Cougars in da UP

[chet]

I guess da Michigan DNR will have ta admit they are here now.  :D
http://uppermichiganssource.com/news/local/dnr-looking-for-information-on-dead-cougar-found-in-dickinson-county

[red]

Mountain Lion killed June 2011 on highway in Danbury Connecticut . We were told DNA says it walked 1500 miles from South Dakota .

[Logger RK]

It might b good if they don't admit there there. Once they do they'll probly protect them & any problems ones won't b able to b taken care of? Kind of like the wolves over this way. :(

[E fan]

Here in Arkansas we've been told for years ( decades ) that there were NO cougars and IF there were they were captive released cats , till last year ( 2014 ) a person shot and killed one during our modern gun season and called to inform the AGFC what they had done . Now they admit there are a "few" wild ones here but not a big deal

[Ozarker]

Yep, as E fan notes, AGFC denied for decades that there were big cats, and any sightings or signs of them were quickly written off as being "released pets", or "just one wandering through." People have been repeatedly told that there were no breeding pairs in Arkansas . . . and yet, I saw a mama and her two kittens in 1975 or 1976. Five of us saw them at that time. Another friend also saw them in the same area. I have seen two others besides them, plus known game-cam photos, plus obvious sign. And then, there was the woman killed back some fifteen years ago, or so. Big cover-up on that one. AFGC finally, in the face of too much incontrovertible evidence, admits that the cats are in Arkansas. According to a source, the ones trapped are coming from out West, and have all been males. A female was caught in Oklahoma, headed east, and "it's only a matter of time before we have breeding pairs." Doh!

So, now they'll have to develop a "management plan," and we'll see what comes of that.

[Gearbox]

In north MN we have a plan . Its called you want some we will give them to anyone . They are everywhere here there are so many that the MN DNR even admits there here . They say we only have 2000 wolves , so we probably only have 4 big cats .

[goose63]

Herein N D thy said we didn't have them bot now we have a season on them

[sandsawmill14]

what most people fail to realize is that most of the predators were killed out by the settlers for a reason. no way i can see for a population of large predators to live in/around an area that is populated with people without problems :

[terry f]

   Western states live with them every day without much problem. Settlers also killed off the elk, deer, buffalo and antelope, not very forward thinking.

[Logger RK]

When u say western states living with Wolves & not much problems u must b speaking of,with people living in the city? I think if you speak with anyone raising livestock they may disagree with your forward thinking. When I would help my brother find new born calf skull's(because after a pack gets them that's  all that's left most times)in the mornings during calving season so he get's a kill count on how many the wolves got the night before. And if anyone has seen a kill sight it's not pretty,cause wolfs don't worry about killing first,they take a animal down & start eating it. My brother has many pictures but the media won't put that in the papers. We have a neighbor that a couple years ago said that its nice to hear a wolf howl once in awhile,till one day there St Bernard didn't come home,the guy was calling for it & heard it yelping. He walks up to it and discovers it was dragging it self back to there house cause most of his back end was chewed off. His forward thinking has changed. I'm not saying they should all be gone,I'm saying they should be managed so there out in the big woods & not around were they'll cause damage to people trying to make a living off the land. Currently not even the federal trappers can do anything about the problem wolves. That's my 2 cents on that. Add 98 more & u got a buck.

[CJennings]

I was walking along a beach on Lake Superior last summer, went back to my truck and noticed these funny tracks following mine that weren't there when I went in an hour before. They were cougar tracks. Even with that somewhat uncomfortable encounter I still support having the wildlife make a return that was lost. I do think we need to have hunting seasons on the big predators to keep them under control in both numbers and to give them a healthy fear of humans. I don't believe in killing every animal that could possibly predate on livestock. That's a risk farmers have always taken with livestock and the price of having a more interesting world. I enjoyed hearing the wolves howling at night in the UP, that's an unforgettable, unmistakable sound.

[Jeff]

Hopefully someday we will have werewolves in vermont.

[coxy]

Hopefully someday we will have werewolves in vermont.

:D

[CJennings]

Now if you believe some of the local sasquatch hunters we already do.  :D

[sandsawmill14]

   Western states live with them every day without much problem. Settlers also killed off the elk, deer, buffalo and antelope, not very forward thinking.

dont get me wrong i love wildlife and hunting but it just dont work out well in some areas. we leave the predators alone unless they are to close to the house. i have killed 2 coyotes in the yard 1 of which i shot from the kitchen window by the porch light she was laying within  10 yards of the back porch when she fell the other was crossing they yard about 1:00 in the afternoon the bobcats always get a free pass unless they are caught in the yard  and i cant imagine trying to raise corn or soybeans with a big population of elk the deer are bad enough

[sandsawmill14]

Now if you believe some of the local sasquatch hunters we already do.  :D

i possibly seen a squatch here a few months ago at the local lowes  i would have guessed it was cousin it if he wasnt so doggone big ;D :D :D :D