First ever recorded treed cougar in MN

[BobT]

I hope I can post this. If anyone is interested visit facebook and look up the name David Larson from Osakis. If you scroll down through his page you should find a short video he took on Jan 23rd of a cougar his dogs treed while coyote hunting. The DNR came out afterwards to verify it by comparing the video with the trees and scenery in the area Dave marked with his GPS. They said it is the first ever recorded video of a cougar treed in MN.

Dave is my neighbor and lives about 3 miles from me. The location where the footage was shot was a couple miles south of I-94 south of Osakis, MN about 6 miles from my home.

[hoppe56307]

fyi, you will need to be a friend of his in order to see the video.

[BobT]

Oh, okay. I'm not that familiar with how FB works. Maybe I can post it. I'll have to read up how to do that. In the mean time, here are some photos.

[mrklean]

very cool

[hockeybc69]

Finally some hard proof of a cougar, rather than "my buddies cousins dads sons stepdad saw one".

But is it really in MN???

[FishinFools]

Beautiful animal. Why so hard to believe it's in MN? I hear reports of sightings in the MN River valley occasionally. And didn't the Bloomington PD shoot one a few years ago? Neat to get it on video, tho!

[Juneau4]

Finally some hard proof of a cougar, rather than "my buddies cousins dads sons stepdad saw one".

But is it really in MN???

One shot by Round Lake Mn. a couple years ago by the Iowa border.

[nonteepical]

Funny the CO didn't ticket him for running cougars with his dogs

[DTro]

Did he happen to upload the video to YouTube or other hosting service other than FaceBook.

I'd love to see it!

[rkhinrichs]

FishinFools- yes Im from the bloomington area when they shot the cougar. I know that its pretty hush hush. to be honest... after you said bloomington PD i remember the story. but it slips my memory where and when.

[rkhinrichs]

here it is

[Dave S]

FishinFools- yes Im from the bloomington area when they shot the cougar. I know that its pretty hush hush. to be honest... after you said bloomington PD i remember the story. but it slips my memory where and when.

I saw what I believe was the same cat by Belle Plaine a few weeks prior to it being shot in Bloomington. I also think it might be the same cat that was caught on a trail cam behind Cargill in Savage.

I know DTro posted a copy of the story a while back.

[Dave S]

here it is

© Copyright 2002, St Paul Pioneer Press. All Rights Reserved.

Bloomington police shot and killed a 100-pound mountain lion Thursday evening after walkers on a popular trail came face-to-face with the snarling animal.

Police were called at about 8:30 p.m. to the area near 112th and Queen Avenue near Nine Mile Creek, where officers saw the cougar lying in underbrush just off the trail, said Jim Ryan, a patrol commander for the Bloomington Police.

"They threw some sticks and things at it," Ryan said, trying to scare it off, "but it still doesn't take off."

The cat's standoffish attitude in a populated area prompted the officers to shoot it, Ryan said. They shot from about 30 yards away using a .223-caliber rifle.

Thursday's incident took place about 1½ miles from a spot south of the Minnesota River in Savage where a Cargill employee took several photos of a mountain lion in early April.

Since 1999, Ryan said, Bloomington police have responded to about 10 mountain lion sightings. "We don't run out and shoot every cougar that we see," Ryan said. "What made this unique was the inaction by the cougar."

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources picked up the animal for testing on Friday and transferred it to the University of Minnesota. Tests will be done to determine its age and health. A cursory exam by DNR personnel on Friday showed no obvious signs that the cat had been in captivity, said Ed Boggess, manager of the DNR's wildlife resources division.

The cat sported a full set of claws and still had its large canine teeth — things that private owners sometimes have removed.

Bill Berg, a retired DNR specialist on predators, said the researchers would likely analyze the animal's stomach and fecal contents to see what it was eating. He added that he never heard of a cougar being shot in the Twin Cities area during his 30-year career. But he received 40 to 60 credible reports of cougar sightings statewide each year, he said.

The Bloomington neighborhood where the cat was shot sits above Nine Mile Creek and the north side of the Minnesota River Valley. Cougars can swim and the Minnesota River wouldn't have been an obstacle if it were the same cougar spotted in Savage in April, Berg said.

Other Bloomington residents who live along the Minnesota River say the cougar had been in the area for at least a couple of weeks.

On Monday night, Chris Fuller, who lives on the river bluffs five blocks south of the Mall of America, said he heard what he believes was a cougar killing a raccoon. The next morning Karen Fuller saw the cougar in their back yard from 15 feet away.

She thinks the cat started making its appearances near their home a couple of weeks ago after she accidentally burned a pork loin. "I threw it off the deck, figuring some raccoons would get it. I think the next morning the cougar was here."

The cougar sighting is one more sign of the wilderness that remains in the Minnesota River Valley even as it cuts through the metro area. In the last year the Fullers have seen a bear, wild turkeys, a red fox — and now a cougar — in their yard. "We keep the camcorder handy all the time," Karen Fuller said, although they didn't capture the cougar on tape.

Berg said he's reluctant to pass judgment on the way Bloomington police handled the cougar Thursday night.

Tranquilizing a cougar isn't always a quick fix either, he said. In the early 1980s a 150-pound cougar was tranquilized near Worthington. "We didn't really know what to do with it. We didn't want to re-release it in the state because of liability problems," he said. After the cat had boarded for a couple of months at a game facility, the state of Colorado reluctantly agreed to take it.

"We didn't do that cat any favor because once it's in a strange area," Berg said, "another cougar will come and kill it."

[countyline]

Funny the CO didn't ticket him for running cougars with his dogs

It's like catching a bass in April while pan fishing. Except you can take a picture.

[BobT]

Did he happen to upload the video to YouTube or other hosting service other than FaceBook.

I'd love to see it!

I did a quick search and didn't find anything. What I am willing to do if it can be allowed from here, is offer to friend anyone interested in viewing it on my FB page. Just shoot me an email. It's only a 45 second video but it's kind of cool.

[CodyDawg]

This is believed to be the same cat that was in the Alexandria paper last fall...with a trail cam video on the Echo Press HSOforum. That happened very close to where it was treed recently. My cousin's farm is between the 2 spots.

[harvey lee]

2 winters ago in Arlington a cougar was spotted by many citizens. The area CO came out and yep, he even saw it.

They are out there, many would have to see it themselves to believe it.

No reason cats cannot be in our area, they seem to be moving from the west to the east more and more.

[Gordie]

They have been spotted up here as well a couple times in the refuge and

my wife and kids saw one about a mile away from my place when they were on a bike ride.

They are around and if the food is available they will stay until they are run out or they run out.

[Scott K]

As for being a night hunter for coon and coyotes, it can be a little spooky. I am almost positive I came across one a few years ago while out coon hunting. We didnt see it, but it made a loud cry, and it freaked my dog out big time, well it freaked me out as well.

[skee0025]

They've been around a long time. I saw one a few miles outside of Motley when I was in my teens.

[harvey lee]

As for being a night hunter for coon and coyotes, it can be a little spooky. I am almost positive I came across one a few years ago while out coon hunting. We didnt see it, but it made a loud cry, and it freaked my dog out big time, well it freaked me out as well.

I can relate Scott. Where we deer hunt in ND, there are a few around and it gets a bit spooky walking out in the morning in the dark.

I know last year a buddy had one on his trail camera along with a wolf just a few miles away. If I saw one and it was close, I guess I would be so scared, I might drop it.

[gopher_nation]

I swear those cats follow me everywhere I bowhunt. In 2011 I stood 40 yards from one in the Red Wing area, it wasn't scared of me like I had hoped. Then this past fall I was hunting along the Big Sioux River in South Dakota and one was sneaking through the woods about 70 yards from my treestand. Needless to say, those long walks in the dark sometimes get to me.

[IceHawk]

Buddy of mine in cnetral mn had one standing 20 yds in front of him this year while bowhunting. He said the muscle tone in the legs was amazeing, stood and looked right up at him quite the experiance he said. I know of 2 other sightings in the same area so yes there area a couple traveling about. Been waiting for our hounds to jump one while coyote hunting, boy would that throw in some excitement to the hunt

[Trout26]

I saw one about 15 years ago just outside of motley too. My neighbors see them every once in awhile but i havent seen one since. Kind of a scarry thought with my little kids running around in the woods.

[LunkerCity]

A couple of years ago one was spotted in the playground of Warba school. I think they sent everyone home for some reason, but it was a big fatty from eating all those whitetails... maybe the wolves aren't the deer killers