WHAT IS THIS ABOUT?

DamnYankee.com has begun an ongoing survey of eyewitness encounters with wild panthers in eastern Maine. (If you have seen one elsewhere in New England or eastern Canada, we are interested in that information anecdotally also but are not equipped to tabulate data over such a wide area. Feel free to add it to the survey, but we may not be able to report on sightings beyond Maine.)

PROCEED TO THE SURVEY PAGE

Whether called panther, cougar, puma, mountain lion, painter, catamount, or any of several other names, it's the same animal, Puma concolor. Some regional subspecies have been generally agreed-upon, from Florida to Wisconsin to the Canadian Maritimes.

What's in a name? Other names are equally valid, but for consistency this site uses the name "eastern panther" because that's the name recommended by New Brunswick wildlife biologist Bruce Wright in his 1972 study, The Eastern Panther.

Various other web sites are dedicated to the recognition and re-introduction of the species in the eastern USA and Canada (see ECF and other links below). Most are not collecting sighting data, however.

Even though in many eastern states from Alabama to New York to Maine, state wildlife authorities grudgingly admit that there is enormous evidence for the existence of panthers/cougars in the wild, they do not acknowledge breeding populations except in Florida. (Legislatures and bureaucracies are not required to make the logical "leap" that for wild animals to exist, they must breed. That sort of linear thinking is left to scientists and common folk.) To their credit, Illinois has had two documented kills in recent years and Kentucky has had one, so they both have moved beyond denial.

While the species is federally protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, in most eastern states, if it's acknowledged at all, it's described as "extirpated" - wiped out.

In eastern Canada, the panther is more positively acknowledged and managed accordingly.

WHY DO THIS?

This survey comes about for several reasons.

First, in 2002, I came upon some tracks in the snow while hunting alone east of my home.

Second, in 2003, I saw one up close six miles from my home. Follow the above link for tracks for more information about both these encounters.

Third, in 1974, while driving not far from the place of the 2003 sighting, I saw one cross Interstate 95 a third of a mile ahead, but too distant to be convincing to anyone else. (It was easier for someone to doubt my eyesight.)

Fourth, at the time of that 1974 sighting, I was a student in the Wildlife Management B.S. program at the University of Maine. I sought academic backing to pursue graduate-level study of the panther in Maine but was denied support. Now, having had a load of personal brushes with them and finally possessing the resources to pursue further study, I'm beginning my graduate "research."

The survey has no political agenda. It's not about environmental activism. It's not about being pro- or anti-hunting. It's about science, in the old-fashioned manner of a naturalist studying something dispassionately. Being as scientific as possible without outside support, it is chiefly an attempt by one qualified individual to investigate the experience of others who have met up with this rare animal and to make that information available to anyone else interested in the findings.

HOW WE'LL PUBLICIZE THIS SURVEY

1. Use existing connections to announce in publications such as the Northwoods Sporting Journal.
2. Include a link in magazine articles, e.g., Bangor Metro.
3. Small posters in barber shops and mom-and-pop stores.
4. Courtesy links at other web sites.
5. Announcements at colleges in the area.
6. Entertain user suggestions for other methods.

HOW WE'LL USE THE DATA

1. Publish results in tabular form at this web site, rating reports according to reliability.
2. Map reliable sightings, which may, with enough data, suggest patterns or movements.
3. Offer written updates to various print media from time to time.
4. Do some field investigation in areas with multiple sightings over a brief time span.
5. Make data available to Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and other interested agencies.
6. Make data available to interested college programs in the area.
7. Entertain user suggestions for other uses.

OTHER SITES

There are other sites that take a rational approach about the existence of panthers in the eastern USA, including the ones below.

The Eastern Cougar Foundation

Gyekis Forest Management
(link to Pennsylvania research)

Cougar Network

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