Over the last century many Berkshire County residents have claimed to have seen mountain lions in the woods, fields, and sometimes, in the backyards of homes throughout the county.
Despite the fact that mountain lions are no longer considered to be indigenous to New England since the eastern cougar subspecies was hunted to extinction in the 1800’s, people of good character and reputation still claim to have seen these big cats throughout the Berkshires. Although the claims and sightings are numerous, they still have yet to be substantiated by either photographic or video evidence. As such, local as well as federal government agencies are denying the existence of the eastern mountain lion.
Update: June 2nd, 2011
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has officially declared that the eastern cougar is extinct. This decision was made back on March 2nd, 2011 and the eastern cougar will now be removed from the endangered species list on which it has been listed since 1973.
So what exactly are people seeing then? Most wildlife experts will agree that there hasn’t been a breeding mountain lion population in the Berkshires or anywhere East of the Mississippi River (with the exception of the Florida panther) since 1900. There is a chance of mistaken identity where for example a bobcat or even a larger house cat could be mistaken for a cougar. In the event of an actually cougar siting in the Eastern United States however, wildlife experts have typically found the cougar to be either a released pet or a western cougar that has somehow “wandered” to the East.
If you have any stories or actual proof regarding mountain lion sightings in the Berkshires or anywhere else in the Northeast for that matter please leave a comment below.
its like a ufo there is something to the sightings of these animals. they are to smart to be seen , but since they haven’t attacked humans ,it hasn’t drawn attention. I saw two together in 1990 outside of boone ,n.c.. I know what your going to say why didn’t we take a picture ,because we didn’t have a camera. they don’t want to be seen. they are there in western north Carolina.
I just saw a cougar on my property. I was walking out back past the compost pile with a tray of hot coals from our wood stove… I startled a large mammal. I know what a bobcat looks like, we have one that visits often. “Bigger than a bobcat!” I thought. Maybe a coyote… it was yellow/tawny with a long tail. But as it turned sideways then double-backed, I could see that it was a large cat-creature (not canine) with a very long, slender tail that made a U. Its hind legs were longer than its forelegs. It was lean and moved like a cat (I own one)… It was a cougar! What else could it be. It looked briefly at me and then moved quickly into the wetland/woods behind our home. (I was trying to empty the hot ashes into the snow to reach for my phone, but too late!) I live in Stockbridge, MA and this happened to me today, 1/28/19 at 3:30pm.
I saw a mountain lion cat in the Berkshires during the day! I was on the highway coming South off the Massachusetts turnpike from the University of MA in Amherst, MA onto I-90 near the Berkshire mountains. As I was turning onto the thruway I saw a huge tan colored cat that looked like a mountain lion crossing from a middle section of the road where there was grass and woods were on both sides of the highway. It was not a bobcat and it was not a domestic cat – I have 6 cats and know what they look like. This was the largest cat I have ever seen up close in my life! So, these cats are not extinct in the Northeast as the wildlife experts think. This happened around eight years ago and it is now 2020. I am watching right now the History channel Monsterquest documentary about large cats showing up in the suburbs of NYS. This sighting was on the near the border of NY & MA in the Berkshire mountains!
I saw a fresh track in the snow in Chesterfield Mass that was much too big for a bobcat. It had no claw marks as a big dog would have. No photo but what else could it have been.
A small to medium-sized wild cat ran across the Pittsfield-Lenox Road today in front of my car at about 9:30 AM. I was going north towards Pittsfield and it was on the flat section Between Mazzeo’s Restaurant and the top of the hill that leads down toward the Pittsfield Country Club. At first I thought Bobcat but the image of it’s buff colored body stretched out running and it’s long tail with a dark section on the end is etched in my mind. I wonder if it could have been a young cougar. It looked healthy and strong as it quickly moved across my field of vision from right to left. Well, it’s certainly time to get a dash cam, that’s for sure. This is the first time I’ve seen a wild cat after living 40 years in the Berkshires.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=4536685943037113&id=100000872552283&sfnsn=mo
Correction. My last comment. It was misleading info, it was a picture from Indiana not Massachusetts. Please delete
first mountain lion i saw was in vt. while deer hunting in 1957. i am now 88 y o. since then , i live in western ma. and wife and i see the same 2 to 3 each year. we also have bobcats, bears, moose and of course deer come through our property. we know what a lion looks like.
I believe all of you. People are incredulous here too, because that suits their fancy. We have had multiple sightings in the Andover/Tewksbury/Wilmington Massachusetts area. No photographic evidence as yet. I have also seen Deer, more here than when I lived above Bangor, Maine. We didn’t used to have Opossums either, now we do, as well as Bears. However, these folks who insist the Mountain Lions are not here, should accept the evidence, not their version of “the comfortable truth.” Lots of things we didn’t used to have we now have in abundance, for example, I have seen 2 Bald Eagles fishing the Merrimac River in Lowell. All of these beautiful animals will stay as long as there is a food supply, fresh water, and a place to raise their offspring. We have all of that, and still a lot of wooded areas. We have to accept that our landscape is changing, and dwell according to knowledge, which beats being surprised on a camping/hiking trip!
I have a picture caught on trail cam
Today I saw a mountain cat in the grass verge near my house. It clearly had a long tail, c 35 inches and a back squarish nose. The body was tan.
We regularly have bobcats. This had a long tail and was much bigger. It looked exactly like your picture.
I saw a large catike animal cross the road in front of me in Great Barrington, MA. I mistook it at first for a deer it was that large. It had a long fluffy tail so was not a bobcat. Tawny/tan colored.
I saw a big cat with a long tail cross the Skyline Trail in Chester ,Mass yesterday 6/17/22 at approximately 1:00pm , it was definitely a Mountain Lion no mistake . My wife and I saw a mountain Lion once before , he crossed in front of our car on the Skyline Trail near the Old Chester Center the year we started building our home off the Skyline Trail in 1974. So they are here for sure.
I swear I just saw a large, dark cat near Stockbridge MA, just this morning, hence why I am on this comment thread. It was too large to be a house cat and it wasn’t a bear, definitely feline.