RE: Moutain Lion in Western NY?
With as many people as there are getting into the exotic animal business do any of you think it is possible that enough of these big cats were released not by the DEC but by people that got in over their heads with caring for these animals that there could be a breeding population of these animals in isolated areas?
I read an article recently about the same problem in the everglades with people releasing reticulated pythons that got way bigger than expected and became a danger to the owners. Their is not a sustainable population in the everglades and it has wildlife biologists worried about what effects it could have on the ecosystem down there. There was a picture with the article of a 16' python that had eaten a don't quote me on this but I think it was a 9' aligator - they both killed each other - The python actually swallowed the gator but before dying the gator ripped open the side of the snake - The problem is that the gator was the dominate predator in the glades and now they are not sure which of the two are going to win that battle in the long run.
Another article related to this one had to do with people releasing captive raised mountain lions over in England and there is now supposably a breeding population that is causing a problem with livestock over there.
Just a thought - it gets off the DEC conspiracy theroy bit - and gives a different perspective on things.