http://www.easterncougarnet.org/northeast.htm

Sad to see that recently on most threads nowadays everything results in a pi$$ing match with few facts or documentation links to support anything. Opinions don't cut it when trying to prove oneself IMHO.

I guess the bottom line is that people will believe what they want to.

Me, I cannot personally fathom the fact that there have been CONFIRMED instances of Cougars in the Northeast, and yet some still say no, no, there are none in NY, even tho you have a pretty nice chunk of Wilderness out there!! It always had to be a pet, had to be this, must be a figment of your imagination, etc. Too many biologists and Wildlife Officials out there that know better, and some even go to the trouble of proving things beyond a shadow of doubt thru DNA testing for that type of response to hold water IMO.

While it is in fact true that they are certainly SCARCE in the Northeast, and admittedly some may have been captive pets that escaped or whatever, one cannot simply say "nope, none here" when there are in fact increasing amounts of regular sightings and scientific documentation to prove otherwise. Might not be a large population, no, but they have been documented throughout the region with definitive confirmations and also have a high number of "probables" nonetheless.

And if we have confirmations of them in Southern NH, Northern MA, and Southern ME, you can bet your bippy that you have eastern cougars in NY too. Still trying to get ahold of a couple of pics, I'll keep trying. Good shooting, Pinwheel 12