I thought writing a column on the recent announcement by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) that the Eastern Cougar was extinct would be easy; the cougar was here and now it is not. Simple; 20 minutes and I would be done.Wrong! Aside from the usual confusion over the common name for the same animal (cougar, puma, catamount, mountain lion, etc.), what I did not count on was the disagreement among scientists on species and subspecies names. My initial assumption was that there were three subspecies of cougar in North America: the Eastern Cougar, the Western Cougar and the Florida panther. OK, so usually confusion over species caused by different common names can be alleviated by finding out the scientific name because scientists and taxonomists agree to only one.Going on my assumption of three subspecies in the U.S., I had already determined the Eastern Cougar was Puma concolor couguar from past articles I had written on the subject. And I found that the Florida panther, the only viable though endangered population of cougar east of the Mississippi, was Puma concolor coryi. But what of the Western Cougar? I could not find a specific scientific name for this subspecies anywhere. That is because, I found out later, in some scientific circles there are actually 12 of them (read on to learn more about that!). According to Christopher Spatz, president of the Cougar Rewilding Foundation, “The debate is raging over the taxonomy question. The USFWS uses taxonomy established in 1946 by S.P. Young and E.A. Goldman that lists at least 15 subspecies of cougar in North America. One of those was Felis concolor couguar — the Eastern Cougar. Since then, a change in the genus name from Felis to Puma has been widely accepted and the Eastern Cougar has been referred to as Puma concolor couguar.”However, in 2000, a study by Melanie Culver and others concluded that all the cougars north of Central America are indeed one genetic subspecies, Puma concolor couguar. They apparently recolonized the continent after they were wiped out near the end of the last Ice Age. According to Winston Vickers, a cougar specialist in California referred to me by Pete DeSimone who works for Audubon there, “the Culver analysis seems to be the most widely accepted view at the moment, but future genetic work may parse this further.”If this is true, then there would be no separate cougar in the east to declare extinct. The correct designation would be that the one subspecies in North America would be extirpated in the easternmost part of its range, except for the population in Florida; and it would be doing fine in the westernmost part of its range.I contacted Mark McCollough, Ph.D., who is an endangered species specialist at USFWS. He saidthe bottom line is that there are 15 subspecies of cougar in North America as identified by Young and Goldman in 1945. The Eastern Cougar (Puma concolor couguar) and Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) are two of the subspecies. They are listed in the Endangered Species Act as subspecies (not species). He said that not all cougar biologists agree with the Culver study, which maintains that there is only one cougar in North America. And until a full taxonomic review is completed, the USFWS is still accepting the 15 subspecies and delisting the Eastern Cougar subspecies. He sent me a copy of the review the USFWS conducted on the Eastern Cougar that was the basis for declaring the animal extinct. It includes a lot of information about the subspecies issue. And so the debate on mountain lions or cougars or pumas continues, not only here locally, but among scientists, at least about its name.It is still generally accepted that wild populations of cougars do not exist in our area. Any individuals that may have been seen were probably escaped pets. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have wildcats in our area. The bobcat is alive and well. If you are lucky, you will see one. They are shy but beautiful — and perhaps bigger than you think.For more information about the USFWS decision to declare the Eastern Cougar extinct, visit their website at fws.gov/northeast/ecougar/. Scott Heth is the director of Audubon Sharon and can be reached at sheth@audubon.org, (subject line: Nature Notes).
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Greg Fricke and James Boehmer, co-owners of Peggy Mercury in Kent, recently launched their first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts.”
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Fricke and Boehmer are not there to stock their shelves with the same products customers find at standard makeup retailers. They’re there to help customers find what works for them. That usually means asking customers about themselves and learning about their beauty habits, skin, style and the way they like to present themselves. Fricke and Boehmer believe it’s their job to help customers bring out the qualities that suit them and determine what works best for their look.
So much of the Peggy Mercury world is about emboldening people to become more creative, and possibly bolder, versions of themselves. Some of this comes through the store’s creative collaborations with artists, designers and stylists.
It’s part of an ethos that encourages them and their friends to use the shop as a kind of laboratory, trying out new creative experiments without knowing how they might turn out. Whether in fashion, painting, fiber arts or photography, the projects almost always turn out marvelously.
A line of sterling silver charms they sell started as a small project by their friend Nolan Percival. In the beginning, the pieces were for close friends and loved ones. But Boehmer and Fricke encouraged Percival to get a little more serious about the project and create a whole line for the store. Today, it’s one of their top-selling collections.
Classic styles, bold colors, and creative concerts make up the “Imaginary Concerts” line at Peggy Mercury.Provided
“Imaginary Concerts” has the duo taking their own advice.
The project started as a way for Boehmer to connect with his mother, who had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Taking old concert shirts from his own collection, Boehmer and his mother began cutting out the graphics with the idea that they would make a quilt together. Unfortunately, she died before they could complete the project in 2025. The pieces, which were ready for production, were put on the back burner as Boehmer and Fricke dealt with their loss and the whirlwind of projects that never seemed to cease at Peggy Mercury.
But the harsh winter of 2026 presented an opportunity to take some time and focus on themselves. Part of that meant revisiting and redefining the concert T-shirt project. This time, instead of looking to the warmth and comfort of a quilt, they turned to another passion — fashion.
Taking a page from their own book, they wanted to create something that felt comfortable to them. They took two disparate loves — one rooted in simple preppy style, with clean lines and classic silhouettes, and the other in the nitty gritty worlds of punk rock and pop — and blended them together to create something entirely new. Pulling from the staples of vintage Brooks Brothers and Charvet collections, they applied the graphic elements with bold stitching reminiscent of punk jackets of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but with a much more sophisticated air.
But the remixing isn’t just the pairing of prep and punk. The pieces are not canon. They take liberties with the realities of concert tours, combining one band’s dates with another band’s logos, mixing them all up until the reality is lost and imagination is the only truth.
Shirts from Peggy Mercury’s first fashion line, “Imaginary Concerts,” hang on display.Provided
Adding to the mix is an element of perpetual creativity. Art can be messy, both figuratively and literally, and many of Fricke and Boehmer’s artist friends carry evidence of their work on them at all times. As a nod to these tireless creatives, the duo added haphazard splashes of bright color, giving the line an even more distinctive feel.
For them, “Imaginary Concerts” passes the “Peggy Test.” The mythical Peggy Mercury is a fictional figurehead for the company, a character who thrives on creativity and change. The name, much like the clothing line, is a mixture of interests: Mercury is a planet, a deity and an elusive, transformative element, while Peggy is the wonderfully stylish and boundary-pushing Peggy Guggenheim.
Everything Fricke and Boehmer put in their store has to pass this test: Would Peggy Mercury approve? For their first collection, the answer is a resounding yes.
Peggy Mercury is at 9 Maple St., Unit 2, Kent.
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