Mountain lion killed by car near Bemidgi

[mww24]

saw the pic with the sherriff holding it. that is a large cat my gosh.

[croixflats]

If I remember right that picture was someone from the Sheriff's Dept., not DNR, holding the cougar around his neck.

I apologise for that I didn't look that close my bad.

I know it may not be that big of a deal but to me it just earked me a bit.

[charliepete]

At least this animal was just hit by a car. The cougar that was living near the Old Ferry Bridge in Bloomington was shot alright because of 'fears'. Even though no one had seen it, and they only confirmed it's existence via game cam on a dead deer, they still killed it. In the same area they are paying big bucks for snipers to come in and shoot deer to keep their numbers down. Some things just don't make sense.

[bottom-bouncer]

the one that was shot in bloomington was shot for a very good reason. there are a lot of people using the river bottoms for recreation including my children. they have no place that close to a substantial popultaion of people. and if you think there no big deal why dont you ask the people in missoula MT about there cat problems a few years back when they had them staring in windows watching small children playing. remember these a born killing machines, and also think of the number of attacks across this country by cougars.

[crappieflop30]

something passed in front of my stand sunday morning when it was still dark, think it was a cougar?

[fivebucks]

I agree with bottem-bouncer. I don't get the bit afraid of bears or wolves when in the woods but these cats scare me. Yes they are very pretty animals but they will attack a person way too often. If the population gets much bigger I will be getting a side arm for hiking around. I just don't trust them.

[Harmonica Bear]

Yep - top of the food chain predators. Two things I feel a little uncomfortable around: Big Cats and Grizzly's. I'd much rather cross paths with a wolf then either of those two.

[charliepete]

the one that was shot in bloomington was shot for a very good reason. there are a lot of people using the river bottoms for recreation including my children.

I know that many people use that river bottom, I am one of them. I mountain bike and bowhunt down there on occasion. I guess some people think every wild thing ought to be shot, I'm just not one of them. People will bang a drum to 'get rid of the cougars' even though there's only been 4 fatalities in the US since 2000 from cougar attacks. In 2008 alone there were 23 fatal dog attacks, but I guess we should shoot every cougar that lives within 15 miles of man and leave the dogs alone. I've got a kid myself, but I know that he's in a lot more danger on his bike, or in a car, or playing sports than he ever will be walking through the woods.

[iceman1603]

the one that was shot in bloomington was shot for a very good reason. there are a lot of people using the river bottoms for recreation including my children. they have no place that close to a substantial popultaion of people. and if you think there no big deal why dont you ask the people in missoula MT about there cat problems a few years back when they had them staring in windows watching small children playing. remember these a born killing machines, and also think of the number of attacks across this country by cougars.

I must disagree. I think the human population is growing much faster than the cat population is. Which will increase the amount of sightings and possible conflicts. Seems like every time i drive down the road I see another corn field being turned into someones yard and another wood lot becoming someones new log cabin. Im not a tree hugger by any stretch of the imagination however I do think that the Killing of an animal just becouse it resides in a close proximity to humans is absolutely rediculous. Yes I am aware of the attacks over the last few yrs but I personally cant blame the cats. We have our cities and they have their wilderness.. Just my thoughts.

[paul pachowicz]

Our cats from So Dakota are moving all over the county. Today, a bull moose, from somewhere, wandered in to the Black Hills. It took a dip in Pactola lake and played tag with a Great Dane that was with its owners. A few years ago one (moose) wandered in to a residentail area of Rapid City and quickly dispatched.

[mixxedbagg]

The DNR does not say that mountain lions AREN'T in Minnesota. If I were a biologist, I wouldn't say, "Oh yeah, there is definitely a breeding population" if I had no hard evidence to back that up. Duh. There are specimens of most any legitimate Minnesota animal species, but until now, there were no mountain lion specimens, only stories and a couple of supposed trail cam photos...some much more credible than others. This animal is being DNA tested to see if it can be determined whether or not it was a release.

I think it's crazy to expect the DNR to yell, "Run for your lives, the woods are full of mountain lions!!" because some guy calls in and says something with a long tail ate his dog. If solid evidence becomes available, such as useful DNA results, I would expect that the DNR would have no reason to tell people otherwise.

Personally, I believe there is a small breeding population of lions here, however, I've followed a number of the reports and many of them could potentially be explained by something other than mountain lions and pretty much none of them rule out escapes/releases. It's fun to FemaleDog about the DNR, but they are handling the mountain lion issue properly in my opinion.

[paul pachowicz]

mix, that's the stand that our GF&P took here in SoDak back in the 80's when reports after reports were coming in plus a few road kills. Then, WHAM, the Hills is full of em and they are migrating far and wide and showing up in towns all over the Hills. Then they opened a season on them and increased the number of tags this year, of which get filled pretty quick. If they are seeing road kills and getting sighting reports there are many many more and they are gonna take a toll on the deer population. Too bad it didn't have a collar. I'd be willing to bet a dollar to a donut it migrated from the Hills.

[mixxedbagg]

I hear ya. I'd bet it was a Hills cat myself.

One roadkill cat is a long way from being a threat to the Minnesota deer population! I've personally smashed into 2 deer, so I'm still watching out for them way more than I'm watching for cats.

[knowsnothing]

I was told by my guide in Colorado you look for two things, width of the front paws and black dots in the genital area (when in the tree). The male has a black patch of hair at the tip, so the black dots (butt to tip)are farther apart than a female. I dont recall the exact dimensions for the paws, but I want to say the male was around 4" or wider. Anything under 4" was left alone. They look at the paw width before they even release the dogs. Very protective of the females. I had seen one in the road one night by our place around Mille Lacs. Was told the same thing, they dont exist in Minnesota. I told them I hunt out west and know what the differenct between a big cat and the neighbors tabby.

[BobT]

What does it matter if there's a population here? Their range once included MN until the white man got rid of them. Mountain lions have a home range of nearly 400sq.mi. That's about half the size of MN. With a population as close as the Dakotas, it only makes sense that we would encounter them here once in a while. They don't know where the border is and they don't care.

I know for a fact that there was at least one within 300 yds of my home a couple years ago over Thanksgiving weekend. Watched it outside my bay window and found its tracks the next day.

[primetime49]

seems like every year that a species shows to be out of its geographical area other species also show

Curt R. and family got a lot of pictures of a cougar in their yard the same day and time that cougars were seen 4miles straight east by timber lake

mike G. was watching a bear go in and out of barn at place he resided only 2 miles south of that by games lake gravel pit same yaer

we saw a bear by templers resort same spring but larger by lots of pounds

that same summer a large moose was down at hubert F.by n

big kandi and my brother and sister in law had a differant one wandering around 30 miles to west by Benson same days

so maybe they migrate around at same time period because something turns them to wander

same fall Rick H. got pictures of a fallow deer in his yard -next day that deer was shot and photo in paper as guy killed it 11 miles west of his house

seems these animals are moving at say that 11 miles minumum per day

obviously they go back as the dnr or no-body shoots or destroys them here Kandiyohi county

anybody notice this

these are photographed honest people that have the sightings that gain nothing from having seen these animals

we saw a cow moose in 1982 at Kermit R. kid that was with pulled up on it and it just held ,we walked up as they were eyeing each other in a many minute stare down and told him not to shoot it[it took a lot to talk him out of it] and several of us stood their 10 yards away from him and the moose- same year same weekend we shot a muley 7 miles from it[ moose]-was i mile south of hwy 9 3 miles east of sunburg and we got 4 point [mulie] 7 miles east of their at little norway lake 1 mile south of hwy 9

kinda weird but these seem to be same year odd animal sightings

go wonder or wander

[katoguy]

Mountain lions have a home range of nearly 400sq.mi. That's about half the size of MN.

400 sq miles is only an area of 20 miles by 20 miles. Minnesota is closer to 87,000 sq mi.

There was an alleged sighting of a puma just east of Mankato last Tuesday (Sept 29). The pic was in the local paper, but it was fuzzy.

Cougar reported; DNR official skeptical

Others say they've seen cougars

By Tim Krohn

The Free Press

St. Clair —

Melissa Enter and Nathan Bartell are sure the cat they saw near St. Clair Tuesday was a cougar, even if the photo Enter took is unclear.

A Department of Natural Resources officer is a bit skeptical, having heard of and seen photos of other purported cougars that turned out to be something else.

Enter, a longtime Mankato resident and non-traditional student at MSU, went with classmate Bartell to take photos of St. Clair for a brochure her urban studies class is doing for the town.

They went to the north side of the Le Sueur River near the edge of town to get a photo of the water tower in the background.

“We heard a bunch of birds squawking and saw this cougar walking along the other side on the bank, as calm and cool as could be,” Enter said.

She said she fumbled to get her short lens off the camera and a longer lens on before snapping a quick photo. “I wish I’d of focused on the cougar; the camera focused on the tree in front.”

Enter said they saw the cougar clearly twice before it was obscured by brush. “We got such a good look at it. It just looked at us.”

“There are homes not far from there,” Enter said.

Ken Varland, wildlife manager at the DNR office in New Ulm, was skeptical when he viewed the photo.

“The body seems a bit too short. And there seems to be white up its rear left leg,” Varland said. “It’s hard to judge the size. I can’t tell for sure what it is.”

Enter said she has no doubt, and was shocked to see it here. She said she, her husband and their four children went to Yellowstone this summer. “We didn’t see a cougar out there, and I see one in St. Clair.”

[Dave S]

Although the picture was focused on the tree in the foreground, IMO it's obvious that is a cougar in the background.

[koonie]

Talked to three different people who stated they saw a cougar southwest of granite falls in the past two weeks.

[mrklean]

its probably just a bunch of people running around in cat costumes to mess with people.

[MinDak Hunter]

I'm more worried about my neighbors short-hair than about a cougar.

From the CDC "Each year, 800,000 Americans seek medical attention for dog bites; half of these are children. Of those injured, 386,000 require treatment in an emergency department and about 16 die."

I don't think cougars KILL 16 people a year.

[Brownie77]

You have a better chance of being attacked by a rabid skunk or coon than ever seeing a cougar.

[Fishinguy40]

This should add some fuel to the fire!

Cougar Sigthing In Eagan

I have to add, last weekend my wife and I were coming home late one night (about 3am). As we were coming down Diffley Rd, near Hwy 3,she saw something run across the road. I didn't see it but she asked me if I did. She said it wasn't a deer and definetly not a dog but something she had never seen before. After seeing this on the news this morning she is convinced it was a cougar!

[mixxedbagg]

Seems like everybody has a cougar story! If you believe half of them, you should be terrified to go outside! There must be oodles of them in Minnesota! A couple dozen in every county at least....but only 1 carcass.

Really, I'm sure there are a few here, but c'mon...

[jwmiller33]