DNR hunting for cougar

[furfool]

Ever notice how bigfoot is always denied too? The DNR says that we don’t have a moose population too. We only have visiting moose from the UP and Minnesota. Try telling that to the locals up near Drummond. Especially the ones that took pictures of cows with calves.

[Team B Squared]

The Michigan DNR recently acknowledged a cougar print up here about 5 miles from my house. Of course they will not acknowledge that there is a breeding population in Michigan, just saying that it must have migrated from the Dakotas.

DNR Confirms cougar track in Delta County

And a follow up to that article.

DNR: No New Cougar Sightings

Both articles were printed in March 2008 in the Escanaba Daily Press.

[furfool]

I thought the Michigan DNR finally admitted to a cougar population about a year or so ago. I remember reading about them testing fur and scat found up around L. Superior that confirmed that it wasn’t from a “pet” lion. Apparantly they can tell from dna testing if it is a native or an import (pet). The pets are brought up from Central and South America.

[hogrod]

Looks like the cougar from Milton may have been killed in Chicago….

http://www.gazettextra.com/news/2008/apr/15/dnr-dead-cougar-chicago-could-be-milton-area-cat/

[furfool]

That’s too bad.

[greyhounder]

That’s so sad…

😥

Bec

[MikeB]

Saw that on the news — apparently the cat was walking around Roscoe Village, a very densely populated part of the city on the NW side. If there are any big-cat experts in the house, I would like your opinion. I have my own but not necessarily the best informed.

Ideally, they would have darted the bugger and moved him “up north”. I suspect that noone wanted to deal with a cougar in their backyard. Worse, if he had become accustomed to an urban setting, he would have just moved back to another city or town.

Somehow I suspect that this is another cat. It is a LONG way from Rock County to Chicago. My guess is that this guy has been hanging out in the Cook County Forest Preserves along the DesPlaines River. Maybe migrating along the Illinois/Desplaines River from the south and west

The beast weighed 150 pounds, so clearly it hadn’t missed too many meals. Solitary predatars like cougars probably wouldn’t attack an adult –we are too big a risk, but small children and pets indeed would have been on the menu.

[smonday]

I just moved to G/B this last fall from lower Michigan. There were reports of lions as far south as Muskegon. There were also reports of deer carcases found 20′ up in trees in the north central part of the L/P. So, I figure if there that far south of the upper penn. then they’ve got to be in most of Wisconsin. The MDNR denied all reports of lions in the state then too!

[furfool]

It was confirmed yesterday that the cougar shot by police in Chicago, was in deed the same cat that was seen in Wisconsin.

[MikeB]

@furfool wrote:

It was confirmed yesterday that the cougar shot by police in Chicago, was in deed the same cat that was seen in Wisconsin.

Wonder how they figgered that one out? Maybe the tell-tale cheese stuck between his teeth…or the “Number 4” poodle sweater in his gut. 😯

[greyhounder]

They had DNA from the cat when it was in Wisconsin (not sure what, probably hair) and were able to compare it to DNA from the dead cougar.

This whole thing just makes me upset. Why not catch the animal before shooting it?

Bec

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

I have a close friend who is a cameraman for a local news station who was there to film this cats “capture”. A lot of the footage you see of the incident on TV is his.

From his description of the events, the police and area residents were fearful for their lives. So, it’s no surprise that they killed the cat, rather than darting it.

However, in all I’ve heard on the day’s events, I never once heard mention that any animal control was even involved, or that tranquilizing the cat was ever even considered.

The cat was no doubt traveling to find a mate, but wound up dead instead.

sad.

[grandpa_r]

http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/mammals/cougar/sightings.htm

2011 Observations

Trail cams catch cougar in northern Wisconsin and Michigan

[The Crippler]

You don’t need trail cams to spot cougars down here, Just need to head to the local watering hole on a Friday night.

[Trekkin and Birdin]

There was a trailcam photo of a confirmend cougar sighting two miles north of Mauston on Sunday. Locals have been losing animals to one for a couple years, apparently.

[Author]

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