This thing, purportedly a Catamount or Mountain Lion, was seen in a rural backyard near Interstate 95 just south of Waterville in Sidney, Maine recently. While there have been sporadic sightings of Catamounts over the years in Maine and neighboring New Hampshire, Quebec and New Brunswick, biological evidence has been scarce. Photographic or video has been nil, until now.
According to this story in the Lewiston Sun Journal on Friday, June 29, 2007, Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife are taking this sighting very seriously, sending a wildlife biologist to the scene to take measurements of the rocks and trees to establish scale, collect any biological evidence to be found and to interview the homeowner who photographed the elusive creature.
UPDATE 7/4/2007:
A photo making e-mail rounds Thursday that shows what looks like a big, rare cat in a Sidney backyard is real, according to the Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife spokesman.
Whether that's actually a mountain lion leaning on a rock wall is up in the air. The cat's tail, the easiest way to tell a bobcat from a mountain lion, is hidden by a tree.
"That's why we're sending someone out there," said Mark Latti. "Maine doesn't have a wild population of mountain lions."
The picture came in to IFW on Thursday. He said the homeowner wants to be anonymous. A biologist will go out soon to look for other evidence, like tracks, and measure the size of the rocks where the cat stood to get a sense of scale.
Maine hasn't had wild mountain lions since the late 1800s, Latti said. Vermont and New Hampshire don't have them either.
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