From The Pencil: A Mountain Lion Breaks Cover In Connecticut

The mountain lion killed by a car on the Merritt Parkway in June has been identified as a wild animal from South Dakota, who traveled across the northern U.S. to Milford. The Middletown Press ran an article about this finding in yesterday's paper.

Many of those who like to contribute to the Comments section of the local papers are sure that there are many mountain lions in our state. Some of them "know" that they are here naturally but the State is engaged in a massive cover-up. Others "know" that they are here because the state actually released them. Here's a comment from the Press story:

It is alleged by some trusted folks I know that the state of Connecticut released no less than 100 mountain lions some years ago to control game getting out of control in numbers. One lady in Thompson says she saw the release of one lion some years ago on her property. She was told to "keep this under your hat". The state denies this fact because it probably has a liability situation with release of such valuable killers like fisher cats and the mountain lion. Our state lie to us? Bite your tongues, ye of little faith.

A local artist sent in the following: