Thursday, March 04, 2010
Mountain lions in Virginia? It depends who's talking
Bill Cochran
Recent columns
John Lutz is confident that mountain lions -- call them pumas, cougars, panthers, if you prefer -- roam the Eastern United States, and he displays little tolerance for non-believers.
Last year, sightings of 625 mountain lions, 80 black panthers and 11 cubs were reported to the Eastern Puma Research, which Lutz, a former radio reporter, operates out of Mayville, W.Va. Sightings were reported from three Canadian providences and 27 states in the eastern half of the U.S.
Virginia’s tally of 46 sightings was second only to West Virginia’s 51.
Observations of that magnitude suggest that mountain lions are widespread. Yet wildlife officials in many Eastern states doubt their existence as do several Web sites devoted to big cats. It appears that the more science degrees you have the less likely you are to be a believer.
Rick Reynolds is the wildlife biologist with the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries charged with maintaining a database of big cat reports. He works out of the agency’s Verona office in the Shenandoah Valley, the origin of many of the sightings that Lutz has recorded.
“I personally have never seen a cougar in Virginia and to date none of the evidence presented to us has provided confirmation of a cougar,” said Reynolds.
Such statements make Lutz’s blood boil. He says biologists are quick to discredit mountain lion reports, perceiving them to come from a gullible public.
That many witnesses can’t all be wrong, said Lutz.
In his 12 page year-end report, Lutz devotes a full page to sightings in Virginia. He deems the 46 reports as “excellent sightings.” Many come from the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The sightings Lutz has recorded include a report of a pony being mauled near Evington that the attending veterinarian said was a “cougar attack.”
Another report, this one near Burnsville, claims a Doberman chased a young puma. When the dog owner called the DGIF the responding officer asked “Are you sure it wasn’t a fox?”
Lutz said this was a typical example of how people who report sightings to the DGIF are “intimidated.”
In response, Reynolds said “While it is the agency’s position that the wild cougar that existed pre-1900s was extirpated from the state in the late 1800s, it is feasible that someone could obtain a cougar through the illegal pet trade and release it or have it escape. For this reason, we follow-up on all reports to identify the animal if possible and determine a course of action.”
Observers are asked to go back to the site and look for additional evidence, such as tracks, scat or fir. Spotters are asked to take pictures of tracks and these are examined by at least three biologists, Reynolds said.
“To date we have not been able to confirm any of the reports submitted as cougar.”
In addition to the Eastern Puma Network, there are other sites devoted to mountain lions in the East. One of them, also located in West Virginia, but quite different from Lutz’s, is called the Eastern Cougar Foundation.
After failing to log a single confirmation in a decade of searching, the foundation shifted its mission to habitat protection under the banner of “If they aren’t here now, how can we bring them back?”
Reynolds recommends additional Web sites dedicated to mountain lions -- The Cougar Network and Cougar Quest.
The Cougar Network, whose staff is heavy on PhDs and scientific research, has received reports of sightings in Virginia, but none has met its strict demands for confirmation, which includes tangible physical evidenced verified by a qualified wildlife professional.
Cougar Quest is based in the Shenandoah Valley and is operated by Barbara Chaplin. Some of the sightings it reports have been collaborated with reports to Reynolds.
Chaplin believes sightings should be taken seriously by authorities, but adds: “In all fairness, there has simply not been enough hard evidence to unequivocally prove that cougars do roam and are permanent residents in the Northern Shenandoah Valley and elsewhere in the East.”
None of this is daunting to Lutz. His quest continues. The most recent reports of big cats on the prowl have come from -- of all places -- Virginia’s Eastern Shore, a narrow strip of land between the Atlantic Ocean and the Chesapeake Bay.
