{"id":5069,"date":"2018-02-23T09:50:13","date_gmt":"2018-02-23T14:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=5069"},"modified":"2025-08-23T17:30:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T21:30:52","slug":"mountain-lions-in-maine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2018\/02\/23\/mountain-lions-in-maine\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountain Lions in Maine?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Could these be prints of a mountain lion or an animal known to roam Maine.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0For those who grew up in northern Maine and enjoy outside activities, running into the animals that inhabit our woods is a common occurrence. \u00a0We have all seen families of white-tailed deer licking salt from the road in winter, or a lone moose slowly crossing a field. \u00a0Stay in Aroostook County\u2019s vast woods long enough and you will likely encounter coyotes, black bears and porcupines. \u00a0But imagine seeing a critter that isn\u2019t supposed to be living in our state at all. \u00a0That is what some Mainers have claimed, and sorry but this isn\u2019t about Bigfoot. \u00a0Growing up in Maine, many of us heard stories about mountain lion or cougar sightings. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Oxbow Township is a tiny settlement on the border of the north Maine woods. \u00a0Longtime Oxbow residents Bruce and Christina Stadig claimed to have had an encounter with a large cat on a remote snowmobile trail. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Around 30 minutes into a cold ride in late January, Christina and Bruce spotted a tall figure in the distance on the side of the trail. \u00a0\u201cI thought it could be a coyote when I first saw it,\u201d Bruce recalled.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As they slowed down and approached the creature, its features became clearer. \u00a0\u201cIt was a golden, sandy color with a long, smooth tail,\u201d Christina said. \u00a0The mystery animal appeared more cat-like as it gracefully crossed the snowmobile path into the cover of the woods. \u00a0Needless to say, they pulled over where the creature had stood and examined the tracks. \u00a0They appear to be the prints of a large cat, a cat that shouldn\u2019t be roaming the snow-covered woods of northern Maine. \u00a0\u201cI always suspected they were here, but I wasn\u2019t sure until I saw one with my own eyes,\u201d Christina said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Bruce and Christina have always shared a love for the outdoors and both have years of experience with Maine\u2019s wildlife. \u00a0They spotted a Canadian lynx while out riding that same day. \u00a0The differences between the two cats were clear. \u00a0The lynx has ear tuffs, a short, bobbed tail and fluffy fur. \u00a0A mountain lion has smooth fur, no ear tuffs and a long tail similar to a housecat\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The cougar was known to inhabit eastern North America in earlier centuries before being pushed out by settlers and hunters. \u00a0It\u2019s a comforting thought to imagine such an animal once again making its home in northern Maine. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0For those who grew up in northern Maine and enjoy outside activities, running into the animals that inhabit our woods is a common occurrence. \u00a0We have all seen families of white-tailed deer licking salt from the road in winter, or a lone moose slowly crossing a field. \u00a0Stay in Aroostook County\u2019s vast woods […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5069"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8754,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5069\/revisions\/8754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}