[Editor: Please note that this article is from 2018. For unknown reasons, enough people began re-reading the story in January 2020 that it resurfaced in our ‘Most Popular’ widget. Also there’s been a lot of idiots submitting comments on this article in recent weeks, so we are disabling the comment thread.]
Town officials said on Monday that they received a credible report of a mountain lion sighting in New Canaan earlier this month.
The Jan. 16 sighting on the eastern end of Nursery Road (near the Merritt Parkway) came in from a man who described a tail three feet long—a physical characteristic that distinguishes the cougar from smaller felines, such as bobcats—and saw the animal directly in front of his car, walking under a streetlight, in a well-lit area, according to Officer Allyson Halm, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section.
“We are not alone,” Halm said of the sighting.
She said it’s important for residents to be aware that larger predators are becoming increasingly comfortable in this area.
“The food sources are out there,” Halm said. “They are big white-tailed deer hunters.”
Mountain lions have been known to travel through Fairfield County in the past.
Two Aprils ago, a woman claimed to see a mountain lion on a Fox Run Road property in New Canaan, though state officials said they were unable to confirm the sighting based on paw prints left by the animal.
It isn’t clear how many mountain lions have been seen in Connecticut this year. Officials with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection could not immediately be reached for comment.
We are taking over their land so they have to go somewhere. It’s actually pretty sad. They are beautiful animals though.
I saw a red fox midday in Greenwich come out from the trees, wait @ the traffic light @ Overlook Dr, + nonchalantly trot across the Post Road, when the light changed.
I had a coyote run by me as I was going to move my car at 5:30 AM on West Rocks Road in Norwalk about ten years ago. Near the Parkway. I suppose these creatures use the Parkway as a conduit.