Mountain Lion Fever Comes to New Canaan

Reports that a mountain lion killed a deer in New Canaan are not true, according to .  She said the animal was hit by a car, and eviscerated by foxes and raccoons.

Residents at Old Norwalk Road called at about 1:15 a.m. Friday morning, after being awakened by the sounds of animals fighting, police said. Officers were dispatched, and found the carcass of a buck that Kleinschmidtt said weighed about 150 pounds.

Kleinschmidtt said she was told the homeowners were concerned it was a montain lion, because the sounds of the fight were not familiar to them, and she was asked by police to investigate. She spoke to Patch after returning from the scene. 

“People are thinking about ,” Kleinschmidtt said. DEP officials are working with Greenwich police to locate a large cat that has been identified as a mountain lion, in the vicinity of north King St., near Brunswick School.

Kleinschmidtt said she is not familiar with patterns of behavior of a mountain lion, so she called Chip Stahl, from Animal Wildlife Solutions in Stamford, to help her investigate.

“He said this was definitely not a mountain lion,” Kleinschmidtt told Patch. “A mountain lion would have taken the rear haunches. The only thing that was taken out were the innards. The trapper said this is probably small animals, raccoon and fox.”

Kleinschmidtt said the animal’s injuries were consistent with a run in with an automobile.

“One thing was determined is this animal was hit by a car and it wasn’t a mountain lion,” she said. “It definitely wasn’t a mountain lion.”