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Do Lynx exist in the Dacks?

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  • Do Lynx exist in the Dacks?

    I know we have had this thread on Mountain Lions & Wolves, but whats the opinion Re; Lynx in the Adks?
    They have been considered long gone in VT. but the VT.F&WL just released a confirmation of Lynx tracks.

    http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/a...=2007702210302

    Those tracks are big compared to the dollar bill, I can see now how small a Bobcat's are in comparison.

    Because they can travel so far to hunt, I wonder if they always make it back to their den or just find a tree and call it home for the night?
    Set out runnin' but I take my time
    A friend of the devil is a friend of mine
    If I get home before daylight, I just might get some sleep tonight. -GD

  • #2
    I found this admittedly very dated DEC notice.

    And this:


    Dick

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    • #3
      Lynx are now being found in good numbers in Maine and have probably overflowed into New Hampshire and Vermont. I suspect that is the origin of the one recently located in Vermont.

      There do not appear to be any in the ADKs, in spite of the reintroduction effort which was (in my opinion) mis-handled by NY DEC a few years back. Two key mistakes were made, as far as I can tell:

      1. Releasing in the dead of winter, instead of springtime (which has been done successfully in Colorado, learning from NY's mistake), and

      2. Releasing in the high-traffic High Peaks area instead of northwestern ADKs where snowshoe hare population is also high, but where there are FAR fewer hiker disturbances.

      That being said, I'd like to believe that a few still roam the ADKs, thus far undiscovered or that we will receive an "overflow" via Vermont, NH, Maine in the future.
      Ahh............Wilderness.......

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      • #4
        The other main problem with that reintroduction was road density. the cause of death for nearly all of those lynx was roadkill. I believe more than half were dead within a few months. They all had radio collars, and they all either died or left the area (and then died) within a few years.
        With a more natural spread at their own pace they should learn to avoid roads and adapt to the area.
        He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by hobbitling View Post
          The other main problem with that reintroduction was road density.
          With a more natural spread at their own pace they should learn to avoid roads and adapt to the area.
          I believe that road density per se in the ADKs is not a major problem for lynx, but that other issues (release in dead of winter when food is harder to come by and high hiker traffic) may have caused the lynx to wander more than normally. In other words, road density became an issue because of the other inherent problems. Individual lynx generally have a home range of only 8-20 square miles (5,000-13,000 acres), so theoretically the High Peaks wilderness area of 226,000 acres of so is more than enough room for a few to establish homes and then possibly spread to other areas.

          Road density becomes more of an issue for wide-ranging predators like the wolf, but even there studies have concluded that 300-400 wolves could survive in the ADKs, despite current road densities. The only question with the wolf appears to be whether they would be "locked off" from other wolf populations and eventually suffer from low diversity of the gene pool.

          I would like to see reintroductions attempted for both species (a helping hand from man- the species who wiped them out in the first place), but it probably won't happen. Probably the best we can hope for is a natural re-colonization. Maine already has an estimated 200-500 lynx, so this is a possibility.
          Last edited by poconoron; 02-23-2007, 12:12 PM.
          Ahh............Wilderness.......

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          • #6
            On September 11, 1998 I had a lynx cross the trail about 20 feet in front of me as I ascended Blake peak in the Adirondacks. I got a very good view of the lynx as it crossed my path and headed down the slope, it had the long tufts of dark hair on it's ears, huge feet, and very short dark tail.

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            • #7
              Lynx Sighting

              Jon and I saw a lynx across a narrow part of the Ausable River, on the West River trail, on our way to Lower Wolf Jaw, on Mother's Day, 1998. We saw him (or her) very clearly - it watched us for a while and then vanished. Very cool.

              Same year as posting above - same general area, too -

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              • #8
                This is a pretty good page.

                The best, the most successful adventurer, is the one having the most fun.

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                • #9
                  Could have been a bobcat, which are increasingly common in the Daks. They look very similar. Both have ear tufts, short tails, and big feet, and are around the same size.


                  He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    When you know the difference ahead of time between a bobcat and a lynx and spot one from the side and behind for about 10 seconds you can clearly tell the difference. Also based on my description of the animal, several lynx 'experts' at the WCS (the lynx search crew) and the AEC (Ray Masters et al.) thought it was very likely a lynx and not a bobcat. Though I'm still working on telling the difference betweeen a moose and a holstein. I think the holstein has tufts of hair on it's ears and a longer tail with a black tip.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by redoak30 View Post
                      Though I'm still working on telling the difference betweeen a moose and a holstein. I think the holstein has tufts of hair on it's ears and a longer tail with a black tip.
                      And it doesn't come when called "Bullwinkle".
                      "If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it." Lyndon B. Johnson

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                      • #12
                        Interesting tidbit about Lynx in the Dacks...

                        By the turn of the century, excessive logging had destroyed the habitat of the Adirondack lynx, amnd the animal had all but vanished from the region. in an effort to save the lynx population, 18 of these animals captured in Yukon territory were set free in 1989 by the Adirondack Wildlife Program in Newcomb. From January to may of the next year, 40 more of the felines were released.

                        From "Adirondack Firsts" by David Cross and Joan Potter published by the Pinto Press, Elizabethtown, NY.
                        Last edited by redhawk; 02-28-2007, 10:50 AM.
                        "If future generations are to remember us with gratitude rather than contempt, we must leave them more than the miracles of technology. We must leave them a glimpse of the world as it was in the beginning, not just after we got through with it." Lyndon B. Johnson

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                        • #13
                          Summer '91 in Carlton, Orleans County NY Just a few miles off the shore of Lake Ontario. Extremely rural area. Was parked behind the firehall (one of my stops) eating lunch in my truck when I saw what looked like a big cat's head sticking up out in the weeds about 40 yards from my truck - It then went below the weeds.
                          I slowly and quietly got out of the truck and walked up the truck trail just about 50-60 feet as it came around a curve. We both stopped and looked at each other for what felt like a minute, in realty, maybe 2 seconds.

                          I didn't know what it was at the time, but I saw those long black tufts on the ears and the tail (when it turned) and thought I have to look this extraordinary thing up, because it shouldn't be here. It turned and quickly darted along the weeds and around the curve - I ran after it but it was gone.
                          I called the DEC Region in Bath that afternoon and described it and they said it might be a bobcat. I looked it up later that day in the local library and new instantly it was not a bobcat, but a Lynx.
                          I again called the DEC and told them what I saw and that it was a lynx - They referred me to someone else at another number - When we finally spoke, he mentioned the lynx project and that a few of them that they tracked had headed West along the lake ....
                          That day is burned in my mind
                          Rick
                          The measure of your ignorance is your belief in tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the universe, the master calls the butterfly...
                          ...unknown...

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                          • #14
                            I would like to point out a good chunk of the money to pay for the lynx restocking came from the NYS Trappers Association.
                            WHo also supplied other assistance.

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                            • #15
                              Just found this track in the Southern Region last week...any thoughts?
                              [ATTACH]5.jpg[/ATTACH]
                              Attached Files
                              Last edited by ceebsonline; 09-16-2014, 08:49 PM.

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