Greenwich Cougar “Credible”
Posted by: Loren Coleman on June 1st, 2006
According to local media reports of June 1, 2006, a “cougar” is being seen near Greenwich, New Jersey. The police are taking the sightings seriously because they’ve seen them too.
Since May 11, nine people have said they’ve seen a large cat roaming in several areas of the township, including near a day-care center, a youth-sports complex, and the DuPont Repauno Plant. A police officer has been assigned to patrol the area on a bicycle.
Two police officers saw the cougar in broad daylight. One saw it chasing a herd of deer, [Detective Sgt. Joseph ] Giordano said. “Every one of the witnesses have been credible. They have no reason to make it up,” he said.
One recent encounter was mentioned for May 20th. Read more about these in the Courier Post article, “Cougar sightings in South Jersey called ‘credible'”.
If you think you’ve seen the cougar, call the Greenwich Police Department at (856) 423-1900.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
Got deer…ya got cougar…simple enough….
Any idea how many primates may have been released or escaped from homes or laboratories….just a thought…
Craig…make sure Loren gets some primo Tex-Mex…
Good luck and God speed…
ole bub and the dawgs
Although a surviving wild population, or a wild population that migrated to NJ, is possible, it is somewhat improbable.
There are a lot of people in this area that keep wild and exotic animals, some with permits and some without. So I think the better odds are on the cryptid in question being released or escaped from a private owner.
But who knows. NJ has the highest or one of the highest population densities in the US and there are still bigfoot sightings here per the BFRO. Plus the black bear population in NJ has grown a lot recently, so the area can still sustain large predators. And there are tons of deer – small herds go through the subdivisions at night.
There is no mystery cat. I used to live in the Pine Barrens, in Lakewood NJ. What most people are not aware of is that there are Cougars living in the Pine Barrens, they are few and far between. Most people are not aware of this fact. They also live in the Northwest part of NJ near the Delaware Water Gap. You dont see them up North near NYC because of the population density. When I was in the Boy Scouts I was fortunate to see one.
shovethenos,
With all due respect, there are far too many eastern cougar reports, and reports stretching back way too far, for all of them to be explained away by escaped exotics. Plus, as you note, dense populations aside, NJ produces a bumper crop of deer every year (A total of over 60K were harvested by hunters in 1998-99 according to the state division of game and fish, and that is just a small portion of the total population and doesn’t include the numbers hit by cars).
There are more than enough wild deer and other small game to support a population of eastern panthers and, more than any other cryptid, I have a very hard time comprehending the reluctance to accept this.
ecanale stated that courgars have been personally sighted in New Jersey and I have sighted them in areas of New York that are supposed to be “courgar free”. Sightings like these will be more and more common as courgars are protected and introduced back into preserves. The cougar is supposed to have a 100 mile radius territory span. They do surprise you when you spot them in a highly populated area.
Well I fully acknowledge I could be wrong. I wasn’t aware there were many cougar sightings in that area.
I guess it is possible for small populations to have survived in those areas all this time. But there are also a lot of people in the area that keep wild and exotic animals. If memory serves there was some uproar about some lady and some pet tigers a while back.
No surprise they are starting to show all over as of late. Like I have said in the past the more habitat they take away form wild life the more we will see them in cities and towns.
The Pine Barrens hold great mystery, and quite a bit of “normal” wildlife besides. As for there being no mystery cat, well, yes, we all know there are plenty of cougars in the area, but the official “scientific” position is that there are NO cougars east of the Mississippi. That makes it of interest to CZ, because it’s a clear example of “science” ignoring the facts.
As for there being a lot of people here (I live in NJ, although oddly enough I happen to be typing this from OK at the moment) who keep exotic animals, you make it sound like every other person is walking their cheetah down the street. While I won’t deny there are a few, and probably more than is realized, there still isn’t THAT many.
As for the Tiger lady, that may support your position better. My understanding of the case is that she had a tiger preserve where she kept 8 tigers with proper liscensing, but came into conflict with the authorities because a 9th was found wandering around outside her fences. She maintains that it was NOT hers, and must have been attracted by the smell of her tigers. Considering the vastness of the Pine Barrens, and the plentifulness of food, I’m inclined to believe her.
There have been reports of deer carcasses (and in one case, a live deer bearing healed claw marks) that clearly indicate an attack by a large cat, although the safe bet would be on the cougar, not the tiger. Back in the 90’s there was also a rash of attacks on livestock in which large pigs were found with their throats slit and claw marks on them. There was also evidence that whatever attacked them picked them up and carried them to the place where they were found, rather than dragged, indicating a very powerful animal. As I recall, the old TV program “Secrets & Mysteries” implicated the Jersey Devil, but then used the legend to support the existence of Sasquatch in NJ (Which we most certainly do have as well).
my main question is what the laws are in that neck of the woods concerning killing cougars? today in california your life has to be threatened, up close and personal before you can kill without being in trouble. I think if you are a rancher and can prove one has been killing livestock (must be a repeat offender) you might be able to get a special license, but I believe you have to wait and kill it as it heading in for it’s lunch. they are cats, cats are prolific (not quite like rabbits, but close). without some sort of control of their population, they are gonna spread out and take over.
shumway10973,
When you talk about cats being prolific breeders, well, yes, DOMESTIC CATS are prolific breeders. But wild cats, including pumas and bobcats, usually breed at most once a year, and especially in the case of eastern pumas, their low population density means that many cats probably do not mate every year. Pumas have up to four kittens in a litter, usually fewer, but often only one or two survive to adulthood. One of the reasons that it is taking the eastern puma so long to repopulate its original range is because of the low birth rate.
I agree that most of the puma sightings east of the Rockies are probably cases of mistaken identity or overactive imaginations, but there are too many credible sightings to just dimiss them.
Concerning tigers and other big cats on the loose, it is extremely unlikely that there are any viable, breeding populations anywhere in the United States. But one tiger or one lion or especially one leopard, if it knew how to hunt, could probably live very well in the eastern forests. Think about it. It would have no natural predators here, being an apex predator. And there is no existing population of lions or tigers or leopards tp compete for territory. Of course, it would lead a solitary life, because the chances of it ever finding a mate are slim and none. But on the other hand, with no predators and no competition for its territory and its dinner, one large cat could probably live out its life, even to old age. Of course, most big cats have to be taught to hunt and kill large game, so captive-bred escapees would be at a disadvantage there, but in most areas small game such as rabbits and groundhogs is very abundant. Big cats can and often do subsist on small game when they have to. If it was in an area with plentiful game and not much livestock, a big cat could live out its entire life unnoticed by humans. So when I hear stories about a mystery animal that plagues an area for 10 or 15 years, I always wonder if it could be a lone exotic cat that has escaped from captivity.