Sighting in Templeton IP: 70.39.176.36 Posted on July 31, 2014 at 01:49:54 PM by andrew
Just found this board and wanted to report that two Sundays ago I was driving west on Route 2 in Templeton (just outside Gardner, MA) and saw a mountain lion about 5 yards from the highway in the median. The cat was sitting calmly on its haunches and surveying traffic, as if waiting to cross. We got off at the next exit and doubled back, but it was gone. It was 5:45pm and there were many people on the highway who would have seen the cat, since it was sitting in plain site, but I haven't seen another report on the web since. We reported the sighting to the Dept of Fish and Game and got the standard response. I lived in Colorado for 3 years and am very aware of the differences between a mtn lion, bobcat and coyote. Almost certain what we saw was the real deal. Templeton is not too far from Princeton or the greater Quabbin area, where activity has been reported in the recent past. I mentioned the sighting to a colleague who lives in Dover, MA, and said that a few months ago an animal killed a pen full of his neighbors goats, and police in Dover believe it was a lion. On Facebook there's an account of the event and warning that was sent out by a community member there, as well as a report of another Dover sighting around the same time the goat incident occurred. Replies: