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Historically, Native Americans took on the identity of wild animals to increase their personal power and ability. Today, this practice is continued by college football teams like those at Penn State University. Until the 1880s, mountain lions roamed Central Pennsylvania including a large mountain near State College called Nittany from the Algonquin word meaning "single mountain." In 1904, Penn State adopted the Nittany Lion as its mascot to overcome another big cat, Princeton University's Bengal Tiger. Today, mountain lions are gone from Central Pennsylvania. But perhaps they will return again…outside the football stadium.
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All text and images courtesy of Watershed
Radio. More information can be found on their website.
Nittany Lion
The nittany lion is a mountain lion, or cougar, puma, panther, or
Felis concolor, whatever you would like to call it. Although there
are still reports of people seeing a mountain lion in Pennsylvania,
most of these sightings are unconfirmed or concern escaped animals.
There is no proof of a breeding population of mountain lions in this
area.
The last known Pennsylvania mountain lion was killed in 1856 in Susquehanna
County. This particular mountain lion was mounted and preserved, and
the 147-year-old specimen is currently at Penn State University, serving
as the real-life counterpart to the University's nittany lion mascot.
Although vanished from the eastern United States, mountain lions still
inhabit the western half of North America, and there also is a small
population in Florida. Mountain lions are top predators within an
ecosystem, and they help to balance wildlife populations. Deer are
their primary food source, but their diet can also include other animals
like rodents, birds, fish, porcupines, raccoons, as well as livestock
and other domestic animals.
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LINKS
About Penn State's mountain lion
Penn State University — What
is a Nittany Lion? More about the history of the University mascot
and the meaning of the word Nittany. You can also hear the Nittany
Lion roar!
For more information and to see a picture of Penn State's mounted
mountain lion, visit Penn State's Digital
Collegian, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 1996.
About mountain lions
"Is that a mountain lion in your backyard?" Article by Gordon
Grice in Discover, June 2001, pp. 59-65.
The
mountain lion. Information from Desert USA.
For more information about mountain lions and also safety tips when
hiking in mountain lion territory, visit the
Mountain Lion Foundation-protecting California's wildlife and
read their FAQs
to find an answer to many of your questions.
The
mountain lion. Information from the Animal Diversity Web.
Mammals
of Pennsylvania — Mountain Lion also includes a reference
to a detailed account of the decline of the mountain lion in Pennsylvania.
About Nittany Mountain
Nittany Mountain is located in the Spring
Creek watershed. The Spring Creek watershed community has a map
of the area on their website.
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