Cougar sighting

[Dave S]

I found what I figured could only be a cougar track 6 years ago near the river bottoms by Le Sueur. It was the size of my hand with extended fingers. I got excited and called the DNR thinking they would be interested but the guy I talked to said it was no big deal and that there were a lot of mountain lions in the minnesota and mississippi river valleys. I have also heard of many sightings of them here in northwest wisconsin.

One of our local die-hard Nature Guru's has some land in the MN River Valley just north of Le Sueur and found tracks on their property. I don't recall exactly how the story went, but it involved a live trap for critters the size of a racoon or oppossum (Grinner). They went to check on it one day to find the trap in the river with a dead Grinner inside of it. The tracks leading up to it at the waters edgge were cougar tracks. In order for the cat to get up the bank, it had to make a vertical leap of 8 feet or swim the river. The end of the tracks were facing towards/up the bank.

[paul pachowicz]

we just shut down the cat season here in SoDak. The 15th female was killed yesterday. Total kills were 39. The bigest was a 159 pound tom. However, it remains that a landowner can kill em on sight if they feel thier livestock is threatened Lotta tree huggers and cougar cuddlers are pitchin a *&%# about the season. I say, "move back to where ya came from".

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

Don't send them here. Send to chicago or some other blue state but not this one. I do agree with ya, if you don't like it to bad.

[R. Miller]

My dad saw one years ago in the river valley not far from Carver. I wish I would have been with him. Like jiggin matt said it'd be a little spooky but very cool. Dad hardly told anyone because he figured they wouldn't have believed him anyway.

[Dave S]

back in my high school days I saw a Bobcat in my area. I made the mistake of telling a couple classmates who also hunted and endured a years worth of humiliation for it.

20 years after the fact a bow hunter in the same area has seen them on numerous occassions. Guess I got the last laugh.

[USPENAMC]

has anyone gotten an email about a COUGAR killed near mille lacs

this is what the story said

Here is a photo of a cougar killed Onamia,Mn.

The guy who shot it is 6 foot tall and weighs about 220 lbs.

He was in a deer stand near the north Bradbury road. and Hwy 27

He saw it pass him upwind and then down wind. When

the cat passed him again he knew that it was hunting him, so -

boom. After viewing this, do you still feel safe in the woods?

dont know how to post pics but if someone wants the pic email me penasoccer at yahoo

[Paul Waldowski]

Can you please send it to me.

I have heard about it, but have not seen it.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Gonna have to find that article and post it here I think. Lots of e-mail stories go around, in fact I think that is how this thread initially got started.

[KeystoneLight]

I have received it many times, seems this cat made the rounds. I have gotten it saying it was from East Bethel, Onamia, Isanti, Hibbing, Greenbush, Warroad, Roseau, and a couple of places in WI. I beleive it was really harvested in the state of Washington.

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

well if it is up in onamia thats ok I hunt up there for grouse and deer.

[Note from admin: Edited. Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.]

[bassphish2005]

Used to see quite a few cougars around.....oh that was the Mercury Cougar..........darn I hate to say that was a long time ago?

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

I was waiting for someone go there

[Muthagoose]

Well it looks like some of the doubters got a little clarification with the WI photographing one this week..

[paul pachowicz]

Our GF&P just killed another one around Hot Springs, SD. It was seen walking down the streets. The state boys brought out the dogs and tracked it down.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

I saw that story too and immediately thought of COUGAR SIGHTING

[DuckDog]

The WI cougar was fake!! I say it was put in the tree from bigfoot - it was his pet

[MinnesnowtaWild]

I worry sometimes about encountering a Cougar when fishing in the Minnesota River valley. Some of our spots take us on a hike through the woods to get there, and my girlfriend walks back sometimes by herself when I stay out late. She is only 105 lbs. and has no defense against a big cat.

[nofishfisherman]

I think there are more imminent dangers to a women walking alone in the woods then a cougar.

If there truly are cougars in MN, which I think is totally possible the numbers are EXTREMELY low. Probably only a handful in the entire state.

While taking an ecology course back in the day I was told that there are cougars in MN. However, due to the terrain in MN they need a ridiculously large territory. I think i remember it was estimated that for a cougar to have a sufficent range in MN the state could only support something like 12 cougars.

You probably have a better chance at winning the lottery while being struck by lightning then you do of being attacked by a MN cougar. (Unless you are frequenting suburban bars on Saturday nights)

[Here-Kitty-Kitty]

I'm not to sure about that nofish. Like my earlier post, I myself have seen a mom and her cubs in shakopee. If your wondering if I know what I am talking about the answer is yes. I grew up dealing with the on a daily basis as a kid. I know that that mom does roam a lot of the black dog reserve and south from there. So Wild I would have the old lady walk with caution, and no to mention the freaky poeple that are out there at night ( not only us am I talking about either haha. ) I do agree that there isn't a huge population of them here but there are more then we think. I spoke with a federal game warden and he told me that the sightings are on an up rise.

[Comet]

The email story about the Couger near Onamia is a well known internet hoax.

[fish with teeth]

I think there are more imminent dangers to a women walking alone in the woods then a cougar.

If there truly are cougars in MN, which I think is totally possible the numbers are EXTREMELY low. Probably only a handful in the entire state.

While taking an ecology course back in the day I was told that there are cougars in MN. However, due to the terrain in MN they need a ridiculously large territory. I think i remember it was estimated that for a cougar to have a sufficent range in MN the state could only support something like 12 cougars.

You probably have a better chance at winning the lottery while being struck by lightning then you do of being attacked by a MN cougar. (Unless you are frequenting suburban bars on Saturday nights)

hey nofish why is the terrain not that well suited for them? (food, weather, to populated, or does bigfoot have all the good hidding spots ) just wondering

[nofishfisherman]

From what I remember from my ecology courses cougars are more adapted to rocky/moutainous areas. Flat tree land isn't their preffered habitat so they need a larger territory here then they would someplace like colorado.

Its possible cougar numbers are starting to rise in MN, some of my facts are a few years old and I'm sure the population isn't at a static number.

I like to think there are viable populations of wild cougars around. They are an amazing animal. Its just tough to know which are released pets and which are wild.

I would tend to believe most seen in the metro area are probably released pets that have found a way to survive.

[fish with teeth]

thanks for the info nofish. its to bad people dont realize the cute kitty turns into a big hungry cat.

[MinnesnowtaWild]

Would the rocky cliffs and bluffs of the Minnesota River valley, such as in Mankato, not be sufficient enough for cougar populations? I just think if they are in Minnesota they would find a preferred habitat in the river valleys or maybe up north past Duluth where the terrain is somewhat mountainous and deserted.