Last Sunday, I got a call from a man in West Chazy who raises cattle.

He had found two dead heifers and another one missing. Both appeared to have died mysteriously with their throats partially eaten. One was badly decomposed.

We discussed the possibilities: Coyotes were unlikely, because they hamstring their larger prey; a bobcat was probably too small an attacker; or it could be the work of a bear, which is capable of such an attack, albeit a rare one.

I also mentioned cows dying mysteriously in Champlain more than a decade ago, with a rogue dog, ultimately killed, thought to be the culprit, but that was never proven.

I did say "mountain lion" once, questioning the likelihood of a big cat, if there was one around, killing a cow, leaving it and then going on to another area. It was just too improbable, even though there had been sightings of a mountain lion in the Lake Alice area years ago roughly a half a mile away. These sightings stopped after a month or two. I asked him to keep me updated.

The next morning, I got an e-mail about the cow's death from another person living in that general area. It stated, "When the owner (of the cow) called DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation), they finally admitted they had turned at least one (mountain lion) loose in that area."

It was then I realized things had snowballed beyond the rumor stage, knowing that the implication the DEC could reintroduce an animal such as a mountain lion under the cloak of secrecy was impossible for many reasons.

First, in order to introduce from elsewhere to stock in New York or to bolster a species in trouble, DEC must by State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) requirement do a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) with a public comment period. This would include publicized public hearings, revision of the proposal based on public comment and environmental studies. Then, DEC would publish their findings in a final EIS, and after that have to get the DEC commissioner to okay the proposal.

For example, back in the early 1990s when some people proposed bringing in more moose to bolster our small, seemingly stagnant population, DEC had to follow the SEQR process. I covered the public input stage here in northern New York; people spoke out and there were letters sent to the Press-Republican, pro and con.

When all was said and done, though input suggested the public supported such a move, it was not an overwhelming support, and then DEC Commissioner Thomas Jorling killed the proposal.

The lynx reintroduction attempt in the late 1980s by SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, a failure, though not state initiated, still had extensive media scrutiny and no mountain lions were involved with this project. In fact, the much smaller lynx has a different food base (snowshoe rabbits) than the mountain lion.

Can you imagine such a process if mountain lion reintroduction was proposed now, especially with DEC funding running close to empty and job position cuts a reality?

Of course, I have always contended, in a state like New York it is possible for a person or group from, say, Long Island to get a mountain lion from Florida illegally, and after the reality of taking care of a full-grown cat becomes apparent, dump it somewhere like the great open spaces of northern New York.

But even that still poses many questions: What happens to the cat? Do the mysterious big animal kills continue? And where is the physical evidence beyond visual sightings like tracks, droppings, hair or even a fresh kill where DNA could be extracted and tested?

I do believe that there are things out there that we may not have immediate answers for, but in the West Chazy case, at this stage, the evidence for a mountain lion as the killer is not there.

Field Notes
In response to last week's coyote-wolf article, Paul Koehler from Malone suggested this hybrid be called a "couolf," admitting it was not a "sexy or catchy" name, but it would be as accurate as any out there at this stage.

Does anyone have any other suggestions?