Group Hopes to Prove Mountain Lions Live in CT

Armed with camcorders and Velcro, a group of residents hopes to prove that mountain lions call Connecticut home.

The group, called Cougars of the Valley, is raising money to buy equipment to prove their case.

The group wants to place high-definition camcorders in wooded areas and put Velcro on trees for the cats to rub against and perhaps leave behind fur and droppings for DNA testing, the Republican American reports. 

Officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the eastern mountain lion has been extinct for decades. However, a mountain lion killed on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford last year renewed debate. Officials said the mountain lion traveled about 1,800 miles from South Dakota, through Minnesota and Wisconsin before getting to Connecticut. Environmental officials said the cougar was the same one that had been spotted in Greenwich.

Dennis Schain, a spokesman for the state environmental agency, said there are no native mountain lions, but efforts to provide more information and evidence are welcome.