Dan's Papers -November 21, 2008 - Animal Hampton - Interesting Doings in the Fabulous Hamptons This Past Week

At about 11 p.m. last Saturday night, two horses and three goats were seen by a passing motorist clip clopping along on the side of Montauk Highway near the Laundry Restaurant at the corner of Spring Close Highway in East Hampton. The motorist, Chris Chapin, dialed 911 on his cell phone, and pretty soon the police showed up and tried to round them up as best they could. The herd seemed to be following the lead of a small pony, who seemed very disinclined to be rounded up at that hour.

At one point, the police had the highway shut down in both directions. At another point, there were five police cars and a bunch of floodlights lighting things up. People in the area who came out to see what was going on were of the opinion that the fivesome were probably among the residents of the nearby Spring Close Farm.

The owners of the farm, which is north of the railroad tracks on Spring Close Highway, were called about the goings on just after midnight. The call rousted them out of bed.

"The latch must have come open on the gate," Pam Glennon said. "We never got dressed so fast."

She and her husband rushed to the scene.

Finally, at about 12:30, the five animals went behind the restaurant and seemed to think that nobody would see them there. The Glennons lured the pony out with carrots, and the other horse and the three goats came along. By this time, the Glennons, who had armed themselves with bridles, bits and ropes, lassoed the animals and led them back home.

Up on the North Fork for the past few weeks, there has been an occasional appearance of what witnesses say is a mountain lion. He was first seen in mid-October in the backyard of a home on Waterview Drive in Southold, by a woman named Marissa Romeo. Romeo didn't say anything to anybody about it at the time because she thought nobody would believe her. But the next day, she saw the mountain lion around dinnertime basking in the sun in a neighbor's driveway. It was quite nearby to a deer, but paid little attention to it.

Romeo called the police, but by the time she got back from the phone, the lion was gone.

The mountain lion was next seen on Waterview Drive south of Goose Creek by the owner of a store in Greenport who asked reporters that they use only his first name, John, because he didn't want people to think he was out for publicity for his store or something. He said the creature was definitely a very large cat, light tan, about five feet long with a swishy tail that went on for about a foot and a half beyond that.

Police asked if he was sure it was a mountain lion and he said he was a hunter and, though he had never encountered a mountain lion, he had seen pictures of them.

"This was one," he said. "I know what I saw."

The police contacted Gillian Wood-Pultz, who runs the North Fork Animal Welfare League Shelter, who set a trap for it in a wooded section of property near Goose Creek, but so far it has not caught any mountain lion.

"It's captured a couple of raccoons," said Denise, who is John's wife.

"The trap is not large enough for what I saw," said John.

But Wood-Pultz said that she used the biggest trap that she had.

In answer to repeated questions from people in the community, the police in Southold have distributed an advisory, which tells you to call them if you see the lion, and whatever you do if you see it, do not run away from it.

"A big cat like that loves a chase," the advisory says. "Just stand there facing the lion if you see him, and raise your arms high over your head so you look bigger. If the lion does not leave immediately, talk to him in a way that you would talk to a house cat. If it becomes aggressive, throw rocks or sticks at it. Mountain lions rarely attack humans."

The chief of the Southold Town Police said that in the event the mountain lion is again seen, they will respond by inviting a veterinarian from the Sears-Bellows Wildlife Center in Hampton Bays to come and shoot it with a tranquilizer gun.

"We will not kill it unless it attacks a human," said Cochran.

By the time the Wildlife people get there, John said, the mountain lion will be long gone.

Mountain lions, which are not native to this area, grow to about 140 pounds, can be as long as seven feet (not including the tail), can leap 15 feet up off the ground and 40 feet sideways. They can run 45 miles an hour.

Mountain lions feed on deer and other large animals, of which there are plenty here on the East End, so it's possible that mountain lions could survive quite well here.

Mountain lions hunt mostly at night and sleep during the day. They can emit growls, purrs, chirps, peeps, whistles and screams.

Mountain lions often take their prey up a tree, where they hang it on branches to sort of, well, season it. They will come back to feed on it from time to time, and will defend the tree from others.

So, if you see a deer up a tree, just keep walking.

Finally, in Sagaponack, work is underway to renovate the old barn at 3175 Montauk Highway, which is scheduled to be recreated as the Sagaponack Village Hall.

In beginning the work, however, workmen have found the building to be infested with rats. Following an odd smell and then tearing some boards out of a wall, they uncovered the nest, which is made of a collection of old scraps and pieces of fuzz and cotton collected from around the area. The nest was filled with the remains of food that apparently came from a compost pile. The rats were having a fine old time. The bits and pieces of food included lobster, clams, ribs and fish bones. There was also the fully preserved carcass of a dead mouse in the wall.

All of this is being removed. And the workmen promise that the Village Hall will be totally free of rats, the non-human kind, when it opens for business next summer.