Mt.A TODD
April 6th, 2005, 12:35 PM
Mountain Lion near Aggie??? I wouldn't doubt it, I've seen some pretty large cat tracks out there. That's Cool!
YORK - York Animal Control Officer Tom Porter said mountain lions are certainly making a comeback in the southern Maine area.
Whether photographs of that animal prowling around a home on Beech Road in Eliot are real is unknown, however.
Porter was made aware of the latest claim after Kittery/Eliot Animal Control Officer Bob Gagnon told him about the sighting. He said he didn’t see the three pictures, which depict the lion staring through a glass door of someone’s home, until York resident David Webber brought them into the Police Department recently.
Webber said he received the e-mailed images from a friend in Dover, N.H.; The York Weekly obtained them from Matt Sheehan, a resident of Eliot.
"It’s certainly a big cat," said Webber. "I think it’s pretty neat to have something like that running around."
Porter said he is still working with the Kittery/Eliot animal control officer to validate the photographs, but it’s no shock to him that mountain lions have been spotted in the area.
"They (the pictures) very well could be legit ... We’ve had sightings on Beech Ridge Road," he said. "One ran in front of a lady right there, during the day time, when she was in the car."
Porter said there was another case, a few years ago, where a person doing some survey work saw one as well.
According to the Mountain Lion Foundation, a nonprofit conservation and education organization dedicated to protecting the mountain lion and its wild habitat, the large cats can weigh anywhere between 80 and 180 pounds and they eat other animals, like deer and rabbits.
Porter said the alleged sightings should not alarm southern Maine residents, but merely caution them when hiking or biking in the woods. He said residents should also be careful when letting dogs and cats out of the house at night.
If a mountain lion is spotted, "stay away from it," said Porter. "These cats can kill - and they have."
YORK - York Animal Control Officer Tom Porter said mountain lions are certainly making a comeback in the southern Maine area.
Whether photographs of that animal prowling around a home on Beech Road in Eliot are real is unknown, however.
Porter was made aware of the latest claim after Kittery/Eliot Animal Control Officer Bob Gagnon told him about the sighting. He said he didn’t see the three pictures, which depict the lion staring through a glass door of someone’s home, until York resident David Webber brought them into the Police Department recently.
Webber said he received the e-mailed images from a friend in Dover, N.H.; The York Weekly obtained them from Matt Sheehan, a resident of Eliot.
"It’s certainly a big cat," said Webber. "I think it’s pretty neat to have something like that running around."
Porter said he is still working with the Kittery/Eliot animal control officer to validate the photographs, but it’s no shock to him that mountain lions have been spotted in the area.
"They (the pictures) very well could be legit ... We’ve had sightings on Beech Ridge Road," he said. "One ran in front of a lady right there, during the day time, when she was in the car."
Porter said there was another case, a few years ago, where a person doing some survey work saw one as well.
According to the Mountain Lion Foundation, a nonprofit conservation and education organization dedicated to protecting the mountain lion and its wild habitat, the large cats can weigh anywhere between 80 and 180 pounds and they eat other animals, like deer and rabbits.
Porter said the alleged sightings should not alarm southern Maine residents, but merely caution them when hiking or biking in the woods. He said residents should also be careful when letting dogs and cats out of the house at night.
If a mountain lion is spotted, "stay away from it," said Porter. "These cats can kill - and they have."