You may have heard the phrase 'making a mountain out of a molehill', but in Harford County, they are making a mountain lion out of a house cat.
A video taken by James Anders spread around social media shows a large animal walking in a field, and many commented on the video saying that it was a mountain lion.
The Susquehannock Wildlife Society also commented on the video in hopes of clearing things up.
What was that strange animal seen in Fallston!? A mountain lion? A bear? A bobcat maybe? We had had a few of you reach out for our input and we saw the video which is now widely circulating around the internet so we felt it was our duty to take a scientific approach to solve the question of what this interesting animal might be.
They continued to say that the tail was too long for it to be a bobcat or black bear, which are native to Harford County. From the shape and movement of the animal they were able to identify it as in the feline family, but say it is much smaller than a cougar or mountain lion would be.
After doing their own research and talking to neighbors, the wildlife society says that the animal is just a large house cat that roams the fields on a daily basis.
So before you go jumping to conclusions that there is a mountain lion roaming in Harford County, the Susquehannock Wildlife Society says to check your evidence and listen to the professionals.
Our concern is the amount of fear and misinformation that is quickly spread these days. While western cougars do occasionally wander to the east, they are incredibly rare outside of their established range. No government agency has introduced any predators in Maryland to control deer populations, despite a widely cited myth. Even if one does one day show up in our area (all recent reports we have heard of are unconfirmed with no credible evidence) almost half of the country lives alongside cougars, even in very densely populated areas like Los Angeles, with attacks being incredibly rare. The lesson here is not to jump to conclusions, to seek out and listen to experts, and only accept reports with sound evidence.
