I have heard about mountain lions in NY since I was a kid. I grew up in Delevan, NY and there was supposably one sighted for many years in the wooded area between Delevan Elton Rd and Marble Springs Rd. There is alot of area to cover up there but I never seen it for my self so I was always a unsure.

I now live in Springville, NY and just this past year there were many reports in the area about Lion sightings. There was supposably one killed in Java, NY that had a DEC tracking collar, one was seen on Stinson Rd by a woman in her backyard one night skirting the woodline, and there was reports of a breeding pair on Beach Tree Rd. in Springville, NY. There was also an article about one of the mt lions from the Beach Tree Rd pair being injured and being captured and rereleased in the same area.

My neighbor is a DEC Officer and he will not confirm any of this but, he wpt deny it either. I have known him for quite a few years now and never have known him to beat around the bush about anything but, he gets pretty sketchy when the subject is brought up.

From what I have been able to gather as d\far as info on this is as follows: The high deer populations needed to be controlled so Coyotes were released alll around the southern tier, but what was not expected was that they would do so well and reproduce so rapidly. I never seen a coyote untill about six years ago now I see one almost everytime I am in the woods. There are more coyote tracks where I hunt than deer tracks in the winter. I have heard that there were six breeding pair of mountain lions released in the southern tier to help control the coyote population.

Although I still have not seen one for my self and I am a very avid hunter and am in the wood whenever i get the chance it is not too long ago when I remember people saying that there wasnot enough open land to support a bear population as far north as Springville, NY. I have seen 5 wild black bears from Machias, NY to Springville, NY in the last 7 to 8 years so I don't think it is entirely impossible for there to be a few big cats roaming around out there too.

I have an uncle in ID and he hunt mountain lions when he is lucky enough to draw a tag for one and he has hunted everything the western states have to offer and he said that unless hunted with hound good luck1 You'll not see one before it knows that you are there and then it is usually long gone.

I'd like to see some real hard evidence that there is even one my lion in NY though.