discouraging overbrowsing. Plus, how thrilling it must be to see them at home in the wilds!
By the way, all these sightings may be real and true yet the fact may remain that we do not now have an ecologically functioning, viable, breeding population of the great cats… the cats being seen may be young dispersing males, looking without success for mates (there may also be some escaped pets out there). To be a functioning population would mean they help regulate prey numbers and behavior, with many benefits for our forests.
I envy you your sightings, friends! I’ve trekked & biked thousands of miles in recent years hoping to catch at least a glimpse of the great cats. Even in prime Cougar habitat, the best I’ve done so far is fresh Cougar tracks on top of my hours-old boot tracks. Let’s hope they become common enough all outdoors folk have a chance to see one.
Have a Cougar Sighting to Share?
Cougar Sightings (Photo: Wikipedia)
Have you seen a cougar in/near Essex? Describe your cougar sighting (ideally with a location and approximate date) in the comment section below. Consider these questions:
Do these cougar sightings simply highlight our fascination with cougars and cougar legends?
Or do they indicate an increase in the frequency of cougars passing through our forests?
Is there a chance that at some point in the not too distant future a native cougar population will assume its rightful place as apex predator in the Adirondacks?
We welcome your opinions and experiences in the comment section below.
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Reader Interactions
Comments
jane dimisasays
september 2013 ……….saw what i thought to be a black panther at dusk cross walker road in whallonsburgh ……while parked watching for deer and bear ………..the panther figure ran across from the west side of walker to the corn fields……….then two nites later the same feline figure appeared from same spot to repeat the crossing as i had witnessed the first time……….there were deer in the corn field at this time also……..it definitely was some sort of cat and probably 4′-5′ in lenght……………jdimisa
Jane, thanks for commenting on your sighting. That’s a BIG cat! How far away from you was it? Did you happen to look for prints? Sure do wish you could have snapped a photo, but maybe next time.
september 2013 ……….saw what i thought to be a black panther at dusk cross walker road in whallonsburgh ……while parked watching for deer and bear ………..the panther figure ran across from the west side of walker to the corn fields……….then two nites later the same feline figure appeared from same spot to repeat the crossing as i had witnessed the first time……….there were deer in the corn field at this time also……..it definitely was some sort of cat and probably 4′-5′ in lenght……………jdimisa
Jane, thanks for commenting on your sighting. That’s a BIG cat! How far away from you was it? Did you happen to look for prints? Sure do wish you could have snapped a photo, but maybe next time.