SODUS, N.Y. — According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, New York State hasn’t had a confirmed wild cougar population since the late 1800s. But one man in Sodus captured an image on one of his trail cameras near his property that he believes to be a cougar. While the image is blurry, he’s now concerned about the safety of his community.

“Yeah. We have kids all around here, and we have a small community, like, right 300 yards away. And their dens are right here. There’s tons of kids. There’s been ten, ten deer kills in this orchard in the last two months. Eight, eight fawns and two doe. And that’s never happened,” Clifford Mayo said.

Mayo hunts in the Sodus woods. In recent weeks, he’s seen paw prints, and other signs he believes to be a cougar.

“I’ve had footprints that are five inches in diameter. …Yeah, I’m out here every day, and I’ve never had a problem. But now I don’t want to go in the woods,” Mayo said.

Mayo says the DEC came out to investigate.

News10NBC reached out to the DEC for comment. They said in a statement that “after thorough examination, DEC determined the sighting to be a case of mistaken identity. Physical evidence suggests the animal in the area is a coyote,” citing the track size and shape and presence of the claw marks.

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