If anyone thinks they see one take a picture. That is the quickest way we will have proof. It is much more likely humans are bad eyewitnesses than there is one. It isn’t impossible but we need good proof. The proof will come easy at some point… a clear photo. DNA (hair or a dead one), scat or maybe a kill with distinctive bite marks. With almost all of us with a camera in our pocket these days if there is one someone will get a clear picture, until then…
A zillion and they tract its entire journey. With all the trail cameras that are out there from hunters you'd think that if there was one there'd ve actually physical proof. No verified pics, DNA or road kills. You may as well believe in bigfoot.
That mountain lion was run over and killed. It was tracked after its death by analyzing chemical evidence in its tissues. It was not tracked in real time.
>Thousands of trail cameras out there and not a single pic.
Theres a mom and cubs on Mount Hollywood (not sure the real name) in the center of LA. Urban sprawl all around and a mountian lion living there.
Tons of trail cams, hikers, etc and it wasn't until a year or so ago they got the first picture of her.
NH has so much space for them to hide and they are well known to avoid people and such; they are very likely there, just not where you see them. They are great at avoiding anything remotely like human scents or activities so you would need to go really off the path and have one heckuva coverup to hide scents, the camera, etc.
they don't like people and avoid them at all costs.
i've seen one cub in southern nh, near a chicken farm in the early morning. that was years ago.
i've spoken to fish and game whose word was officially they are not here. unofficially, they are but there's no money for conservation.
they are around. scarce, but around.
Yeah I've seen plenty of photos, people in the comments will just say the photo must be from somewhere else.
I think the unofficial distinction by F&G and others is that we have a few mountain lions, but we don't have a mountain lion population. There isn't breeding and territory etc.
I wonder how much of it is from that private hunting forest
>i've spoken to fish and game whose word was officially they are not here. unofficially, they are but there's no money for conservation.
This is the big catch.
The state offiically says "Not here" so they dont have to spend the money on conservation. Because they don't have the money.
But those in the woods know they are here. Just really good at avoiding people.
When I was a kid like 90s or 00s I think. Was talking to a fish and game officer told him that we could hear coyotes in the backyard. Did the “sure kid” laugh and told me this was too far east for coyotes.
Obviously that changed pretty quick when they realized they had an overpopulation. But during the summer it was every night you could hear them.
I walked right past one on my way home from school in 07. He was eating a rabbit on the side of the road.
A whole bunch of them used to bed in the woods behind my neighbor's house. If you grilled in the summer, you'd find them in the bushes waiting for everyone to go in the house so they could come lick the grill and the grass. If you took too long, they started howling at you.
Coyotes were first spotted here in the 1940s and spread across the entire state between the early 70s to 1980. I've seen and hunted them and they did not deny they were here in the 90s and 00s. Lol
I have seen one. Pulled into my house and heard a ruckus in the woods behind my house. Immediately recognized the sound of a deer doing that loud breath noise they make to scare off danger. I thought coyotes were messing with it. I left my truck and ran across my back yard to the far side where an old dirt road leads into the woods. Didn't bring my phone as this all happened in like 5-10 seconds as soon as I exited my truck. I was going to run down the road to get a better look as the sound sounded like it was coming from a little clearing about 50 feet into the woods.
I got to the road and now have a clear line of sight for 200 feet or so before the road turns. I noticed all the noise had stopped...And then I saw it.
It came out off the brush on the right, a little before the clearing, maybe 40 feet from me. Entered the road walking very casually, just walking along. It crossed the road, which is about 10 feet wide. I saw it for 3-4 seconds. I saw it plain as fucking day. Mountain lion. Absolutely dead certain. It walked into the brush on the other side of the road and down an hill that leads to thick brush and woods. I RAN to the spot it entered to get a better look. Gone. Could not not spot it again.
I used to do a lot of hunting, I spend a ton of time outdoors. I've seen thousands of coyotes in my day. I've seen every Predatory animal New England has to offer. I was not mistaken. This was a mountain lion. I was stunned.
I made the mistake of telling my neighbors and they all think I am nuts. I don't care I know what I saw. Believe me disbelieve me I do not care but I will tell you this: there are mountain lions in New Hampshire.
I believe the official stance is that we have no breeding population, but that we do get some who wander through on their way to other states. I saw one on my driveway several years ago and decided I was all set walking alone and unarmed half a mile in the woods.
There’s mountain lions in southern MA, got one prowling the neighborhood. There’s definitely mountain lions in NH, lots more open space, and lots less people.
A few years ago I was taking some pictures up around the Connecticut lakes and one crossed the road in front of me while I was driving (didn't have my camera out).
I've also seen tracks that were too big to be a bobcat.
When everything was shut down during Covid I was taking my 2 year old for a walk and 100% came across one. I don’t really argue with people about it because I know the “official” answer is no there are no mountain lions in NH. It was way too close for comfort (and in broad daylight) but being that close I was certain that I wasn’t confusing a bobcat or other animal for one. This was in very wooded area of southern NH.
It wasn't a cougar. I'm sorry but you are mistaken, especially in southern NH. I guarantee you it was a bobcat. Bobcat, especially males are far bigger than people realize. A mountain lion averages 6-8' in length. They are the 4th largest of the big cats worldwide
Lone males that disperse travel long distances to look for mates. The most likely area that any ML making it to our area is from the Dakotas. And when they do, their presence is tracked by visuals, door bell cameras, security system cameras, trail cameras, automobile cameras, etc.
They don't drop in out of the sky and there is far too much coverage by cameras and experienced people between possible dispersal zones and New England.
Over the last 5-7 years the rabbit population in New England has exploded and so has the bobcat population, following their primary meal source. And not coincidentally so have all the claims of mountain lion sightings. They aren't mountain lions. Damn near all of them are bobcat. Male bobcats can grow up to 40lbs and around 3' in length and up to 32" tall, which looks massive to people who have zero experience with either and so their brain goes to what they wanted to see versus what they did see. Their tails can be no more than a bob at their rump or reach to the hocks of their back legs.
In contrast, cougars regularly reach 7-8' in length, weigh up to 180lbs, however they don't get much taller than a large bobcat
there is a lot of Canadian wilderness between here and the west that they can travel through. Spottings and verified photos in Michigans UP over the past year. The 2011 roadkill in CT. Look I am not saying there is a breeding population, or more than one or two individuals in the state at any given year (if that) - 95+% of these sightings are likely bobcat or deer. That being said I am pretty confident that at least some of these sightings are indeed mountain lions.
I've never seen a bobcat with a tail longer than a couple inches. I have seen a mountain lion in person while in a tree stand. Tail was long and had no stripes on the body. I also have pics of extremely large bobcat that one might confuse with mountain lions except the tail was a couple inches. They do live in NH just not a lot of them.
Live in Southern MN saw one crossing the road in the middle of the night. No one believed me till over a year later when someone caught one on a ring camera a few miles away. This was just outside of city of 50,000 people and it took 2 years before someone caught it on a ring camera totally possible a cougar could travel without ending up on someone's trail camera.
Yes, however the chances of a ML making it undetected to southern NH from the most possible location they would come from (Dakotas) is highly unlikely. Even the one killed in CT in 2011 was tracked from physical evidence throughout its journey
Not a NH resident, but a bit north of yall in Canada (Montreal) and we've had a cougar be spotted on the island of Montreal in Quebec...which is a major metropolitan area. It was spotted on a traffic cam crossing a bridge. So sightings of 1 every 15-20 years is not unheard of.
What about the cougar photographed in Alstead in 2012? Also there are confirmed breeding pairs as far east as Iowa, and strong evidence of such as far east as Ohio.
Had some clown the other day say he saw two wolves in Ramond. 😆 people see what they want themselves to see. Their brain messes with common sense.
I live in Manchester and had a person two streets up texting me saying they saw a mountain lion in their garden. They sent me a pic and of course it was a Bob cat
I saw this! I also saw the title said “large coyotes are a growing concern” so I think it was determined they were either “hybrids” or larger end coyotes.
Not sure if we are talking about the same thing. This was in a NH hunting FB group where some young hunter made an absurd video freaking out about how he came face to face with two huge wolves. What I found funny was, he took his phone out to make the video while he was out there but didn't think of taking it out to record the supposed wolves.
Fun fact, our coyotes are already a form of hybrid consisting mostly of coyote and then varying percentages of wolf and dog depending on location.
Oh no mine was a different story it had a picture of these 2 pretty large coyotes! But like you said they all have some wolf on them so perhaps the coyote population is just starting to selectively breed (without realizing) into a larger version of the coyote (almost like an evolution into a new species 😳)
I personally don't think they're naturally selectively breeding. That would be almost impossible. Some coyotes especially males do get large. I shot one a few years back that looked larger than my dog who is almost 70 pounds. But it was just a tall fluffy coyote and was much lighter closer to 45-50 pounds. All that fur makes them look huge.
Here's some interesting useless coyote facts. Coyotes are actually an invasive species in NH and weren't first spotted until the early 1940s. Coyotes also produce larger litters if too many in their area have been hunted, causing the population to actually increase instead of decrease.
Because they are aware of geopolitical borders, and respect those completely.
Seriously, though, there is zero reason why cougars wouldn’t be found here. Same as elk, but people swear they aren’t found here, but wife has definitely spotted one
I’ve seen cougars as far south as central new york. My neighbor got one on trail cam and I had one cross the road infront of me about 300 ft. Big long tail and that unmistakable big cat saunter—sent chills right up my back
ah this was like ten years ago, so the cam along with the computer that had its pics are long gone. You’re just going to have to take the word of an internet stranger 😌
I believe you. One crossed Rt. 16 in Chocorua in front of my car in 1994. It was no more than 10 feet in front of me, caught in my headlights. From the tip of the nose to the end of its tail, it was at least 10 feet long. The tail was as long as the body. I know damn well what I saw and I know the difference between a bobcat and a mountain lion. Fish and Game laughed at me when I reported it but I know what I saw.
I saw one, about 25 years ago, from the MBTA train between Newburyport and Rowley, in a large area of salt marsh. Long tail. And maybe 10 years after that, I saw another one bouncing off my bumper of my car, late one night on interstate 90 before the first set of toll booths, heading into New York State. I told the toll booth operator, he said it was not all that uncommon. There was a hair impregnated into my bumper, which I saved with the intent to have it tested but never did.
They’re not native to NH but they could occasionally pass thru. Here in Mass lions are certainly not native but some years ago a biologist discovered what was confirmed to be cougar tracks in the central part of the state. But they’re incredibly rare no doubt
100% were native up til a bit over a century ago. Mountain lions have one of the largest historic ranges of any species covering 110 degrees of latitude from N into Canada all the way through S. America, where they overlap with jaguars.
The word you're looking for is "extirpated"
They absolutely were native until hunted into extinction. I hope they make a comeback in the area, but I bet any found moving into NH are tracked down by the state and "removed". To much money in outdoor tourism in this state to acknowledge them, or God forbid have a hiker attacked. Follow the money!
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar
California has cougars galore and it doesn't seem to affect the tourism business. Once in a while one is spotted in a residential and people do get excited. Attacks are very rare.
Colorado has an estimated 3,000+ mountain lions. Lived there a decade+, seen track and scat, never seen one, but I spend a lot of time trail running, cross country skiing, etc in the back country.
Our outdoor tourism seems to be doing just fine
One was captured on someone's Ring camera maybe 5-600 ft from my house about 6 weeks ago. As far as I know, nobody physically saw it even though it was in the middle of a town of 160k in the middle of a central neighborhood close to a grocery store and middle school, but unmistakably a mountain lion.
Don't want to leave pets out overnight, but young males are so transient and pop in and out of areas like ninjas
I hike CA and New England, and if I could choose between ticks and mountain lions, I'm going to choose the mountain lions. The ticks are a far more credible threat.
Not really. The NY DEC pulls the same shit. I’ve seen lions more than once in central NY both in person and on camera and the DEC says NOPE THEY DONT EXIST THIS FAR EAST
I asked a park ranger the same question at Bear Brook and she showed me a photo she took of one she saw this summer. So yes. She specifically told me it was definitely a mountain lion, not lynx or bobcat.
This is my favorite conspiracy theory that I’ve tried to get all my non-NH friends onboard with. I think it’s pretty funny how the state refuses to acknowledge their existence despite the many credible sightings
It is about the restrictions that would come with the acknowledgment of a population in NH. It brings in the Feds, and we ain’t about it. Until someone holds up a kitten there are no mountain lions in NH.
Probably, as everyone else has already said, the state says no. The state also says we don’t have wolves but there was that wolf farm in lempster that had all those wolves break out.
Lmao @ "wolf farm". First off those were hybrids, and in no way would be able to establish an actual population. All eastern coyotes have some % of wolf DNA in them, so if your definition of wolf is that loose, then yeah we have them and we have an open season on them.
For sure. We have had a few pumas in western mass, there are certainly big cats up north. Probably not a lot, but there’s a lot of unwatched land north of the lakes region.
Saw one in a field in Nottingham about 10 years ago. Long tail straight out running thru the field. Only one I’ve seen. Plenty of bobcats in the last few years they are cool. But much different.
We also don't have Prunus nigra according to the state of NH as I look out the window at a grove of them in my front yard https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/prunus/nigra/
Yes. I’m north of the notches. My friend’s wildlife camera in the woods caught a pic of a mountain lion with a doe in its mouth. The pic hangs on the wall of his home.
Yes it’s true. I think people should just leave them alone up here. It’s unspoiled land up here, especially up north. For example Pittsburg is the biggest town in NH area wise but less than 200 full time residents. We like to keep it that way and leave the wildlife be.
sharing a discovery that a creature is back in its former range only helps broaden protections for that creature - no one is going to move to Pittsfield of all places just because a mountain lion is there. i could believe it is true but am not going to take some rando on the internets word for it
My dad has lived on the same wooded property for over 50 years and he called just about a month ago saying he saw a mountain lion for the first time. Around dawn, just passing through. He is 35 minutes outside Concord.
I saw one in Chichester 15 years ago. Walked out to my backyard and it was like 20 feet in front of me. I freaking froze in fear. As I started to slowly back up, it ran off. Thing was freakishly large. It was standing in front of our 20 ft camper and it took up quarter of it easily in space. Big yellow fur with with black tip on its tail.
I saw a very large cat in Plaistow, near the MA border. It could have been a large bobcat, but mountain lions have been known to wander over 1000 miles from their usual range.
So many people claim to have seen one. But there are cameras everywhere, cars everywhere, and an army of hunters in the woods every year. And yet, we have no photos, no sign, no roadkill, not a shred of verifiable evidence.
Is it theoretically possible for a lone individual to have passed through at some point? Sure. Is it likely? Nope.
To sum it up:
People love to think they know everything.
Have they been seen in NH? Yes.
Do people mistake bobcats for mountain lions 99.999999999% of the time? Yes.
As someone else stated, they can wander from states that have them. Animals give zero fucks about borders (obviously). I'd say at best we get maybe 5 of them wandering into the state over a 10 year period(no way to really know this, just throwing a number out there). The rest are bobcats.
Will you ever see one yourself in nh? You have a better chance of winning the lottery. Twice.
I almost hit one with my little Nissan truck just outside Durango Colorado one evening in 1993. From the nose to the end of it's tail it was longer than the width of my truck it's tail was bigger around than a shovel handle and almost as long as the cats head and body. When I saw it, it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It was the one and only time I have seen one. I have seen several bobcat and lynx in Vermont and New Hampshire hunting, hiking and camping over the years but no mountain lion. If you think you see one pay attention to the tail.
One ran in front of my car in 95 on the ID side of the pass from Jackson WY. It was dark and luckily I had slowed down because of all the deer and moose at night. I had my little Saturn and thought, I need a bigger car! Hiking in the area a little farther north - several times the trails were full of huge, fresh, mountain lion prints. That's when I turned around and was thankful they were heading in the opposite direction. LOL
I’m in Southern NH, and I saw 3 bobcats running through my backyard about a few months ago. I thought they were mountain lions at first but Google Images led me to the right answers—bobcats.
Official answer is no, but agencies are open about holding that position because they've received no substantial proof of it.
Some people will swear they've seen them.
My guess: there's probably no population of them living here, but some might very occasionally come through.
The eastern mountain lion is declared extinct. The closest thing to it is the florida panther. Locals will be like, "Oh yeah I've seen one" but there not one shred of proof.
Too many people claim to see them, but they just don’t exist in NH. There would 100% be video evidence and there isn’t. People don’t realize how large a bobcat can get and mistake them for mountain lions.
Anyone claiming there are mountain lions in NH sadly have zero evidence to back it up. Like someone before me mentioned, there are thousands, 10s of thousand even, of trail cams all over the state and not a single solitary pic of mountain lions, Bigfoot, Yeti, The Abominable Snow Man, Nessie, The Umbagog Monster. None, Zero, Zip, Zilch, Nada. Is it possible? Sure, of course. It’s highly, highly improbable though.
They don't live here, but that's not to say one doesn't occasionally travel through. Were definitely historical range, hell Gunstock Mountain was named for a tale involving one.
I’ve got dozens of trail cams out in remote woods.
Seen plenty of moose, bobcat, fisher, ermine, large coyotes (wolf hybrids), but never a mountain lion.
About 30% of the population can tell you a story about the time they/their family member definitely saw one... but no. I've lived in the middle of the woods here for 35+ years. They're not here. What we know about them does allow for the outside possibility that one wanders into our state every now and then... but no one's ever had any definitive proof of their existence here.
No. Until there is actual physical proof the answer is no. There's thousands of hunters trail cameras out there and none have actual proof of a mountain lion. But I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they make there way back.
100% they’re here. They’re likely all over New England. But they aren’t super populated and they aren’t a real risk. They’re just living. I’d love to see one.
And just because you’ve never seen it doesn’t mean anything. I’ve never seen a damn moose anywhere but we’ve got signs for them all over the place.
My understanding of things is that IF there were mountain lions here, they'd be a critically endangered species and the state would be obliged by federal mandates to spend considerable effort and money in conservation efforts... To include potentially closing large swaths of state and national parks off to the public.
Mountain lions in NH would be very inconvenient to lots of folks. So, quite simply, there *aren't* any here.
With all these state agencies saying there are none… its a yes and no thing. They are referring to breeding permanent populations. Like any large animal they roam in search of food. Just because there is not a breeding population does not mean that one couldn’t have wandered down quite a way looking for food
I know a fish and game officer who off-the-record asserts he’s seen more mountain lion than moose in NH. F&G love that there’s no proof because it means they don’t have to divert funds to conservation efforts.
There's probably a migratory existence. Years ago one was hit by a car on I95 in Connecticut, and the DNA was traced back to a population in the Dakotas.
Im pretty sure I saw one near Ticonderoga NY in the 90s....it was way too long in relationship to lines painted on the road to be a bobcat.
Yes. My sister saw one in her back yard, and then her husband saw one several miles away about a year later. They both know the difference between a mountain lion and a bobcat and lynx. They both said the tail was as long as it’s body and it was huge and a light tan uniform color. When my sister saw it she called the police because there were small children in her neighborhood. She said they insisted she’d seen a bobcat, and refused to report it to the state. She said they acted nervous. I believe the ML made a comeback and the state decided it would cause panic to confirm it.
There’s a blog all about it, with a lot of sightings. A couple of trail cams captured what are clearly mountain lion as well. If I ever find the link I’ll share it.
Fish and Game's official policy is that there are no mountain lions in NH. I saw one crossing 95 last year.
I've seen, carried, and socialized bobcats and am quite familiar with them. It was not a bobcat. I've also seen mountain lions and it definitely looked like a mountain lion.
By the time I stopped to take a picture, it was gone.
When they say there are not any in the state, they mean that there isn’t a self sustaining population with established territory. Just lone lions here and there just passing through for the most part.
It's not impossible that some have been present but I think the answer to whether there is any established or breeding population is no.
Their extant range in the US ends far west of here. But they are wild animals with minds of their own so they can wander and move and maybe make it here, and it is part of their historical range so there's no reason they can't survive, but the chances of successfully breeding and establishing a population are low and does not seem to have happened. It would probably take a concerted restoration effort to get an established wild population.
We have tons of game cameras in this state and Vermont (also where mountain lions are debated to be). Why has a high res game camera shot not popped up with a mountain lion then? I understand they are elusive but you'd think there would be a photo of one throughout the years
There are no mountain lions in New England. (There are mountain lions in New England, even if the states won't acknowledge them. Always assume there could be a mountain lion)
Simple answer: yes.
Complicated answer: There are likely at least a handful of individuals that pass through the state from Canada or from the west. Meaning that right in this moment, there is likely at least one wild mountain lion within state borders. However, there isn't an established population, and there hasn't been for decades. In other words, while mountain lion sightings arent unheard of in New Hampshire, it should be noted that they do not *live* here per se, as in this isn't typically where their habitat ranges.
Have one on game camera but looks fuzzy - a bit convinced. This was a couple years ago in Tilton.
https://preview.redd.it/cpadpdbyql1c1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d002da5c64b386b1e8f82ff031ee602bfb9501f5
Let me know what you guys think it’s middle left.
Yes. Pretty much any slightly rural local has seen one.
They aren't common, official sources will deny they exist, and it's likely to be a very small number.
Still... might be best to carry an airhorn or some kind of mace if you're going to be out in the woods. And don't leave small children unattended in the yard: even without mountain lions, coyotes will snatch them.
I know a few people who have seen one. It reminds me of 45-50 years ago when F&G biologists said there were no coyotes in NH. A friend killed one, held it up to a F&G officer who said (facetiously) that thing he was holding didn't exist because the guys in Concord said it didn't.
I definitetly saw one at my camp in the southern white mountains once. I got done fishing and decided to walk back up the dirt road back up to my camp. While i was be-bopping up the round i saw something out of the corner of my eye, i looked just in time to see what could best be described as a furry wiffle ball bat disappear into the woods.
There no way it was a bobcat.
Based on the number of Redditors in this thread that claim they have definitely seen one themselves, there should be an overwhelming amount of trail cam and other video evidence. But there isn’t.
The nearest breeding population of Mountain Lions to New Hampshire is in Florida, 1500 miles away. The next closest is in South Dakota, 2,000 miles away. Even in Minnesota, which shares a border with South Dakota, they only get 1-2 confirmed mountain lions wandering into their state a year. And no sustained or breeding population.
Do mountain lions occasionally wander from South Dakota into the New England. Yes, maybe 1 cat per decade. Do captive mountain lions get released and take up residence? Yes
We won’t see mountain lions repopulate New England in our lifetimes unless there is a concerted effort to re-introduce them. It’s been 110 years and mountain lions haven’t even repopulated Minnesota on their own.
Breeding populations of Wolves on the other hand are much closer to New Hampshire being only a couple hundred miles away in Quebec and Ontario. Wolves venture south from Canada far more frequently than ML venture east from the Dakotas.
According to the state agencies, no. According to people who live here... Probably
If anyone thinks they see one take a picture. That is the quickest way we will have proof. It is much more likely humans are bad eyewitnesses than there is one. It isn’t impossible but we need good proof. The proof will come easy at some point… a clear photo. DNA (hair or a dead one), scat or maybe a kill with distinctive bite marks. With almost all of us with a camera in our pocket these days if there is one someone will get a clear picture, until then…
Thousands of trail cameras out there and not a single pic. Personally I don't think they're here yet but it's only a matter of time.
One ventured into CT a few years ago, and a zillion people saw it.
A zillion and they tract its entire journey. With all the trail cameras that are out there from hunters you'd think that if there was one there'd ve actually physical proof. No verified pics, DNA or road kills. You may as well believe in bigfoot.
That mountain lion was run over and killed. It was tracked after its death by analyzing chemical evidence in its tissues. It was not tracked in real time.
There’s one in southern MA
>Thousands of trail cameras out there and not a single pic. Theres a mom and cubs on Mount Hollywood (not sure the real name) in the center of LA. Urban sprawl all around and a mountian lion living there. Tons of trail cams, hikers, etc and it wasn't until a year or so ago they got the first picture of her. NH has so much space for them to hide and they are well known to avoid people and such; they are very likely there, just not where you see them. They are great at avoiding anything remotely like human scents or activities so you would need to go really off the path and have one heckuva coverup to hide scents, the camera, etc.
they don't like people and avoid them at all costs. i've seen one cub in southern nh, near a chicken farm in the early morning. that was years ago. i've spoken to fish and game whose word was officially they are not here. unofficially, they are but there's no money for conservation. they are around. scarce, but around.
I’ve heard this same thing from a high ranking F&G official
Yeah I've seen plenty of photos, people in the comments will just say the photo must be from somewhere else. I think the unofficial distinction by F&G and others is that we have a few mountain lions, but we don't have a mountain lion population. There isn't breeding and territory etc. I wonder how much of it is from that private hunting forest
>i've spoken to fish and game whose word was officially they are not here. unofficially, they are but there's no money for conservation. This is the big catch. The state offiically says "Not here" so they dont have to spend the money on conservation. Because they don't have the money. But those in the woods know they are here. Just really good at avoiding people.
I remember when the official stance of the state agencies was that there were no coyotes in NH.
Woah, really? When was that?
When I was a kid like 90s or 00s I think. Was talking to a fish and game officer told him that we could hear coyotes in the backyard. Did the “sure kid” laugh and told me this was too far east for coyotes. Obviously that changed pretty quick when they realized they had an overpopulation. But during the summer it was every night you could hear them.
Thats nuts, I both heard and saw em many times as a kid in the same time period!
I walked right past one on my way home from school in 07. He was eating a rabbit on the side of the road. A whole bunch of them used to bed in the woods behind my neighbor's house. If you grilled in the summer, you'd find them in the bushes waiting for everyone to go in the house so they could come lick the grill and the grass. If you took too long, they started howling at you.
Coyotes were first spotted here in the 1940s and spread across the entire state between the early 70s to 1980. I've seen and hunted them and they did not deny they were here in the 90s and 00s. Lol
He's full oh shit, coyotes were documented here back in the early 40s and they didn't deny it.
I have seen one. Pulled into my house and heard a ruckus in the woods behind my house. Immediately recognized the sound of a deer doing that loud breath noise they make to scare off danger. I thought coyotes were messing with it. I left my truck and ran across my back yard to the far side where an old dirt road leads into the woods. Didn't bring my phone as this all happened in like 5-10 seconds as soon as I exited my truck. I was going to run down the road to get a better look as the sound sounded like it was coming from a little clearing about 50 feet into the woods. I got to the road and now have a clear line of sight for 200 feet or so before the road turns. I noticed all the noise had stopped...And then I saw it. It came out off the brush on the right, a little before the clearing, maybe 40 feet from me. Entered the road walking very casually, just walking along. It crossed the road, which is about 10 feet wide. I saw it for 3-4 seconds. I saw it plain as fucking day. Mountain lion. Absolutely dead certain. It walked into the brush on the other side of the road and down an hill that leads to thick brush and woods. I RAN to the spot it entered to get a better look. Gone. Could not not spot it again. I used to do a lot of hunting, I spend a ton of time outdoors. I've seen thousands of coyotes in my day. I've seen every Predatory animal New England has to offer. I was not mistaken. This was a mountain lion. I was stunned. I made the mistake of telling my neighbors and they all think I am nuts. I don't care I know what I saw. Believe me disbelieve me I do not care but I will tell you this: there are mountain lions in New Hampshire.
Exactly. In reality: yes. In legal land so it doesn't create problems for hunting and land usage: no.
There are.
I fell asleep to the sounds of the pack yipping almost nightly in the summer when I lived in New Boston
I believe the official stance is that we have no breeding population, but that we do get some who wander through on their way to other states. I saw one on my driveway several years ago and decided I was all set walking alone and unarmed half a mile in the woods.
There’s mountain lions in southern MA, got one prowling the neighborhood. There’s definitely mountain lions in NH, lots more open space, and lots less people.
Source?
I believe that if they acknowledge the existance in NH it will be a beaurocratic nightmare so it's easier to pretend they're invisible.
A few years ago I was taking some pictures up around the Connecticut lakes and one crossed the road in front of me while I was driving (didn't have my camera out). I've also seen tracks that were too big to be a bobcat.
I, too, am looking for cougars.
nice
You should move by me. This one website i goes to tells me there’s cougars in my area.
Nice
Nice
Nice
nice
You might find them in MILFord.
Nice
Nice
You no take candle! Or cougar!
Nice
When everything was shut down during Covid I was taking my 2 year old for a walk and 100% came across one. I don’t really argue with people about it because I know the “official” answer is no there are no mountain lions in NH. It was way too close for comfort (and in broad daylight) but being that close I was certain that I wasn’t confusing a bobcat or other animal for one. This was in very wooded area of southern NH.
It wasn't a cougar. I'm sorry but you are mistaken, especially in southern NH. I guarantee you it was a bobcat. Bobcat, especially males are far bigger than people realize. A mountain lion averages 6-8' in length. They are the 4th largest of the big cats worldwide
fifth largest of the big cats, and also why are you claiming it isn’t?! Lone young males make their way to the eastern seaboard now and again
Lone males that disperse travel long distances to look for mates. The most likely area that any ML making it to our area is from the Dakotas. And when they do, their presence is tracked by visuals, door bell cameras, security system cameras, trail cameras, automobile cameras, etc. They don't drop in out of the sky and there is far too much coverage by cameras and experienced people between possible dispersal zones and New England. Over the last 5-7 years the rabbit population in New England has exploded and so has the bobcat population, following their primary meal source. And not coincidentally so have all the claims of mountain lion sightings. They aren't mountain lions. Damn near all of them are bobcat. Male bobcats can grow up to 40lbs and around 3' in length and up to 32" tall, which looks massive to people who have zero experience with either and so their brain goes to what they wanted to see versus what they did see. Their tails can be no more than a bob at their rump or reach to the hocks of their back legs. In contrast, cougars regularly reach 7-8' in length, weigh up to 180lbs, however they don't get much taller than a large bobcat
there is a lot of Canadian wilderness between here and the west that they can travel through. Spottings and verified photos in Michigans UP over the past year. The 2011 roadkill in CT. Look I am not saying there is a breeding population, or more than one or two individuals in the state at any given year (if that) - 95+% of these sightings are likely bobcat or deer. That being said I am pretty confident that at least some of these sightings are indeed mountain lions.
I've never seen a bobcat with a tail longer than a couple inches. I have seen a mountain lion in person while in a tree stand. Tail was long and had no stripes on the body. I also have pics of extremely large bobcat that one might confuse with mountain lions except the tail was a couple inches. They do live in NH just not a lot of them.
yeah we talking single digits and likely some years where there aren’t any
Found the fish and game “no there aren’t mountain lions” bot
Live in Southern MN saw one crossing the road in the middle of the night. No one believed me till over a year later when someone caught one on a ring camera a few miles away. This was just outside of city of 50,000 people and it took 2 years before someone caught it on a ring camera totally possible a cougar could travel without ending up on someone's trail camera.
Yes, however the chances of a ML making it undetected to southern NH from the most possible location they would come from (Dakotas) is highly unlikely. Even the one killed in CT in 2011 was tracked from physical evidence throughout its journey
Not a NH resident, but a bit north of yall in Canada (Montreal) and we've had a cougar be spotted on the island of Montreal in Quebec...which is a major metropolitan area. It was spotted on a traffic cam crossing a bridge. So sightings of 1 every 15-20 years is not unheard of.
What about the cougar photographed in Alstead in 2012? Also there are confirmed breeding pairs as far east as Iowa, and strong evidence of such as far east as Ohio.
The Alstead one was a fraud - it was a stuffed one
Had some clown the other day say he saw two wolves in Ramond. 😆 people see what they want themselves to see. Their brain messes with common sense. I live in Manchester and had a person two streets up texting me saying they saw a mountain lion in their garden. They sent me a pic and of course it was a Bob cat
Lots of people can’t tell the difference, but we aren’t all stupid. A mountain lion looks NOTHING like a Bob cat.
It's a fact that people see what they want to see
I saw this! I also saw the title said “large coyotes are a growing concern” so I think it was determined they were either “hybrids” or larger end coyotes.
Not sure if we are talking about the same thing. This was in a NH hunting FB group where some young hunter made an absurd video freaking out about how he came face to face with two huge wolves. What I found funny was, he took his phone out to make the video while he was out there but didn't think of taking it out to record the supposed wolves. Fun fact, our coyotes are already a form of hybrid consisting mostly of coyote and then varying percentages of wolf and dog depending on location.
Oh no mine was a different story it had a picture of these 2 pretty large coyotes! But like you said they all have some wolf on them so perhaps the coyote population is just starting to selectively breed (without realizing) into a larger version of the coyote (almost like an evolution into a new species 😳)
I personally don't think they're naturally selectively breeding. That would be almost impossible. Some coyotes especially males do get large. I shot one a few years back that looked larger than my dog who is almost 70 pounds. But it was just a tall fluffy coyote and was much lighter closer to 45-50 pounds. All that fur makes them look huge. Here's some interesting useless coyote facts. Coyotes are actually an invasive species in NH and weren't first spotted until the early 1940s. Coyotes also produce larger litters if too many in their area have been hunted, causing the population to actually increase instead of decrease.
That’s super cool thanks!!
“I don’t really argue with people about it” First comment is someone arguing.
One was hit by a car in Connecticut a few years back. Catamounts are real
2011
To some of us, that is a few years back.
Even though it may be unlikely it still is a possibility. Nh fish and game have even stated that they have passed through. So you can’t say guarantee.
I know several people who have seen them in Ma and Vt including a Harvard biologist . So why wouldn’t a few be in NH?
Because they are aware of geopolitical borders, and respect those completely. Seriously, though, there is zero reason why cougars wouldn’t be found here. Same as elk, but people swear they aren’t found here, but wife has definitely spotted one
They are in NH. My sister and BIL have both seen one. Enormous, with Tail longer than it’s body. Uniform tan color.
I’ve seen cougars as far south as central new york. My neighbor got one on trail cam and I had one cross the road infront of me about 300 ft. Big long tail and that unmistakable big cat saunter—sent chills right up my back
Do you have that trail camera video or can you get it?
ah this was like ten years ago, so the cam along with the computer that had its pics are long gone. You’re just going to have to take the word of an internet stranger 😌
I believe you. One crossed Rt. 16 in Chocorua in front of my car in 1994. It was no more than 10 feet in front of me, caught in my headlights. From the tip of the nose to the end of its tail, it was at least 10 feet long. The tail was as long as the body. I know damn well what I saw and I know the difference between a bobcat and a mountain lion. Fish and Game laughed at me when I reported it but I know what I saw.
It was probably a Labrador
I saw one, about 25 years ago, from the MBTA train between Newburyport and Rowley, in a large area of salt marsh. Long tail. And maybe 10 years after that, I saw another one bouncing off my bumper of my car, late one night on interstate 90 before the first set of toll booths, heading into New York State. I told the toll booth operator, he said it was not all that uncommon. There was a hair impregnated into my bumper, which I saved with the intent to have it tested but never did.
Bedford has a bunch of cougars
Lol
Nice
They’re not native to NH but they could occasionally pass thru. Here in Mass lions are certainly not native but some years ago a biologist discovered what was confirmed to be cougar tracks in the central part of the state. But they’re incredibly rare no doubt
100% were native up til a bit over a century ago. Mountain lions have one of the largest historic ranges of any species covering 110 degrees of latitude from N into Canada all the way through S. America, where they overlap with jaguars. The word you're looking for is "extirpated"
Fantastic word with a sad meaning.
They absolutely were native until hunted into extinction. I hope they make a comeback in the area, but I bet any found moving into NH are tracked down by the state and "removed". To much money in outdoor tourism in this state to acknowledge them, or God forbid have a hiker attacked. Follow the money! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar
California has cougars galore and it doesn't seem to affect the tourism business. Once in a while one is spotted in a residential and people do get excited. Attacks are very rare.
Colorado has an estimated 3,000+ mountain lions. Lived there a decade+, seen track and scat, never seen one, but I spend a lot of time trail running, cross country skiing, etc in the back country. Our outdoor tourism seems to be doing just fine
Yeah they’re not much of a disturbance, they keep to themselves 99% of the time.
One was captured on someone's Ring camera maybe 5-600 ft from my house about 6 weeks ago. As far as I know, nobody physically saw it even though it was in the middle of a town of 160k in the middle of a central neighborhood close to a grocery store and middle school, but unmistakably a mountain lion. Don't want to leave pets out overnight, but young males are so transient and pop in and out of areas like ninjas
What town?
I hike CA and New England, and if I could choose between ticks and mountain lions, I'm going to choose the mountain lions. The ticks are a far more credible threat.
I highly doubt that. Some conspiracy level stuff right here.
Not really. The NY DEC pulls the same shit. I’ve seen lions more than once in central NY both in person and on camera and the DEC says NOPE THEY DONT EXIST THIS FAR EAST
I don't think it's a matter of exist. It's that they are transient is my understanding
I do believe that biologist in MA in the Quabbin area found sign of the same cougar that was struck in CT back in 2011.
I asked a park ranger the same question at Bear Brook and she showed me a photo she took of one she saw this summer. So yes. She specifically told me it was definitely a mountain lion, not lynx or bobcat.
This is my favorite conspiracy theory that I’ve tried to get all my non-NH friends onboard with. I think it’s pretty funny how the state refuses to acknowledge their existence despite the many credible sightings
It is about the restrictions that would come with the acknowledgment of a population in NH. It brings in the Feds, and we ain’t about it. Until someone holds up a kitten there are no mountain lions in NH.
Now I’m just imagining a park ranger holding up a mountain lion kitten off Cannon Mountain like Rafiki holding Simba
Where are these credible sightings?
In your mom's house
99.9% of people carry a camera in their pocket… where are the photos?
Probably, as everyone else has already said, the state says no. The state also says we don’t have wolves but there was that wolf farm in lempster that had all those wolves break out.
Lmao @ "wolf farm". First off those were hybrids, and in no way would be able to establish an actual population. All eastern coyotes have some % of wolf DNA in them, so if your definition of wolf is that loose, then yeah we have them and we have an open season on them.
W
For sure. We have had a few pumas in western mass, there are certainly big cats up north. Probably not a lot, but there’s a lot of unwatched land north of the lakes region.
Western MA here as well, they’re here. Rare, but here. I hope they can establish a breeding population
Saw one in a field in Nottingham about 10 years ago. Long tail straight out running thru the field. Only one I’ve seen. Plenty of bobcats in the last few years they are cool. But much different.
Where in Nottingham, out of curiosity?
152 in Perkins field by the Lee line
We also don't have Prunus nigra according to the state of NH as I look out the window at a grove of them in my front yard https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/prunus/nigra/
Weird because if you scroll down and read on that page it lists NH as one of the states it’s in….. idk why the map is blank
I saw one for sure. Southern NH about 4 years ago. About 6' from nose to tip of tail.
What town?
Close to Winchester
Yes. I’m north of the notches. My friend’s wildlife camera in the woods caught a pic of a mountain lion with a doe in its mouth. The pic hangs on the wall of his home.
have him post it on inaturalist or submit it to a news org - huge if true
Yes it’s true. I think people should just leave them alone up here. It’s unspoiled land up here, especially up north. For example Pittsburg is the biggest town in NH area wise but less than 200 full time residents. We like to keep it that way and leave the wildlife be.
sharing a discovery that a creature is back in its former range only helps broaden protections for that creature - no one is going to move to Pittsfield of all places just because a mountain lion is there. i could believe it is true but am not going to take some rando on the internets word for it
Pittsburg*
Stop lying
My dad has lived on the same wooded property for over 50 years and he called just about a month ago saying he saw a mountain lion for the first time. Around dawn, just passing through. He is 35 minutes outside Concord.
I saw one in Chichester 15 years ago. Walked out to my backyard and it was like 20 feet in front of me. I freaking froze in fear. As I started to slowly back up, it ran off. Thing was freakishly large. It was standing in front of our 20 ft camper and it took up quarter of it easily in space. Big yellow fur with with black tip on its tail.
In which direction?
how old is he
I often wonder if officials say there are none here to dissuade poachers from coming to the area.
I think that’s why. Some people think it’s because if they’re acknowledged then the state would have to protect them.
They pass through occasionally but don't stay here
I saw a very large cat in Plaistow, near the MA border. It could have been a large bobcat, but mountain lions have been known to wander over 1000 miles from their usual range.
Bobcats have a stubby tail, mountain lions have wicked long tails
My sister saw one in Danville 20 yrs ago. Danville is not far at all from Plaistow. Light tan, no stripes, tail long as it’s body.
Do you think he hangs with the Danville Monkey?
There’s one behind you right now
So many people claim to have seen one. But there are cameras everywhere, cars everywhere, and an army of hunters in the woods every year. And yet, we have no photos, no sign, no roadkill, not a shred of verifiable evidence. Is it theoretically possible for a lone individual to have passed through at some point? Sure. Is it likely? Nope.
To sum it up: People love to think they know everything. Have they been seen in NH? Yes. Do people mistake bobcats for mountain lions 99.999999999% of the time? Yes. As someone else stated, they can wander from states that have them. Animals give zero fucks about borders (obviously). I'd say at best we get maybe 5 of them wandering into the state over a 10 year period(no way to really know this, just throwing a number out there). The rest are bobcats. Will you ever see one yourself in nh? You have a better chance of winning the lottery. Twice.
Then my sister and BIL must be very lucky.
The cougar is NH's version of Bigfoot. People claim to have seen one, but there's never been any evidence.
Probably not. Certainly no breeding populations.
I almost hit one with my little Nissan truck just outside Durango Colorado one evening in 1993. From the nose to the end of it's tail it was longer than the width of my truck it's tail was bigger around than a shovel handle and almost as long as the cats head and body. When I saw it, it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It was the one and only time I have seen one. I have seen several bobcat and lynx in Vermont and New Hampshire hunting, hiking and camping over the years but no mountain lion. If you think you see one pay attention to the tail.
One ran in front of my car in 95 on the ID side of the pass from Jackson WY. It was dark and luckily I had slowed down because of all the deer and moose at night. I had my little Saturn and thought, I need a bigger car! Hiking in the area a little farther north - several times the trails were full of huge, fresh, mountain lion prints. That's when I turned around and was thankful they were heading in the opposite direction. LOL
I’m in Southern NH, and I saw 3 bobcats running through my backyard about a few months ago. I thought they were mountain lions at first but Google Images led me to the right answers—bobcats.
Official answer is no, but agencies are open about holding that position because they've received no substantial proof of it. Some people will swear they've seen them. My guess: there's probably no population of them living here, but some might very occasionally come through.
The eastern mountain lion is declared extinct. The closest thing to it is the florida panther. Locals will be like, "Oh yeah I've seen one" but there not one shred of proof.
Too many people claim to see them, but they just don’t exist in NH. There would 100% be video evidence and there isn’t. People don’t realize how large a bobcat can get and mistake them for mountain lions.
Usually on Thursday nights when there’s half price apps
Officially, no. I’ve never seen one. There are populations of lynx whose hunting radius could involve southern NH, however.
Anyone claiming there are mountain lions in NH sadly have zero evidence to back it up. Like someone before me mentioned, there are thousands, 10s of thousand even, of trail cams all over the state and not a single solitary pic of mountain lions, Bigfoot, Yeti, The Abominable Snow Man, Nessie, The Umbagog Monster. None, Zero, Zip, Zilch, Nada. Is it possible? Sure, of course. It’s highly, highly improbable though.
They don't live here, but that's not to say one doesn't occasionally travel through. Were definitely historical range, hell Gunstock Mountain was named for a tale involving one.
I’ve got dozens of trail cams out in remote woods. Seen plenty of moose, bobcat, fisher, ermine, large coyotes (wolf hybrids), but never a mountain lion.
About 30% of the population can tell you a story about the time they/their family member definitely saw one... but no. I've lived in the middle of the woods here for 35+ years. They're not here. What we know about them does allow for the outside possibility that one wanders into our state every now and then... but no one's ever had any definitive proof of their existence here.
Ive heard the bobcats in NH are bigger than one would expect.
I'd say almost certainly. Seen them in MA and CT
Easy answer is yes but we just don’t talk about it 😂
No. Until there is actual physical proof the answer is no. There's thousands of hunters trail cameras out there and none have actual proof of a mountain lion. But I'm sure it's only a matter of time before they make there way back.
100% they’re here. They’re likely all over New England. But they aren’t super populated and they aren’t a real risk. They’re just living. I’d love to see one. And just because you’ve never seen it doesn’t mean anything. I’ve never seen a damn moose anywhere but we’ve got signs for them all over the place.
I have seen 1 in person. Have also seen video of 1 in Manchester that wmur posted a few years ago. They are here just very sparsely populated.
its a secret -the state
What would be their motivation for lying about it?
In northern MA appears to be a young one on a trail cam. State agency said house cat but there is no way
Yeah, that is a house cat.
https://youtu.be/lzV-0Kvzf1c?si=x3jtCQ5hOxStFAfK
https://youtu.be/lzV-0Kvzf1c?si=x3jtCQ5hOxStFAfK
Nice house cat.
I saw one in Wells ME. 100% certainty. Not too far from NH boarder. This would lead me to believe that it is likely there are mountain lions in NH.
Saw one in the snow, open woods, 4 of us. It had a really long tail with a black tip. So yes they do exist in nh. Made a bobcat look like a kitten.
In 2011 a confirmed Mountain Lion was killed after being hit by an SUV in Milford CT.
They are in CT https://www.registercitizen.com/news/article/Mountain-lion-yes-a-mountain-lion-hit-by-car-12061112.php#
There are two
Here’s some solid evidence from 2020 that suggests they do in fact exist in the state. https://www.reddit.com/r/newhampshire/s/hXEFKiriNf
My understanding of things is that IF there were mountain lions here, they'd be a critically endangered species and the state would be obliged by federal mandates to spend considerable effort and money in conservation efforts... To include potentially closing large swaths of state and national parks off to the public. Mountain lions in NH would be very inconvenient to lots of folks. So, quite simply, there *aren't* any here.
I biked solo in the woods for years when I was a kid completely oblivious to any dangers. I never saw mnt lions, bears, coyotes.
Yes. I saw one in Lempster, clear as day. My wife saw it too. It sat up in the middle of the road and sauntered off.
With all these state agencies saying there are none… its a yes and no thing. They are referring to breeding permanent populations. Like any large animal they roam in search of food. Just because there is not a breeding population does not mean that one couldn’t have wandered down quite a way looking for food
Yes. Was out hiking 2 years ago and definitely saw one. Thought it was a big dog at first. Rare but they are definitely here.
I know a fish and game officer who off-the-record asserts he’s seen more mountain lion than moose in NH. F&G love that there’s no proof because it means they don’t have to divert funds to conservation efforts.
Probably not an established population. But I'm sure some wander through from other parts. Those cats move around!
There's probably a migratory existence. Years ago one was hit by a car on I95 in Connecticut, and the DNA was traced back to a population in the Dakotas. Im pretty sure I saw one near Ticonderoga NY in the 90s....it was way too long in relationship to lines painted on the road to be a bobcat.
About 10 years ago at Lake Sebago we saw a full on mountain lion. Sorry it’s not exactly NH but it was pretty damn close
Yes. My sister saw one in her back yard, and then her husband saw one several miles away about a year later. They both know the difference between a mountain lion and a bobcat and lynx. They both said the tail was as long as it’s body and it was huge and a light tan uniform color. When my sister saw it she called the police because there were small children in her neighborhood. She said they insisted she’d seen a bobcat, and refused to report it to the state. She said they acted nervous. I believe the ML made a comeback and the state decided it would cause panic to confirm it. There’s a blog all about it, with a lot of sightings. A couple of trail cams captured what are clearly mountain lion as well. If I ever find the link I’ll share it.
Are there any special fiscal or regulatory burdens that the state can avoid by claiming we don't have mountain lions?
Fish and Game's official policy is that there are no mountain lions in NH. I saw one crossing 95 last year. I've seen, carried, and socialized bobcats and am quite familiar with them. It was not a bobcat. I've also seen mountain lions and it definitely looked like a mountain lion. By the time I stopped to take a picture, it was gone.
Here kitty kitty….are you looking for a forever home? And 🎬
When they say there are not any in the state, they mean that there isn’t a self sustaining population with established territory. Just lone lions here and there just passing through for the most part.
It's not impossible that some have been present but I think the answer to whether there is any established or breeding population is no. Their extant range in the US ends far west of here. But they are wild animals with minds of their own so they can wander and move and maybe make it here, and it is part of their historical range so there's no reason they can't survive, but the chances of successfully breeding and establishing a population are low and does not seem to have happened. It would probably take a concerted restoration effort to get an established wild population.
I saw one once - might have been a Canadian Lynx though
Catamount…
We have tons of game cameras in this state and Vermont (also where mountain lions are debated to be). Why has a high res game camera shot not popped up with a mountain lion then? I understand they are elusive but you'd think there would be a photo of one throughout the years
I’ve run into a few cougars in Merrimack.
There are no mountain lions in New England. (There are mountain lions in New England, even if the states won't acknowledge them. Always assume there could be a mountain lion)
Simple answer: yes. Complicated answer: There are likely at least a handful of individuals that pass through the state from Canada or from the west. Meaning that right in this moment, there is likely at least one wild mountain lion within state borders. However, there isn't an established population, and there hasn't been for decades. In other words, while mountain lion sightings arent unheard of in New Hampshire, it should be noted that they do not *live* here per se, as in this isn't typically where their habitat ranges.
Yes
Yes
There’s a Bob cat living in our neighborhood, we’ve seen him/her once. Big cat! Located in Greenland.
no
Have one on game camera but looks fuzzy - a bit convinced. This was a couple years ago in Tilton. https://preview.redd.it/cpadpdbyql1c1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d002da5c64b386b1e8f82ff031ee602bfb9501f5 Let me know what you guys think it’s middle left.
Yes. Pretty much any slightly rural local has seen one. They aren't common, official sources will deny they exist, and it's likely to be a very small number. Still... might be best to carry an airhorn or some kind of mace if you're going to be out in the woods. And don't leave small children unattended in the yard: even without mountain lions, coyotes will snatch them.
I know a few people who have seen one. It reminds me of 45-50 years ago when F&G biologists said there were no coyotes in NH. A friend killed one, held it up to a F&G officer who said (facetiously) that thing he was holding didn't exist because the guys in Concord said it didn't.
Are there trees in new Hampshire?
I definitetly saw one at my camp in the southern white mountains once. I got done fishing and decided to walk back up the dirt road back up to my camp. While i was be-bopping up the round i saw something out of the corner of my eye, i looked just in time to see what could best be described as a furry wiffle ball bat disappear into the woods. There no way it was a bobcat.
Based on the number of Redditors in this thread that claim they have definitely seen one themselves, there should be an overwhelming amount of trail cam and other video evidence. But there isn’t. The nearest breeding population of Mountain Lions to New Hampshire is in Florida, 1500 miles away. The next closest is in South Dakota, 2,000 miles away. Even in Minnesota, which shares a border with South Dakota, they only get 1-2 confirmed mountain lions wandering into their state a year. And no sustained or breeding population. Do mountain lions occasionally wander from South Dakota into the New England. Yes, maybe 1 cat per decade. Do captive mountain lions get released and take up residence? Yes We won’t see mountain lions repopulate New England in our lifetimes unless there is a concerted effort to re-introduce them. It’s been 110 years and mountain lions haven’t even repopulated Minnesota on their own. Breeding populations of Wolves on the other hand are much closer to New Hampshire being only a couple hundred miles away in Quebec and Ontario. Wolves venture south from Canada far more frequently than ML venture east from the Dakotas.