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Neversink Mountain Lion

JOE.T

JOE.T

Dry Flies Only
I heard that a guy was fly-fishing on the Neversink in Bridgeville and Mountain lion attacked, killed, and dragged a small Deer from the river.

This allegedly took place around the bend below Holiday Mountain.He was fishing at the bend and he saw the Lion jump from a high bank and it took a few a few steps in the shallow water and nailed the Fawn.As quickly as it happened the Lion took the deer in it's mouth and took off into the wooded area where he came from.This was down river from him above the next island.

This is like 3rd or maybe 4th hand info and I'm curious if anyone has heard this story ?

I fish that section a lot .
 
My dad claims he saw one on the neversink too up near woodbourne at the quarry. He was walking upriver and when he got to a narrow bend he said there was a huge cat crossing the stream swimming. Said he saw it clear as day and it looked like a mountain lion- definitely wasn't just a small little bobcat.
 
JOE.T said:
I heard that a guy was fly-fishing on the Neversink in Bridgeville and Mountain lion attacked, killed, and dragged a small Deer from the river.

This allegedly took place around the bend below Holiday Mountain.He was fishing at the bend and he saw the Lion jump from a high bank and it took a few a few steps in the shallow water and nailed the Fawn.As quickly as it happened the Lion took the deer in it's mouth and took off into the wooded area where he came from.This was down river from him above the next island.

This is like 3rd or maybe 4th hand info and I'm curious if anyone has heard this story ?

I fish that section a lot .
Click to expand...

Don't be scared. You will be fine as long as you talk to the mountain lion in a calm manner and tell the lion you are there to be his friend. There is no need to carry a weapon in case you may have to defend yourself. I believe mountain lions like hugs.

If you are ever confronted by a mountain lion, just lie there and be calm. The mountain lion (like the lion in the video below) just wants to play with you.
 
They're everywhere! In fact, there are so many that they have zero confirmed sightings, with zero DNA, on zero trail cameras, with zero carcasses taken from the road, and zero ever shot by hunters (they are not protected, so you can shoot one if you see it here in NJ). That's how likely it is :)
 
I fish there frequently.

In fact was there on sunday...

One time while my father and I were about to start walking down the katrina falls access to the gorge.

A man and his GF/wife were walking up. They surprised us; mainly because the guy had a very large rifle. He just seemed to be out on a stroll with his GF/wife and massive gun, something you dont see everyday in NY

I shouted in alarm and this was the conversation

Me- "WOAH! Hey man! What you hunting down in there?" (Knowing that anything he was hunting with that gun, he was doing illegally)

Gun toting guy- "I'm not hunting. I live right there *points to house/trailer/shack* and I'm not joking I see mountain lions back here all of the time, this is to protect my Gf/wife and I"

Then we watched him walk to his house 200 feet away.

I am always vigilant when I walk in the gorge now; and I recommend any reading this to go the same.

I know it won't help much to look though, the first and last thing you see in a sucessful MTN lion attack is teeth and claws. And that's if your lucky. They normally like to crush windpipes/skulls in one bite, or hop on your back and sever the spine.

Very brutal yet beautiful animals.

We call them MTN lions for a reason, and its a bit sad imop. Human civilization (im not a liberal) chased them there. They used to be spread throughout the entire country plains/swamps and all. MTN lions and wolves are sad stories in the east. We combed the woods and shot every freaking one... A feat deemed impossible.
 
He is back!

How did you do in there on Sun?

Catskill Mountain Man said:
I fish there frequently.

In fact was there on sunday...

One time while my father and I were about to start walking down the katrina falls access to the gorge.

A man and his GF/wife were walking up. They surprised us; mainly because the guy had a very large rifle. He just seemed to be out on a stroll with his GF/wife and massive gun, something you dont see everyday in NY

I shouted in alarm and this was the conversation

Me- "WOAH! Hey man! What you hunting down in there?" (Knowing that anything he was hunting with that gun, he was doing illegally)

Gun toting guy- "I'm not hunting. I live right there *points to house/trailer/shack* and I'm not joking I see mountain lions back here all of the time, this is to protect my Gf/wife and I"

Then we watched him walk to his house 200 feet away.

I am always vigilant when I walk in the gorge now; and I recommend any reading this to go the same.

I know it won't help much to look though, the first and last thing you see in a sucessful MTN lion attack is teeth and claws. And that's if your lucky. They normally like to crush windpipes/skulls in one bite, or hop on your back and sever the spine.

Very brutal yet beautiful animals.

We call them MTN lions for a reason, and its a bit sad imop. Human civilization (im not a liberal) chased them there. They used to be spread throughout the entire country plains/swamps and all. MTN lions and wolves are sad stories in the east. We combed the woods and shot every freaking one... A feat deemed impossible.
Click to expand...
 
Catskill Mountain Man said:
MTN lions and wolves are sad stories in the east. We combed the woods and shot every freaking one... A feat deemed impossible.
Click to expand...

Technically, we cut down all the wood and killed off what remaining game they might have fed upon. Shooting and trapping the few stragglers was a piece of cake after that......

And when it comes to being attacked in the Neversink Gorge or anywhere else in the East by a mountain lion, you have the exact same chance of being attacked and killed by the Jersey Devil. Just sayin'
 
I agree with this article. If there were alleged sightings, they are probably escaped pets. If there were migrating wild Mountain Lions in the area. People would be loosing their dogs, live stock. Also our population is much denser then it is west of the Mississippi. There are fair amount of individuals utilizing the abundant amount of hiking and mounting biking trails in the northeast. There would be an occasional attack if there were wild MLs here.

http://open.salon.com/blog/califon_jer/2013/05/26/mountain_lions_in_new_jersey
 
JOE.T said:
I heard that a guy was fly-fishing on the Neversink in Bridgeville and Mountain lion attacked, killed, and dragged a small Deer from the river.

This allegedly took place around the bend below Holiday Mountain.He was fishing at the bend and he saw the Lion jump from a high bank and it took a few a few steps in the shallow water and nailed the Fawn.As quickly as it happened the Lion took the deer in it's mouth and took off into the wooded area where he came from.This was down river from him above the next island.

This is like 3rd or maybe 4th hand info and I'm curious if anyone has heard this story ?

I fish that section a lot .
Click to expand...

Wear these new designer waders, and you'll find out whether that story is true or not.

adult-deer-costume.jpg
 
MACFLY said:
If one made it to CT from South Dakota why is it hard to believe a couple of them could be roaming around PA, NY or NJ. Perhaps only a handful which is why you havent seen them. I have no doubt that some are around and not as pets. Entirely Plausible
Click to expand...

Actually, I agree with you Mac...I know someone as well who is a farmer and a biologist(a real one, with a degree and all), who says there was a mountain lion on their property in N.J. They said it was there for a few weeks, it killed a deer and buried it as well as it could, and they found prints, and heard the thing.....This is what they told me........they called the DEP in NJ, and the DEP said.......we know they are here, not many, but a few...we do not have a management plan so we cannot admit that they are here...:shrug:

just hearsay though...
 
I recall reading in Nat Geo or somewhere a few years back that Mountain Lions have a pretty large range. 400 miles or so. The article also cited confirmed sightings in West Virgina I believe. I am fuzzy on the particulars but what I took away from my reading was that they could certainly be in NJ/PA/NY. Their range and the confirmed sightings made it feasible for sure.
 
They are stealthy but they aren't ghosts. If they were around there would be evidence. There would be photos, prints, dna, confirmed sightings. Even the transient that was killed in CT was"tracked" in near-real-time as it moved through the Midwest and Adirondacks. Roamers and escapees occur but they are incredibly rare and typically don't last long. The only sustained population East of the Mississippi is in Florida. Anything else is fantasy.

There could be a solitary cat in the gorge at the moment but it seems unlikely.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
 
eddavidson9 said:
They are stealthy but they aren't ghosts. If they were around there would be evidence. There would be photos, prints, dna, confirmed sightings. Even the transient that was killed in CT was"tracked" in near-real-time as it moved through the Midwest and Adirondacks. Roamers and escapees occur but they are incredibly rare and typically don't last long. The only sustained population East of the Mississippi is in Florida. Anything else is fantasy.

There could be a solitary cat in the gorge at the moment but it seems unlikely.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

For those of you that don't hunt, you may/may not be aware that there are trail cameras set out every few hundred feet or so it seems to capture deer, bear, etc. by hunters. Not a single photo has been shown to the Division or posted to any hunting forums from the East. I routinely see bobcats, coyotes, bear, and of course many, many deer. I even get trespassing hikers' pictures on occasion. But never do any of us capture the image of a mountain lion. With many of these cameras set out over bait where deer congregate, you'd think at least one would pick up a cougar.....

Is it possible? Yes, one made it from the Dakotas to CT where it was struck by a car a few years back. Is it likely? No. One in 100 years is not much when you look at it that way. And why did the USFWS list the Eastern mountain lion as extirpated in the East only two or so years ago if they felt otherwise? If NJ Division of F&W were concerned, they could simply add a line in their next Game Code protecting any and all mountain lions, something they haven't done to date. They certainly wouldn't meet resistance from either the antis or the pro-hunters if they put that one line into Code.
 
eddavidson9 said:
They are stealthy but they aren't ghosts. If they were around there would be evidence. There would be photos, prints, dna, confirmed sightings. Even the transient that was killed in CT was"tracked" in near-real-time as it moved through the Midwest and Adirondacks. Roamers and escapees occur but they are incredibly rare and typically don't last long. The only sustained population East of the Mississippi is in Florida. Anything else is fantasy.

There could be a solitary cat in the gorge at the moment but it seems unlikely.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

They are incredibly solitary animals. They have the least dense territory of all big cats, and even out west, where there are known populations there's only been 3 fatal attacks a decade. Low density, means low probability regardless. Even out west that translates to "unlikely".
 
It was probably just CMM in a lead paint chip induced-altered state of mind, dressed in a mountain lion suit..
 
Last edited:
BrownChickenBrownTrout said:
They are incredibly solitary animals. They have the least dense territory of all big cats, and even out west, where there are known populations there's only been 3 fatal attacks a decade. Low density, means low probability regardless. Even out west that translates to "unlikely".
Click to expand...


im not sure what your point is. the relative likelihood of one being in the area is incredibly low, as compared to, say, the city of los angeles. but we cant prove the negative.

Mountain Lions — Urban Carnivores
 
I guess nobody heard of that particular story...Like i said it was 3rd or 4th hand info.

I know of a couple guys that swear they have seen them in years past.I don't doubt them.There both hunters as well and can judge size and distance very well.

Well I guess for now I wont need to learn to cast left handed and shoot right handed !

Bugs are on the way.
 
While I doubt anyone is seeing many wild lions, I have not doubt that you could have seen an escaped cat in the river. One ran out in front of my car few years back down in Skillman NJ, it was close enough that we made eye contact (we had a moment). My cousin is NYPD, and over the years he's had to call animal control after busting into some bangers apartment for tigers, lions, ocelots, cheetahs, and crocs. If someone can conceal an animal like this in the City, its not a stretch to think that someone in the sticks can do it also, with a greater chance of it escaping if it were in an outdoor pen. Also, one of the countries biggest exotic animal breeders is in PA, friend of mine did an internship there in college.
 
I wanted to be one of those police officers when those exotic animals escaped from that couples place in ohio - they were shooting tigers, lions, mountain lions, grizzlies and monkeys. Pretty sweet day at the office.
 
Someone should go to the Neversink Gorge and put out some bait(anonymously of course)CMM......put a trail cam on it...then we can all stop speculating....
 
I'm there a lot. And I've been looking at tracks and deep into the woods while taking a break.

I've felt eyes on me while fishing before. And I have heard unfamiliar noises. But no lion scream. Not yet at least.

And dennis. Yeah I infrequently take peeks at the site here and there. And since april 1st I've had new members message me about streams in the area.

If any of you ever have any questions about the streams you know I know about, feel free to pm me.

This crew is just too much for me.

I'm planning a good post though. Gonna hike up the double kill and take a bunch of pictures. Even some nice ones of the hermits house.

Was there 3 days ago.. creepy!!!!! Found an old photo album with very old disfigured pictures. Some faces look like skulls, it's wild.

You'll know the post when you see it

Hope all is well everyone, except the obvious people.

GB keep it up, you've become a great addition!! Keeping me entertained!!
 
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