Cougar kills a horse in Michigan...

WH_Conley · February 03, 2007, 05:03:14 PM

Yeah, we don't have em here either :

. Two my neighbors have seen one(?) at different times. I kinda figure that the habitat is changing. In this part of the state you can go up any little hollow and find evidence of old house sites, people lived up these hollows for a couple hundred years before "modern times" came and everyone left the hard to get to places. Now there are places in this county that have several square miles of nothing except cut over timber land, sometimes not even a 4 wheeler road. Who knows what could be living back in there. I know that the deer population is thriving, so why not the deer predators?

Corley5 · February 03, 2007, 09:13:01 PM

The DNR denied that wolves had moved into the Lower Penisula until one was caught in coyote trap and shot. Guess what ??? Now we've got wolves here :

If a cougar is killed anywhere in the state the story will be that it escaped captivity. No one within the DNR will officially admit to a naturally occuring self sustaining population :(

farmerdoug · February 04, 2007, 09:45:52 PM

They tell us that we do not have cougars around here either. But then we do not have wolverines, black bears, bald eagles and wild pigs either. :

I have seen the eagles and their nest. I have seen the wild pigs too. I know people that have seen bears around here and there was a wolverine photographed in the Thumb.

If the DNR was to admit it then they would have to assume the responsibility of protecting them. See nothing, hear nothing. You know the bleeding hearts would cry foul if they were not protected. Ask Jeff what he thinks of the wolves in the UP.

Farmerdoug

Paschale · February 05, 2007, 08:23:27 AM

Quote from: farmerdoug on February 04, 2007, 09:45:52 PM
Ask Jeff what he thinks of the wolves in the UP.
Farmerdoug

I'll bite...Jeff, what do you think of the wolves in the U.P.? Can you hear them near your cabin, or see evidence of them?

Paschale · February 05, 2007, 08:33:55 AM

Quote from: scgargoyle on December 10, 2006, 01:17:20 PM
My brother actually saw one run across the interstate, which is a rare sighting indeed.

I was rereading this thread this morning, and this reminded me of a time last winter when my then girlfriend and I were driving on the interstate, near Benton Harbor, MI and were convinced we saw a cougar crossing the road. If I'd have been by myself, I wouldn't have believed it. Right after it crossed the road, my girlfriend and I looked at each other and said, "did you see that?" It moved really fast, low to the ground, and definitely not a deer. Gave us goosebumps.

Jeff · February 05, 2007, 08:59:06 AM

Yes, we have wolves at the cabin. I think that wolves were eliminated from the U.P. and other areas for good reason and through a natural process. We being at the top of the food chain eliminated them to protect life and livelihood. We are as much a part of a natural process as any other creature. Now that they have been unnaturally reintroduced, we should do it again.

Burlkraft · February 05, 2007, 09:34:01 AM

Zac has a new gun...... ;D ;D ;D

beenthere · February 05, 2007, 10:50:22 AM

I believe WI spent a lot of tax dollars to reintroduce the wolves here. Now they eat the calves, the deer, the hunting dogs, and whatever. I'm with Jeff .......and with Zac ;D

We spent tons of tax dollars to plant elk. I saw no need for them either, but had no say in it. So just bellyache about it.

rbhunter · February 12, 2007, 02:43:49 PM

I am originally from Kansas. Department of Wildlife has assured us we have no courgars in Kansas no matter how many people say they have seen them.

The man who used to rent the farm from my family reported seeing one laying out in the field one spring day. He went in after the camera and it was gone when he came out. It was only about 75 yards away from the house.

A cousin saw one cross the road at night one time in the headlights.

A hunter saw one on the back side of my cousins after he unloaded the gun to quit for the day.

My cousin found some calf remains up in a tree.

My uncle knew a man who shot a cougar in Kansas and took it home and placed it in the freezer. He did not tell anyone about it. A few days later the fish and wildlife came by and asked him about it and took it out of the freezer. No charges were filed.

But Kansas has no cougars. Funny thing though the Fish and Wildlife will not check out sightings. :D

stonebroke · February 13, 2007, 07:16:47 PM

I am a farmer in NY that has seen one of those mountain lions that DEC says are not here. I guess all state wildlife people are the same.

Minnesota_boy · February 13, 2007, 07:56:26 PM

If the wildlife people say that they have them, they're supposed to manage them without any increase in budget. Easier to claim that there are none.

solodan · February 13, 2007, 09:59:09 PM

It may be better for everyone to say there are none. Look at California, they took away mountain lion hunting in the 70's and now we have more lion attacks than any other state. Still, there are those convinced that it is an endangered animal. :

???
The funny thing is the attacks are all in fairly populated areas, where there is an abundance of people but should be less cougars. :-\ How many are in my neck of the woods? ??? If they said that we didn't have them here than I guess than we could kill them. I was thinking about throwin some wolverine on the BBQ, but now they tell us that we have those too. ;D

69supercj · February 17, 2007, 09:57:43 AM

We got 'em here in Southwest Missouri as well. Been too many sightings at various locations throughout the state for them to be escaped pets. I think its pretty cool course I haven't lost any cattle or other animals. Just heard on the news tonight about a couple of gray wolves that escaped from a zoo down in Branson Missouri two days ago. Not sure if they were both of the same sex or not. Keep your eyes peeled if your headin' for Branson!! :D

Jeff · November 05, 2009, 06:40:23 PM

Tonight on the local news, the DNR finally and officially confirmed the presence of cougar in the Eastern U.P. Plaster casts were taken in the same region as our property in De Tour. This follows up the trail cam photos taken in Bruce Township, just to the northwest of us last month.

http://www.9and10news.com/category/story/?id=181634

http://www.9and10news.com/category/story/?id=181926

beenthere · November 05, 2009, 06:49:33 PM

Wish you'd snapped one on your trail cam Jeff. 8)

Jeff · November 05, 2009, 09:16:17 PM

They have both been out since I have been home,so ya never know.

Tom · November 05, 2009, 09:21:56 PM

If attacked, fight back. Cougars are an endangered animal in Michigan.

Yeah, buddy!?!?

Jeff · November 06, 2009, 03:51:11 AM

I see the news has a video of their story now. Not much to see other then the gal spokesperson for the dnr being uncomfortable on camera.
http://9and10news.com/category/story/?id=182070

Tom · November 06, 2009, 05:19:01 PM

We don't have them in Florida either. I reported seeing a big cat in 1985 and was told I was crazy.

SwampDonkey · November 06, 2009, 05:51:22 PM

Tom, they showed a documentary of cougars in Florida a few years back. Not that long ago, it was when I could get C-Band satellite. Now some of them shows I realize are staged, so never know what to believe.

chevytaHOE5674 · November 06, 2009, 06:03:42 PM

Quote from: Jeff on February 05, 2007, 08:59:06 AM
Now that they have been unnaturally reintroduced, we should do it again.

Wolves were not "unnaturally reintroduced". 4 wolves were reintroduced but all 4 were killed by humans before they could attempt to breed. The wolves that are in the UP have made it here via their 4 little legs.

That is unless you know somebody outside the DNR/USFWS that introduced wolves.

Jeff · November 06, 2009, 07:40:17 PM

Unnaturally introduced to me also means protected by extraordinary means. Without that, they wouldn't be here

chevytaHOE5674 · November 06, 2009, 11:07:28 PM

Quote from: Jeff on November 06, 2009, 07:40:17 PM
Unnaturally introduced to me also means protected by extraordinary means. Without that, they wouldn't be here

They would have been here had the Government not offered a bounty system to kill them just because they are thought of as "bad", where people went to the extremes of nerve gassing dens. When in reality they aren't that bad, no worse than bears, cougars, bobcats, or coyotes.

The western half of Ontonagon (where i reside) and Gogebic have the highest wolf populations in the state, and I don't mind them at all. People complain about them without knowing all the facts IMO.

SwampDonkey · November 07, 2009, 06:06:08 AM

Some discussions with biologists over cougar sightings in the Maritimes. ;D

http://www.outdoorns.com/features/cougars.cougars.htm

I'd like to also mention that just because you work for DNR, it doesn't make you a wildlife expert. We had a case where a bear hunter tossed a bear carcass into the woods and someone reported the carcass as a human body. The paws and head had been removed and the carcass was skinned. The DNR staff member was suppose be a biologist and thought it was human. It turned out to be a hoax and it was a member of the hunting group that called it in. Became the laughing stock of the Tobique River Valley. ;)

Jeff · November 07, 2009, 07:57:01 AM

Quote from: chevytaHOE5674 on November 06, 2009, 11:07:28 PM
People complain about them without knowing all the facts IMO.

If you want to love wolves and coyotes, you just go right ahead and love yours, but don't be insinuating I am complaining without facts. I have personal facts from personal observation and experience which far out weigh your narrow opinion of what I know or don't know about what happens in and around my land. Your western U.P. is far different country so don't think your facts have a thing to do with mine. They are a nuisance and unwanted by everyone living here other then the DNR, PETA freaks, Vegans and non-hunters. Which would you be? They would not exist here if it were not for the government protection they enjoy. We would not need any bounty here, in fact we would pay to shoot the cursed things.

I'm speaking from the top of the food chain. These predators reduce our game populations here, and I don't like it one bit. I want to be the one that reduces it.