The only definitive proof of a catamount living in present-day Vermont is Rally Cat, the UVM mascot dancing on the sidelines of sports games. The actual animal has not been officially documented in the state . Still, many Vermonters swear they've seen catamounts 鈥� also known as pumas, cougars, or mountain lions.
On the latest installment of the Vermont Edition series Animal Hour, Mikaela Lefrak was joined by Declan McCabe, a biologist from St. Michael's College in Colchester, and renowned wildlife tracker and naturalist Sue Morse of Jericho. They discussed how to identify big cat species, be it a mountain lion, lynx, or bobcat.
Lots of you think you've seen a catamount
Dozens of Vermont Edition listeners wrote or called in with their unforgettable stories of spotting a catamount in the woods. McCabe tried to let them down easy. "I hate to be too skeptical," he said, "but it would be unlikely 鈥� not impossible, but unlikely." He added that a wildlife photographer he trusts has seen what he believes to be a mountain lion in South Burlington, based on the length of its tail and the jump. "He's a very reliable witness. I can't argue with him," he said.
Morse has long made the claim that the catamounts that live in the American west are moving east and will one day return to Vermont. There is evidence of them migrating from the Dakotas all the way over to the Carolinas and Tennessee. "Northern New England, with its vast assemblage of wild lands and connective habitats, is perfectly suited for resident mountain lions," she said.
She also doesn't believe that catamounts should be labelled as extinct in Vermont. "I'm not going to slam the door shut on these animals," she said.
It could've been a bobcat or lynx
McCabe believes that many of these sightings are bobcats being mistaken for their larger cousins. When someone tells him they've seen a catamount, he asks first about the tail.
"A bobcat looks about twice or three times the size of a domestic cat, and it's got spotted fur frequently 鈥� not always. It's got a very short tail, and the underside of that tail is white. So that is a an important distinguishing characteristic." If the tail you saw was short, "you know immediately that they've seen a bobcat," he said. "It's a common mistake, and I totally understand it."
Lynx are similar in size to bobcats and are occasionally spotted in Vermont, including recently in Addison County and around Rutland. Lynx have taller ear tufts than bobcats, with higher back ends and shorter tails with black tips.
Check the paw prints
When it comes to identifying tracks in the mud or snow, Morse offered this guidance: "If you look at a dog track, be it a wolf or a coyote, the toe arrangement is symmetrically arranged with the two forward toes on an even line with one another, and the two rear toes on an even line with one another." Wild cats have assymetrical feet arrangements 鈥� their four toes don't line up with each other at all.
To better understand cat tracks, she suggests folding your thumb under and looking at your four fingers. "Your middle finger sticks out ahead of all the others. Cats have that."
Morse remains measured in her estimation of whether catamounts are already back in Vermont. "As a scientist, I have an open mind about what's what's going on out there, and there's just a lot we don't know. And that's all I'm going to say."
Broadcast live on Thursday, March 13, 2025, at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
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