Re(2): The Fishy CT Cougar Story IP: 50.204.144.106 Posted on December 17, 2013 at 08:49:22 PM by weather01089
We need to get better DNA tests done next time MA Wildlife gets a source. The Quabbin one was mishandled. Based on the number of incidents and sightings in the Berkshires, and the Eastern Slopes of the Berks over the last few years, its just a matter of time. You may try to dismiss one set of tracks that Harvard has from there, But Virgina Fifield also took a set in Goshen MA. I personally in 1959 saw a cougar in Blandford with my father. It attacked some farm animals the same year. The following years after, I had a relative that was an expert bow hunter encounter one deer hunting within a mile of that same spot. Sorry, but we are more than qualified as to what bobcats look like, and these animals were all not even close to bobcats. Tracks were again found in Blandford in the 1980's and verified by several credible people. Unfortunately in those days, there were not a lot of people carrying cell phones or cameras. The number of credible sightings, deer kills, and tracks in the Berkshires over the last 20 years is astounding. Again, we are not talking about the average reporting party, we are talking about people that know wildlife. Even dismissing 50% of the ones we know of that still leaves a large number. Right on the Otis Blandford line in 2011, we had a bicyclist chased by a cougar that popped out of the woods and chased until it realized it wasn't an animal. More sightings this year in the same exact area that were again by people that know, with good detail of what they saw. In addition to Virginia's prints at Goshen in the 1990's, another set of tracks and a kill site were found in Goshen in 2010. A private party casted them, and others went onsite and confirmed where they came from, and found a deer cache in a tree. We can dismiss a certain percentage of these as misidentifications, but sorry, there are some from either woodsman that are beyond credible, and even public figures that are not dismissable. Lets find the evidence, and see if we can get an honest DNA to see where these are originating from. Since there were confirmations in VT, (Family unit in Craftsbury), Maine, and in adjacent Canada, whats the surprise to find them in MA? Ill tell you this, a lot more people are now looking.... Replies: