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I have been reading the lion posts for years on here.. Ill go as far as to say I have heard first hand accounts of sightings in NW NJ. It would not surprise me one bit if there were one or even a few lions. What would shock me more than anything is to find out that there is a breeding population... Now that would be something!
 
they used to roam in abundance around here in the catskill mountains. now they are rare but still around and a few in nj:grimace:
True...I heard of one or two sightings when I lived in Mt Vision, NY 30 years ago. Most didn't believe them to be true. I always felt it was definitely possible. The way I see it, it's only a matter of time before another straggler ends up in NJ or PA.
 
People will always deny this even in the light of evidence that proves young male cats will roam over 1500 miles to find a territory of their own (i.e, Dakota-Conn). Cougars will and do frequently cross major highways (Well documented across California). People denied for the longest time that Jaguars had moved into AZ, and now that has been proven. ( NOt one Jaguar but multiple). Personally I just don't get why people think it is such an outlandish idea for a cougar to travel to NJ. Sure, some may be pets escaped, many stories are no doubt fabricated, however, I think many reports have held up to all scrutiny. (i.e, Cokesbury rd cougar, reported in Hunterdon County Democrat) These cats are being pushed from their natural home ranges, of course they will seek new territory. As someone mentioned before on this thread I doubt there is a breeding population but even if there was I wouldn't be completely surprised. These cats survive by being elusive. One thing I learned a long time ago was to never doubt natures abilities.
 
People will always deny this even in the light of evidence that proves young male cats will roam over 1500 miles to find a territory of their own (i.e, Dakota-Conn). Cougars will and do frequently cross major highways (Well documented across California). People denied for the longest time that Jaguars had moved into AZ, and now that has been proven. ( NOt one Jaguar but multiple). Personally I just don't get why people think it is such an outlandish idea for a cougar to travel to NJ. Sure, some may be pets escaped, many stories are no doubt fabricated, however, I think many reports have held up to all scrutiny. (i.e, Cokesbury rd cougar, reported in Hunterdon County Democrat) These cats are being pushed from their natural home ranges, of course they will seek new territory. As someone mentioned before on this thread I doubt there is a breeding population but even if there was I wouldn't be completely surprised. These cats survive by being elusive. One thing I learned a long time ago was to never doubt natures abilities.
It's well known how they migrate:

 
Maybe the sage brush migrated to PA just like the mountain lion.... Perhaps a swallow carried it from the West??
What? ---- A swallow carrying a sage brush?

It's a simple question of weight ratios. A 5oz bird could not carry a 1lb sage brush.

Listen, in order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings 43 times every second, right?
Am I right?

It could be carried by an African swallow, sure...

But then again African Swallows aren't migratory. So they couldn't bring back a sage brush anyway.

Wait a minute though! Supposing two swallows carried the sage brush together!?

They could use a simple creeper, held under the dorsal guiding feathers.

That's it!
 
For all you non-believers, we live out in the woods in Sussex county, New Jersey. About a year ago, I was driving with my husband, taking the Blue Heron Dr. exit onto Rt. 15 S when I saw a mountain lion. Even though it was about 7:30pm and dark, we were driving very slow as we entered the ramp on to the highway. Last week, my husband was driving alone to work around 6am & spotted a mountain lion again. It was very close to the first sighting, also on Rt.15 near the Sparta Mountains. I wanted to document these sightings, as I know there is much doubt regarding the existence of mountain lions in New Jersey. We are very familiar with the wildlife around here, and see deer, fox, black-bear etc.. frequently. We hear coyote, but I have not seen one yet... On both occasions, we are sure that this was a huge creature and definitely not a 35 lb. bobcat. We don't have photos or anything to gain from this, but to tell others don't believe the crap out there, MOUNTAIN LIONS DO EXIST IN NORTH NEW JERSEY!!!
Not really "out in the woods" Sparta is - Bergen West, these days, after all the new construction around the quarry and out on Glen Road, heack there is traffic now in Sparta bad. All the metro sexy hunters moved in.
 
For all you non-believers, we live out in the woods in Sussex county, New Jersey. About a year ago, I was driving with my husband, taking the Blue Heron Dr. exit onto Rt. 15 S when I saw a mountain lion. Even though it was about 7:30pm and dark, we were driving very slow as we entered the ramp on to the highway. Last week, my husband was driving alone to work around 6am & spotted a mountain lion again. It was very close to the first sighting, also on Rt.15 near the Sparta Mountains. I wanted to document these sightings, as I know there is much doubt regarding the existence of mountain lions in New Jersey. We are very familiar with the wildlife around here, and see deer, fox, black-bear etc.. frequently. We hear coyote, but I have not seen one yet... On both occasions, we are sure that this was a huge creature and definitely not a 35 lb. bobcat. We don't have photos or anything to gain from this, but to tell others don't believe the crap out there, MOUNTAIN LIONS DO EXIST IN NORTH NEW JERSEY!!!

NO THEY DON'T! [eyeroll]

I've been hunting and managing a property near where you keep seeing someone's golden retriever for more than 25 years now in Sparta. We see coyotes, bobcats, fox, deer, and more bear than you can shake a stick at, but never once a mountain lion or tracks from a big cat. Not a single trail camera photo, scat, tracks, carcass, etc. Not one.
 
What does "exist" mean? If someones pet mountain lion escaped and is roaming around, does that mean they "exist"? Different than an existing wild population, or woods teaming with mountain lions.

Thought this was interesting:

"Cougars are known to travel great distances. A single male may require up to 175 square miles of territory for its home range. They prefer wild areas frequented by deer. One lion will consume about one deer per week. It will cover the remains of its prey and return to the kill to feed until the meat is gone. One male cougar fitted with a GPS was tracked all the way from South Dakota to Oklahoma before it got killed. Another mountain lion which was killed on a Connecticut highway in June of 2011, apparently walked 2,000 miles across the country from South Dakota, according to Connecticut environmental officials. The animal originated in the Black Hills region of South Dakota and was tracked by DNA from its hair and droppings as it passed through Minnesota and Wisconsin in 2009 and 2010."
 
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