Label
Catamount (Puma concolor), 1881
Barnard, Vermont
Gift of Col. John B. Mead, #1960.8
The cougar, mountain lion, puma, or catamount as it’s known in Vermont, was once considered such a threat to livestock that it was hunted to extinction. Today the catamount has become a beloved symbol of Vermont and lives on in art, literature, and popular culture.
Alexander Crowell killed this catamount on Thanksgiving Day, 1881 in Barnard, Vermont. Responding to complaints of a predator eating sheep, a small group of hunters tracked this catamount all day through its tracks in the snow. Crowell first shot the animal in the leg with the shotgun (1968.15) and then used a borrowed rifle to shoot the catamount in the head.
Newspaper reports called the catamount (or panther) the largest ever seen in the state. The “Monster Panther” was preserved and exhibited around the state. Since 1886, the catamount has been on display at the Vermont State House and at the Vermont Historical Society.
Though prevalent in other parts of the continent, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declared the cougar extinct in most of the east. However, sightings of the elusive animal continue. Do you have a catamount story?