Hmm, many around here use their dogs to chase down the coyotes and kill them, takes all weekend and sometimes the dogs chase deer, a lot of fun and very intense. Somehow, I don't think chasing mountain lions would be as much fun.
Plenty of them in AZ and NM, and it's not hard to verify sightings......lots of heads on the walls. My SIL got one a couple of years ago and the mate ran away. Fair number of folks keep lion dogs and hunt them or guide hunts. I used to find tracks of the female and kits around the same stock ponds every couple of years.
if you ever get to hear one scream, you'll never forget it. The first time I heard one, it sounded like a woman being tortured to death, or so I imagine. very spooky.
I was sitting alone near sundown on a dam for a large NE New Mexico irrigation lake, fishing, and heard that scream and decided to sit quietly for a bit and see if I heard it again. I didn't, but about 5 minutes later, something came right over the top of my head that sounded like a meteor landing and seemed to suck all the air along with it. I clinched my eyes shut for a second and just as I re-opened them, a duck that had been sitting on the water exploded into a ball of feathers just above the water's surface. It was getting darker, so i couldn't see what had gotten it until it climbed a bit and I could then see it against the lighter sky.......An eagle had gotten the duck! On the way back to the truck I saw elk coming down to the lake to drink. We had just moved to the area and I was blown away by all the wildlife.......and a bit edgy for a while after that. I wasn't used to seeing that many critters around.
it was a lovely place and time to be alive, and I miss it, but not the winters above 6000 feet elevation......Joe
They have been in the UP of mich for years.I bear hunted/cat hunted with hounds for years Hard! 200 plus days a year ran beagles on my off time.I spent more time in the woods than any DNR,I also work in the woods logging.I have seen three.First one i was 10 waiting for the school bus it crossed the road im 45 now so that was a couple years ago.Ran one with hounds.Found a deer kill.Full grown doe in June.Lion came back to the kill have trail cam pics.DNR have seen many tracks i found and the kill.Agreed it was lion.But back then no cougars hear.Now someone shot one in my county.They cant deny that.I love the big cats.Now wolves are another thing.
Location: Dwelling in the state of Confusion - but just passing thru...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TripleD
Just wondering what animal covers up a deer kill ??? I found 3 one summer all within a couple acres covered lightly with leaves and dirt...
+ + + + + +
Behavior with Kill
After making a kill, the Mountain Lion will usually drag the kill to a protected area and feed
on the shoulder and upper abdomen areas first.- If cubs are present, they will feed on soft
tissues before continuing to consume other body parts.-
After feeding, Mountain Lions separate the internal organs from the main carcass and hide
them at a distance before covering both with branches, soil, and leaves.- Mountain Lions
do not dig holes in order to bury their kills.- They will behave with carcasses they scavenge
on in the same way they behave with a kill.
Mountain Lions will return to the kill repeatedly until the meat is gone or, especially during
the summer, until the meat has spoiled, at which time they will hunt again.- As long as the
meat is fresh, a Mountain Lion is taken out of the hunting cycle and will not kill.- It is unclear
how many and how often a Mountain Lion may kill large and small prey.- Being opportunistic,
Mountain Lions are able to switch their prey based on abundance and availability.
For those who don't like links, a horse was wonded so badly it was put down, 10 miles from me. A vet said it looked like a cougar, claw marks and all. Now after the horse is gone, no one is talking....
Again, this is 10 miles from my cattle, I raise from start to finish. Several calves roaming my corn field right now.
When sightings or such have come up in the past, DNR says no nothing to it nothing confirmed no real evidence. When folks mention danger to critters, DNR says no nothing to worry about. When this comes up, they go quiet until the evidence decomposes.
if you ever get to hear one scream, you'll never forget it. The first time I heard one, it sounded like a woman being tortured to death, or so I imagine. very spooky.
I was 8 or 9 and had trucked up the hill to the outhouse for my before-bed bathrooming. Just as I was coming out the door, I heard this blood curdling scream down on the pond. I'm not sure if it was a bobcat or a lion (either would be possible) but it sounded like someone was being murdered.
I locked myself back in the outhouse and sat there in terror until my mom came looking for me. lol
Living in the Sounterh Tier os NY there were a lot of sightingsfrom people who knew exactly what they were looking at. Sure lots of Bobcats but they don't look nothing lik e a Cougar! A local farmer was out in his field one day and realizedne of his haystacks was looking off and when he made a loud noise up popped a cougar-scared the you know what outta him! He made sure he kept his gun with him after that! He had his Bull come in one day with deep scratches but the bull was horned so he probably fought it off.
Funny how the Dept of Environment people would take people's sighting of Fishers at our word but mention Cougars and they would shut right donw at the Fair where they were taking sighting pins on the local map!!
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This was shot by IDNR officer under a corn crib in Northern Illinois.
Just a barn cat here . . .
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Seriously, I hear of a lot of "sightings" of all types of animals in our neighborhood. But I am out jogging right around dark, every other night, year round. I see it all at some point. In 19 years I may have "possibly" seen 2 wolves, but dozens of what I know were coyotes. I am yet to hear wolves howling but have heard hundreds of coyotes. Have never seen a cougar but have seen several bobcats. Have seen 30 or so black bears, 1 badger (that truthfully was the scariest thing I ran into) and many deer including one deer than ran at me on the road and veered off at the last second. But what I just said here does not match what I hear - every coyote is automatically a wolf and every cat is a cougar. What this all proves to me is that hearsay is sometimes true but much of the time not. Game cam pics, on the other hand, at least offer a bit more than a quick glance. So I think we are starting to get the evidence we need and thus we are seeing more of what are called "documented" sightings.
Believe me, if I thought there was a cougar around, I would be arming myself with a knife and pepper spray every time out jogging.
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Hmm, many around here use their dogs to chase down the coyotes and kill them, takes all weekend and sometimes the dogs chase deer, a lot of fun and very intense. Somehow, I don't think chasing mountain lions would be as much fun.
One coyote isn't going to chase away a mountain lion. That big cat was either leaving because of the human with the camera or it just plain wasn't hungry.
if I thought there was a cougar around, I would be arming myself with a knife and pepper spray every time out jogging.
Better to arm yourself with a dog and a gun. The dog is to sense and distract the lion so you have a chance to do something. Running isn't the thing you want to be doing at that moment. Remember what cats are like. Big cats are just like little cats, but bigger and hungrier.
Just wondering what animal covers up a deer kill ??? I found 3 one summer all within a couple acres covered lightly with leaves and dirt...
TripleD,
Both Bobcat and Cougar cover their kills, returning to them to feed again until the meat is spoiled or gone. Bobcats usually cover with leaf litter, detritus and maybe some dirt depending on the ground cover.
Copperkid's description of cougar covering behavior is correct.
Living in the Sounterh Tier os NY there were a lot of sightingsfrom people who knew exactly what they were looking at. ......
Funny how the Dept of Environment people would take people's sighting of Fishers at our word but mention Cougars and they would shut right donw at the Fair where they were taking sighting pins on the local map!!
Again, it is not a real conspiracy. There is a known fisher population in lower Onterio. So anecdotal sightings is one way to get cheap data on the population range and taken over time, an indication of whether the population is stable, increasing or decreasing.
Eastern Cougar, the sub-species originally found in your area and much of the eastern US was thought to be extinct or nearly so. That has legal ramifications as well as possibly conservation expenses associated with it.
Biologists are scientists as well. We need documentation in the form of physical evidence in the location the animal was sited to prove it is an eastern cougar. And even one or two or a few documented sightings does not prove the presence of a viable population. See the OP for more explanation.
Its funny- my cousin is Fish & Wildlife in New England state. I asked her (shortly after that one that was killed by a car in CT) and the official line is that mountain lions hve been extinct in New England for about century... when one is seen or killed we're all told it was an escaped pet that was never reported.
on the other cougar thread I posted this link so I will here as well,,Newaygo county,Michigan is the closest to me and there are some good cougar pics,I live in Oceana County Michigan and forgot about a friend of a friend who said he had one on his game cam,since then the MI DNR has confirmed their presence but I would still like to know where they are the most,,makes one a little nervous walking to a hunting blind or tree stand in the dark
Lenawee County, Michigan - cougar sighting.
Reported Sat, Apr 7, 2012 at 4:06 AM to www.savethecougar.org
Date of Observation: 4/6/2012
Time: 5:51 pm
County: Lenawee
Sighting Description:
I wanted to pass along information about a verified black panther siting near my hometown of Adrian, MI. I did not personally observe the cougar, but a Michigan State Police officer (Trooper Sean Street, Monroe MI MSP Post) and several eye witnesses did report seeing it. The link above contains their accounts of this verified black panther sighting. Witnesses called the local police to describe sightings of a large black feline in the area. Upon arrival at the scene, MSP Trooper Street observed "a large feline walking in the field" (near US-223). Trooper Street said he saw "an animal, approximately 2 feet in height and weighing about 30 pounds, walk across the field about 75 yards away and into a nearby woods." According to Trooper Street, he has no doubt that this animal was a black panther. “There is no doubt it was a panther,” Street said. “It was identical to what you see in National Geographic Magazine. "The Michigan State Police have contacted the DNR and are awaiting assistance in the search for this animal.
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I live in Western NY and several years ago while hunting I believe I saw a large black cat. It was sitting by a redtwig dogwood and at the distance (About 300 yds) I thought it was a big black lab. As I got closer it stood up and it was definately a feline body. It took off into the brush as I approached. There was no track to speak of but in relation to the size of the bush it was sitting near it was pretty big. Was it a mountain lion? Don't know. I saw something and it was big, black with a feline shape. Black things look larger and as I was in "hunting mode" my focus on any animal would make it look larger. By the same token I spend a lot of time in the woods and am aware of the optical illusions. Coyotes and bears have expanded their ranges so why not mountain lions. Their population is up and there is plenty of prey. I'll keep an open mind.
this from where I live by a few miles,,maybe I should go into town more often ,I never heard this story
Quote:
Oceana County, Michigan - cougar sighting.
Reported Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 11:05 PM to www.savethecougar.org
Date of Observation: October 7, 2012
Time: 10:00am
County: Oceana
Sighting Description:
While doing my paper route in Walkerville, Michigan Sunday morning the wife and I saw a big cat standing in the middle of Deer Rd. and 160th. It was about 2.5 feet high and over 3 feet long. It was light brown with white belly. I tried to get my cell phone to zoom in but the cougar walked into a corn field an disappeared. But it was so beautiful and a wonderful experience.
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