Bones, cameras give clues of predators in New Canaan

Sightings of a large feline animal, thought to be a cougar, reported as recent as last Thursday begs the question: What animals are roaming in New Canaan’s woods at night?

Both the New Canaan Nature Center and the Land Trust have cameras in the wooded areas of town that have picked up some animal activity recently. Skeletons of the remains of animals that have been eaten by predators and scat, or droppings, may also give residents clues.

“So, I don’t know if it is prowling at night,” Soula Rizo said after she saw what she thought to be a cougar in her backyard recently.

Rizo is one of the four eyewitness reports of the possible cougar Allyson Halm of Animal Control has received near the town’s border recently.

The Land Trust maintains a few motion-activated trail cameras on its properties, but “I have yet to capture a photo of a bear of mountain lion, or even a bobcat,” Executive Director Aaron Lefland said.

The large tan cat — also known as a mountain lion, puma or panther — is native to the Americas, according to the National Wildlife Federation Website. The large cat is not considered native to the state of Connecticut.

“We have seen fox and coyote on wildlife cameras we have set up,” Nature Center Executive Director Bill Flynn said. “We have seen black bear, coyotes, and fox. I do not believe we have resident bear or coyotes on Nature Center property but definitely fox.”

If residents are interested to see the animal night life, they can purchase “a decent wildlife camera for $100 and it is a fun hobby if people are interested in what lives on their property,” Flynn said.

Waveny Park also has cameras.

“I don’t have access to the footage for the cameras at the two gates, so I can’t comment on any sightings via camera recordings,” Director of Recreation Steve Benko said Wednesday.

Benko has not heard of cougar sightings at Waveny Park. “We did have some Coyotes a while ago,” he said. The coyotes are still being monitored by Animal Control.

The remains of animals can give an indication of what predators roam an area.

Cougars eat almost anything “that they can catch, including deer, rabbits, rodents and even insects,” according to the Audubon Nature Institute.

Lefland said he sometimes finds deer skeletons on some of the 70 parcels that the New Canaan Land Trust manages. “Coyote, bobcat and fox are all predators that we’ve co-existed with for some time, with coyote certainly being able to take down deer and smaller prey,” Lefland said. “I’ve always assumed that the remains I come across are the result of one of these predators.”