justhuntitall

The DNR and local Biologist of my state of IL. said no way their is the big cats here well they take people as idiots then after a hunter shoots one with a bow then one gets hit by a train then another by a car then after doing studies on the remains they say now there here.

BrutalAttack
Correct me if Iam wrong thewolf being introduced back into the west could have a impact on the cats moving ? I once read by a biologistbe it true or not that wolves will push out the bigger preaditors . Could this be happing?


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biscuit jake

Wolves pushing out mountain lions? Now, that is an interesting question. Hmmm. I am heading up to the Chippewa next month... see if they have any cat activity. Now, greys they have. And bear. And grouchy moose.

jagertiger

what is probably happening is with the cat population rising in the west younger cats arepushedinto new territories that had no cats before looking for hunting lands of there own since mountian lions once prowled most of north america there's no reason that they couldn't reastablish themselves anywhere given proper food available i.e.deer or cattle. There's no fence around any state keeping them out

BrutalAttack

There was a paper done here at the university about a year ago that showed quite a bit of evidence that suggested wolves are pushing cougars around. In fact, they found that in some cases the wolves were activly killing cougars not just pushing them out. But the presence of wolves did affect a number of different aspects of cougar movements including their winter strategy.

biscuit jake

Well I will follow this with interest. BTW, Brutalattack, if that is your MRS in the photo, she is quite the movie star.

I think Mrs Biscuit is a beautiful redhead but I can rarely get her to hold still for a photo. Doubt she would have any trouble shooting cougars if it was legal!

biscuit jake

I was able to visit with a ranger in the Chippewa National Forest who said he was in tight with wolves and cougars up there. From his standpoint, he was not seeing that the wolves were affecting the cougar range, but he did not address other parts of the country. Males range quite a bit. They had a radio collar on one in N Dakota, and it went through the Chippewa and then headed up into Canada.

Matthewbodine

in Indiana there have been some reports of bobcats. none of them have ever had any evidence though. as for pumas lepords lions tigers and bears no way. also I could give a pumas hind quarters less about how bobcats and leperds are related

BrutalAttack

yeah and that's like saying every hunter is a slob because 5% are. Not logical.

KC10Chief

I have seen two cougars here in Oklahoma. I have lived here all of my life and never saw one until recently. The first one was about three years ago when I was out duck hunting. I treed him on accident. It was still dark and I had a mag-lite. I shined the light on him and he let out this terrifying scream like roar. I've never heard anything like it. His teeth were showing and steam was coming out of his mouth. I don't think I've ever been more scared than that! I shot my gun in the air and scared him off. He was probably around 120 pounds or so. I never had any idea they were in Oklahoma until that moment.
My wife and I saw another one on the July 4th weekend of this year. We went out to my dad's place to gather some firewood for camping. I drove up over a hill in my truck and he was running across several hundred yards of open land to the woods. He was probably around 70 pounds. Definately a cougar.
I read an article last year about a cougar that was hit by a train about 60 miles north of Oklahoma City. It had a tracking collar on it. The collar had been attached only a few months earlier by researchers at the University of South Dakota. From there, it traveled into Wyoming when the tracking device stopped working. Nobody knew what happened to it until it showed up here in OK. They say they can travel up to 100 miles in one night and that they are in EVERY state except Hawaii.
All I know is that I wouldn't want to have to fight one. Have you ever tangled with a house cat? My wife's cat can really do some damage in a matter of seconds. I would hate to meet one 20 times his size. Matt

Josh79

they are having a season for mountain lion up here in south dakota. They are really starting to spread out and have been seen in residential areas and farmers have lost some critters here lately. i think it is like 10-15 for the tag and they are trying to take 25. you cannot use dogs and there is something about if so many females are taken then they will shut it down early. also i think there is something about if a landowner takes one on his private land the lion will not count towards the 25 they want to take. im not sure of the details as i have not looked into it too much but i am glad they are doing it. thought about getting the tag because there has been some spotted around here but i personally never have seen one so i dont think i will get one. i heard about one they tracked from south dakota to wisconsin or somewhere. it just shows how far they can move.