Cougars

Montana / Cougar stalking deer

Minnesota cougar

April 14, 2009 | 9 comments

Should You Run or Freeze When You See a Mountain Lion?

New study disputes conventional wisdom to stay put or risk triggering lion's instinct to pursue

Veteran campers and hikers know the drill, especially those in areas where mountain lions roam. And anyone who doesn't need only consult the Web site of the California Department of Fish and Game for the best tack to take if he or she happens upon a big cat while communing with nature: "Do not run from a lion," the site advises, warning that "running may stimulate a mountain lion's instinct to chase. Instead, stand and face the animal."

But is it really safer to stay put than flee? Click here to read more.

Cougars Coast to Coast

As closed seasons in the West put joggers and kids on the mountain lion's menu, in the East the big cats are showing up where they haven't been seen for 150 years.

Article by Frank Miniter. Uploaded on September 18, 2007

A cougar turned up in downtown Omaha. How it got there is anybody's guess. A cougar was killed by a car in Indiana. Must have been an escaped pet, authorities said. A train hit a cougar in Illinois. It had a stomach full of deer meat. An Iowa farmer shot a cougar prowling around his soybeans. Unlike most pets, it had all its claws and teeth. A deer hunter in Arkansas found a picture of a cougar on his trail camera. Just 10 miles from Minneapolis, another trail camera photographed a cougar eating a deer. A DNA analysis of scat samples found in Michigan determined they were from cougar..... More.

Associated Press - May 6, 2009 1:53 AM ET / Corrected Version

LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. (AP) - "My dog saved our lives," is the way a California hiker puts it after a run in he and his wife had with a mountain lion.

William Morse and his wife were hiking near a campground in the Cleveland National Forest Tuesday when the 120-pound mountain lion attacked. Hoagie, their 5-year-old black Labrador mix, fiercely fought it off in a confrontation that Morse figures lasted only a few seconds.

The dog suffered deep wounds and needed four hours of surgery but is expected to survive. Morse tells a Los Angeles TV station (KABC) he thinks the lion was hurt, too.

Deputies and forest rangers haven't found the mountain lion but plan to destroy it if they do. As for Morse, he plans to stay out of the area for good.

Updated: 04/27/2009 /Valley Times

Pleasanton officials warn of mountain lion sightings

By Robert Jordan

Pleasanton (CA)— It is not the typical mountain lion track. The toe and heel pad usually left in mud or dirt have been replaced by chalk and asphalt in the Mohr-Martin neighborhood on the east side of town.

White chalk writing "Mountain Lion Sighting Here" with an arrow pointing toward the grassy area just east of Martin Avenue is the only trace residents have of the wildcat or cats that have been dwelling in their neighborhood.

Pleasanton police have received three sighting calls in the past two weeks of a mountain lion near the quarry.... More.

Michigan Cougars - Forum Discussion

The above photos were emailed to me. The email read:

A friend of mine sent these pictures to me that were taken near Gooseneck Lake...
...I thought you find them "interesting."

As amazing as these photos are, they were NOT taken in Michigan.

Mountain Lions Feast On Deer Kill

Photo Gallery by Outdoor Life Online Editor. Uploaded on November 18, 2008

The True Story on the Cougar Picture above.

The photos are real....the location is NOT.

November 23, 2008 / David Hendee: Ft. Calhoun lion hoax lives online

This is one of several photos on the e-mail circuit claiming to show mountain lions eating a deer carcass near Fort Calhoun. The pictures actually are from South Dakota.

Born-again hoaxes apparently live forever on the Internet.

The latest reincarnation is circulating with the speed of a cougar around Omaha.

It's a series of photographs from a bow hunter's trail camera purporting to show a trio of mountain lions feasting on the carcass of a deer across Omaha's northern horizon at Fort Calhoun.

The big cats are real. The deer carcass is real. The location is bogus.

The photo actually originated from a trail camera - devices placed by hunters and others on trees or posts to photograph whatever walks by - in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota.

Not far from Nebraska, but a long way from Fort Calhoun.

Stephanie Ludwig and Melissa Rice of the Washington County Pilot-Tribune in Blair, Neb., reported Monday the photos were a hoax. Still, the phony tale lives on in e-mail inboxes.

Dick Newsome, who lives in the Ponca Hills area on Omaha's northern edge, told The World-Herald it's easy to understand why the hoax has legs.

There have been several reported sightings of mountain lions around Omaha in months and years.

Railroad workers near Blair said a mountain lion trapped them atop a railcar earlier this month. A Ponca Hills man watched a mountain lion eating acorns and apples outside his house in mid-October.

A mushroom hunter saw a mountain lion near a deer carcass near Verdel in northeast Nebraska in May. He later set up a trail camera and got photos of the cougar. It was the first confirmed sighting of a mountain lion in Nebraska since 2004.

"I received the e-mail from somebody in Fort Calhoun, and I thought it was legit," Newsome said. "Neighbors have seen them, and the woods here are full of critters."

Newsome is cautious.

"As long as they're well fed on deer, they don't appear to be bothering people or pets," he said. "But they're natural hunters. If a cat's stalking you, you'll never see it or hear it until it's too late."

 Click here for cougar sightings that are being logged.

State, experts split on cougar question

By Dawson Bell • GANNETT NEWS SERVICE • February 2, 2009

LANSING — "The long-running effort to force the Department of Natural Resources to recognize the presence of a wild cougar population in Michigan arrived at the state Legislature on Thursday when a Senate committee took testimony from a dozen witnesses and experts who said the animals’ existence is indisputable.

Cougars have been seen by hundreds of people in Michigan over the last 25 years, filmed and photographed, their tracks and droppings confirmed by scientists and attacks on livestock documented, the witnesses said..." Click here to read more.

DNR needs to acknowledge we have cougars

Agency must start to do research

BY ERIC SHARP • FREE PRESS OUTDOORS WRITER • February 1, 2009

GRAYLING -- "...He wants to know why the Department of Natural Resources won't acknowledge that there seems to be a breeding population of cougars, and why the agency won't live up to its mandate under the state Endangered Species Act to study and try to protect them.

"There's a lot of speculation going on (about the DNR's attitude on cougars), but somehow I think it involves money," Van Woerkom said. "I think they are worried that it would mean shifting resources from one program to another."

After hearing from witnesses who ranged from scientists to veterinarians to regular folks, Van Woerkom said every member of his committee is convinced that these people didn't see dogs or house cats but saw real cougars that in some cases had to be breeding...."

Why the DNR Continues to Deny Michigan's Cougars by Denise Massey, Founder, MCCR

Cougar debate hits Mich. state senate

Committee hears testimony on wild cat population

By Randy Conat -- LANSING (WJRT) -- 01/29/09

"Some state legislators want the Department of Natural Resources to admit there are cougars in Lower Michigan.

A state Senate committee got an earful today from several who have seen the big cats.

DNR biologists say there's no evidence of an established cougar population in Michigan, although they admit a few may pass through Upper Peninsula on occasion. But that's not the case, according to testimony before the Senate Agriculture Committee today. Eyewitnesses discussed several sightings in southern Michigan, including one in northeastern Lapeer County..."

Click here to read more.

Cougars? Experts say there's no evidence,

but mid-Michigan man is sure he saw one

By GREG NELSON - Sun Staff Writer - Jan. 10, 2009

"During the past few months, a number of residents say they have seen cougars roaming throughout mid-Michigan.

Are the sightings real or a hoax? Are people who claim they saw a cougar simply mistaking some other species from the cat family? Is there documented proof such animals are living right here?...." Click here to read more.

* Probable Cougar Tracks found in Delta County Michigan

http://outdoornewsdaily.com/index.php/archives/4219

* DNR confirms cougar track

http://www.dailypress.net/page/content.detail/id/502100.html?nav=5003

* Michigan Cougar Conspiracy

http://www.cryptomundo.com/bigfoot-report/mi-cougar/

* Local Women Attend Cougar Tracking Seminar (2003)

* Mountain lions on the prowl once again (Michigan and other states) (11-04)

* Cougar Sightings in Michigan

http://www.savethecougar.org/

http://savethecougar.org/cougartalk/viewforum.php?f=8

* Another Horse Attacked by Cougar in Michigan