Deer in trees?

[Biff]

Sounds like a "flurry" of B.S. to me. No fish and game authorities have proof of Cougers taking kill of any kind up a tree. Sorry, can't stomach this one! Biff

[maineac]

I certainly think the cats are repopulating areas they previously existed.  As to DNRs stocking them, it makes absolutely no sense.  Most can barely afford to cover the responsibilities they have.  Where would they get the public tax funds to secretly stock wildlife, particularly animals as difficult to see and capture as mountain lions.  Its not like they set up black ops funds from the slush piles of state monies.  

We have lots of sightings here in Maine (my wife included) but the IF&W won't say we have any.  They also say they are released "pets".  Thinking about it I believe they can't afford to admit it.  If they did the cats would have to be listed as endangered species.  That would start a huge financial and political nightmare.  The money spent on studying and counting bald eagles, keeping building away from nest locations etc. was huge.  Plus it would give huge ammunition to the anti's.  Imagine the studies they would require to make sure hunting deer would not harm the growing population of endangered mountain lions.
Be thankful your DNR isn't recognizing them.

[Gaff]

Biff, i DONT need fish and game to tell me what i saw!!!!!      

gaff

[Mr.Vic]

Hot topic here for sure. One to rival polictics and just as deadly to ruin friendships and divide people. What people see in the woods is what they see, and to respect it wither or not we believe them ,is the right thing to do.      I been hammered a few times over seeing one or two here in Iowa. And there has been dead deer in the trees as well around Jefferson county.   One old timer told me than cats can adopt new habits in new habitat. We have plenty of critters here that eat animals left on the ground. So his way of thinking was they adapted to getting them out of reach. His opinion not mine. I'm no expert but i do know they are out there. Wasn't many years ago we started seeing Bobcats and they weren't suppose to be any. Now the state has too many.

[lpcjon2]

Biff have you ever had any fish and game agency admit to anything but the fact that we are always mistaken.If they admit to it they have to do something about it.So they wont ever admit to ****!

[Don Stokes]

I've seen two lions in places they're not supposed to be. One at the top of an embankment near the MS/AL state lines on hwy 78, where I found a road-killed spike buck in the ditch that it had fed on, and another crossed a two-lane in front of my car east of Spartanburg, SC, where I lived at the time. No question whatsoever on the identification of either one. I know the odds of seeing two in such places are astronomical, but it happened!

They follow deer populations. As deer population continue to expand nation-wide, so do the cougar populations.

[Michael Pfander]

On the issue of them taking "only" the weak ect.  We have a split season here in AZ.  During the early hunt I came upon a place where a lion had been stashing its kills.  There was quite a range in sizes.  The 2 largest were well over 100" which is huge for the whitetails here.  The smallest was a little forky.  As an aside I don't know if any of you saw it or not but research here in Tucson shows that the coyotes diet is 42% housecat  Not enough domestic deer to keep them fed.

MAP

[Ray Hammond]

if you have lions, you should be finding kill sites.

Are you seeing more than usual? If not, I think there's other factors for not seeing as many deer: a larger than normal mast crop, coyotes killing fawns, or development moving them around to new places.

Lots of reasons for not seeing as many deer.

[FrozenFew]

Ray, I am convinced that coyotes, the deep snow the past two winters, an abnormal amount of corn and soybeans (great for antler nutrition but bad for late season survival) also the corn is coming off late and getting plowed under almost as they take it off for seed. Also our F&G getting greedy and supplying endless tags it seems to gun hunters.  These are the primary concerns for deer pops dropping.  I know cougars have huge ranges in normal circumstances but the sightings and sign seems to be really localized to one area specifically where I hunt.  It is one of the only places that really lends itself to cougar survival in my region as far as I can see but again I know little about them.  But the deer  are again really thin in this area which is some of the best habitat and most food especially late season like this. It just makes me wonder.  

I would like to see this for my own eyes so I am going to do some asking around and try and find one of these kill sights for myself. Don't worry I'll take pictures if I find one.

Also to the one chap I did mean down 50%, I was a little boggled but I think you got the drift, I am forever in your debt for pointing that out.

[kevgsp]

I'm not to far from you frozenfew and have heard the rumors too. Last I heard they (MNR) was saying that the were lions that had escaped captivitiy, BUT I have not been following it that closely...

You're other reasons are right on imo as to why it's been a tough year, 2 hard winters/coyotes/extra tags etc. If there are indeed lions out there, it sure isn't many,  definately not enough to see an inpact on deer.

Are you talking about the wainfleet area? as thats were I thought the mnr comfirmed "scat" of a lion.

After the rifle hunt in Nov has always been hard, where I hunt anyways.  Most crops are off, the orange army has mixed everything up, leaves are down and temps have dropped.  I go from seeing multiple deer per sit to 1-2 week.  Deer head to the thickest cover and last crops standing I think. If like me you don't have permission at a place with both you are S.O.L

[wingnut]

Well maybe they are not cougar at all but Sasquatch.  They haven't been seen in the NW since the Green River Killer was arrested, so maybe they are migrating east.  They are known to put kills in trees for sure.

Or maybe not cougar but african leopards.  I've seen the impala in trees there.

Just food for thought.

As for sick lame and lazy.  During the elk rut, cougar kill almost exclusively mature bull elk that are bugling.  I've seen it, heard it and been there just after it happened.
The other story is Disney.

Mike

[Curtis Haden]

I have no doubt that there are cougars in a lot of areas where they're not supposed to be.  There's also no doubt that cougars are accomplished tree climbers.  Why would it be difficult to imagine one dragging a carcass up a tree from time to time, especially if there are other predators (coyotes, etc.) in the area that might steal a cached kill?

There are some pigs, bears, cougars, and rattlesnakes here in south central Missouri.  There are also a lot of people who think and say that the Conservation Dept. "stocked" them for various purposes.  If you care to listen, you can hear all kinds of reasons; trades with other states for turkeys, controlling deer populations, giving the black helicopter gunners more practice targets, etc.  I think the excuses go wilder in direct proportion to the number of poaching tickets the particular rumor-monger has...

Here's what I think:  There are a few animals migrating and expanding into ranges they haven't been in previously.  There are also always going to be a few that got "dumped" by exotic wildlife owners who found out that it's a lot of work and money to take proper care of big cat.  I also believe that stories grow in the telling, and stories about wild animals have an extra dose of growth hormone built right in.

Believe what you want to.  That's what I do.    

[ed burgholzer]

there was a tv show recently that showed mt lions dragging deer up into trees by the nose.  

Ed

[FrozenFew]

KevGSP,  I am about two hours north of you so its not the same rumor or maybe it is.  Anyways there is a website for the provincial puma foundation and it has stats on how many sightings versus how many are confirmed... so the most is just rumor or at least 99.3 percent by their calculations. I swore I saw one five years ago but it happened so fast it was like a sasquatch sighting..  A freind showed me a track this spring he found turkey hunting and I couldn't be sure but it looked like a big cat track to me. The more I think about it the more I want to go out and find this kitty.  

Wingnut, the north african ontarian leopards are real I swear it!