For those interested, I have more info to share about the rebounding population of cougars in the United States.
Looks like they have made it to Michigan.
Reader Mike Doughty sends this link to a super looking workshop if you live in the Boise area. Open to the general public.
Mike Doughty also sent me a link to a list of cougar attacks from 2001-2006. It is a bit graphic (photos) so beware. Here is the link.
If you are interested in hunting cougars or any other game, here is a great article from Chuck Hawks on what caliber of weapon you will need. I am considering hunting for deer next fall, and will either take with me my K-31 carabiner, or will purchase a used .30-06, of which there are millions floating about. Either will do the job on a cougar if I happen to see one and it is threatening me.
It appears that there are cougars in Oklahoma now.
This is a great map from the Cougar Network of all cougar confirmations, along with their normal territory. The Cougar Field Guide is a great read if you are interested in learing how these animals live, hunt, and survive.
The Wisconsin DNR has a great page all about cougars and it features the confirmed sightings here in Wisconsin as well as pictures of animals frequently misidentified as a cougar.
Still no word on if the cougar that was shot by the CPD in Roscoe Village is the same one that was confirmed in Southern Wisconsin.
Cross posted at LITGM.
UPDATE: The cougar shot in Chicago has been confirmed as being the same one that was sighted in Southern Wisconsin. In all probability, this cat wandered to Chicago all the way from South Dakota. Amazing, simply amazing.
Compare and contrast:
Madison Too Reaps What They Sow, with the cougar situation.
What is it about academic liberalism that seems to be completely incapable of dealing with problems created by the predatory animus of others?
Are they so ego-centric that they are incapable of believing that some power may not wish them well?
Any theories?
Bueller?… Bueller?… Bueller?
Darn, I thought it was a post, “the rebounding population of cougars in the United States”, about Kim Cattrall. Oh well, have a nice day.
Like RS said.
There are people who, faced with the incursions of bears, cougars, etc., say that, well, we just have to get used to not being on top of the food chain. It’s not surprising that a similar attitude exists toward human incursions, be they overt or cultural.
Any theories?
I’m perplexed too. The attitude is distinct from cowardice because eliminating early-stage predation carries virtually no risk.
Perhaps it’s a misdirected variant of a herd instinct. (I call it misdirected because I’m skeptical that the behavior will turn out to be helpful for survival.)
“Any theories”
Yeah, people don’t use the intelligence they have.
Gs, isn’t it common for people who get into a jam of some kind often say “I couldn’t believe it….”? They say this because “it” hasn’t happened to them before and I think the subtext would be “it hasn’t happened to me before and therefore I didn’t think it would happen or happen to me.” A little historical study and imagination can be a life saver.
I second Don, just read an article about Jennifer Anniston and John Mayer. These cougars are easy pickings, wander their territory and they will climb onto your lap.
There are cougars in the southeast part of Arkansas where the AR river ends and in the mountains. They were never really killed off here. What’s hard to understand is the cougar that showed up in Chicago with 30 miles of houses on either side.
Hi Dan,
I would like to understand the attitude placed towards certain predatory animals in our midst: bears, cougars, mountain lions, coyotes, and wolves. And don’t forget sharks. It’s one thing to protect ourselves and our children when these beasts incur upon our range, it’s another to villify them as our enemy.
I don’t think it is a liberal or conservative issue to show respect to predator species that help maintain what little balance there is in the wild. The cougar is probably one of these species that have learned, through many generations around humans, how to cope with its changing environment and now they are learning to thrive. Will species like them affect farmers? Sure. But our livestock is not their primary prey, and honestly, sometimes I wonder just how much value a sheep would have over a cougar, in the scheme of things.
I just fear that the concept of keystone species would be lost in all the political squabbling, and we would be worse off as a result.
An acquaintance near New Bern, NC picked up a road-kill cougar last winter. He planned to have it mounted, but found it too “ripe” to handle. Unfortunately he didn’t turn it in to NCWC where it could have been examined and perhaps genetically tested to determine origin.
Tyouth, you have a point but it seems to me that there also are other things going on.
I don’t spend much time around people who ‘speak for cougars’ or advocate ‘inclusion’ of the unacceptable, but my impression is that they all but want predation to occur.
I just saw on the news last night that the cougar they shot in Chicago is indeed the one that was confirmed here in Southern Wisconsin. Amazing that the thing walked all that way from South Dakota. Simply amazing.
They’ve actually been in OK for years, and they’re spreading out. There had been rumors in the 70’s & early 80’s of them on the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, but nobody believed it: until a ranger back in the wilderness area saw one kill a deer.
Friend of mine’s family has land in western OK, and year before last a female had cubs there, which means at least one male somewhere nearby.
These cats are very good a not being seen if they don’t want to be, the fact that so many are being seen now would seem to indicate they don’t worry about being observed, which means little or no fear of man. WHich is where the problem comes in. I very much respect these critters, and I damn well want them to respect US, too.
Things are certainly trending in the right direction. Now if we can get the Hawks in Atlanta to rebound a little we will have achieved a turnaround of historic proportion.
You write
I suggest that, if the cougar is actually hunting you (which is unlikely), you won’t see him before he attacks.
Henry Bowman – you are correct, more than likely if I am being hunted, I would be toast. But human encounters with cougars by accident are happening more and more – and if I were faced with one staring me down or sizing me up and he didn’t react to making myself large, throwing sticks, rocks and yelling, .30-06 should do fine.
Re. cougar’s being “very good at not being seen, let me relate an experience I had about 5 years ago in SW Florida:
My home is on 5 acres of which about half is cleared. One Sunday afternoon a friend pointed out the sliding glass door and said “look at that”. There about 120 feet away in the shade of some pine trees, sitting on it’s haunches, in the middle of the driveway, was a cougar. The amazing thing was that between the big cat and the house were my two dogs taking the afternoon sun in the yard. The cat was staring, it seemed intently, at the dogs who never were aware of it. The animal seemed to be black in the shade of the trees and when it moved away some seconds later it was like a shadow gliding away into the palmettos and pines.
Tyouth – I have learned that cougars spend a lot of their time observing and learning. I am sure that is what was going on at your property. That is scary, your dogs may have been on the cougar menu for a future meal.