Deer in trees?

[FrozenFew]

So there has been a little bit of an urban legend going around here in southern ontario.  Word is that cougar sightings are starting to crop up.  people seeing tracks, seeng lions, and the rumor has been that the DNR has rleased these to control the deer pop.  The strangest thing I have heard and I am wondering if ths is possible for those familiar with mountain lions is that people are finding small and part carcasses dragged up in trees. Is this normal behavior?  The area affected by these creatures is in close proximity to my two best properties fo deer.  I have seen no doubt te fewest does and fawns this year of any, harvest rates in the area have been cut almost by 200%?  any thoughts to whether this could be really cougars doing the damage?

[Gaff]

I dont have "experience" with mt. lions per sey. but about 10 years ago myself and a couple friends were bowhunting on the ma. vt border. my friend hit a deer and we decided to wait till the am. we found the carcas about 12 ft up in a tree with no enough meat left to make a soup!!  :eek:  

the same exact thing happend 3 weeks later on the same hill. but i wasnt there for that.    

there are deff. lions here, even though fish and game wont admit it! i personally know about 20 people that have seen them. i was also told that 6pair were stocked in a nehboring town. i also know of 2 farms near me that have seen a lion with a collar on it!! (who put it on?? ill give ya 1 guess!!!!)    
so to answer your question. yes i have personally seen deer dragged into trees. and i doubt its an "urban ledgend". it prob. reallity!

gaff

[FrozenFew]

Well this is the same sort of thing,  talk of released with radio collars.  Yet the MNR (or DNR) acts like the CIA with this information apparently.  Anyone elese that can confirm this?

[Gaff]

the whole thing is weird scott. you'll hear the same thing from people all over the counrty where "mt loins dont exist"...
i worked with a guy that swears that he was in a bar one night with a game warden. the GW had a few to many to drink and started gettin loose lips. he said "we stocked them around hear to  keep deer and coyote populations in check! but if you ever tell anyone i said that, i'll call you a liar!!"

oh, well. let me see one.

gaff

[FerretWYO]

My Lions will take carcasses in trees. I have seen it a few times I will see if I can find a picture to post. Most of the time they perfer to cover there kills on the ground.

[Brian Krebs]

mountain lions cover their prey on the ground with debris. Leopards take their prey into trees to eat.
 Instinctive behavior.
Even here; where lions are having their kills taken over by wolves on a constant basis - they have not taken to hauling deer (or elk for that matter)- into trees.

[Stykbow62]

Don't know about them dragging a carcus up in trees but my understanding is that a grown mtn. lion consumes 1 deer size animal a week so...if that is true then at the end of a year he has taken 52 deer or deer size animals. That is terrible in my opinion.
It's ashame that they don't let bowhunters in to control the population.

[lpcjon2]

I don't know if cougars do it but jaguars and some other African cats do this and lions do go in trees so Why not it will help protect the kill.I do know they also bury the kill.

[Gaff]

"mountain lions cover their prey on the ground with debris. Leopards take their prey into trees to eat. Instinctive behavior."

this MAY be true. BUT tell me what animal in MA. or VT does?? and dont say bears, or bobcats, because thats just not the case. i cant think of one. so in my mind, i believe its a mt. lion....    

gaff

[E. Texas HillBilly]

Mountain lions are not the problem, they never were...Yes, they do exist, but if you're see'in less deer, it ain't the kitties fault. Mountain lions have huge ranges, and even the healthiest cat can do very little to a healthy deer pop. They eat the weak, the sick, and the old, they're easier to catch you know. The problem has never been the cats.
                          -Hillbilly

[shakeyslim]

lets see ! per year kill=52 on the high side
 mabey 10 lion in the whole state ! high side
 sounds like very small percentage of deer goes to feed the lion ! we would be blessed with a MUCH higher lion population and far fewer deer / just a more natural balance.

[Izzy]

Fisher sets maybe???Look for a conibear behind the meat.

[NorthernCaliforniaHunter]

In Cali they have been observed dragging deer into trees. Yes, they pound the deer too. No, they don't just eat the weak. A juvinile cat will also kill for "fun" as I have seen the impact of that as well.

What hammers the deer where I live is the coyotes, and when a den is located it isn't uncommon to find many deer skulls, primarily fawns.

Fish and game will deny their existence if it means not having to come up with a management plan - but that last statement is hearsay (I have nothing but respect for F&G.   :D  )

[pdk25]

"harvest rates in the area have been cut almost by 200%"

Did you mean 50%?

[boznarras]

These critters definitely move into new areas.
I live on Wrangell island in SE Alaska.
About 15 years ago, there were sightings of an unusual animal with a long tail by children in the school playground. Not much more was thought about it until shortly after, when a fellow who lives outside of town came in by boat and put a dead mountain lion on the bar in the saloon.
He was later charged by Alaska Fish & Game with taking an animal out of season, and was convicted because since we don't have mountain lions in Southeast Alaska, we don't have a hunting season for them either. It was found to be full of deer meat.
The lion was confiscated and after the trial it was given to the school. They had it mounted and display it at the school in a glass case as their mascot, and call their ball team the Cougars. Since that time, there has been one other lion caught in a trap, and a few others seen, some with photographs.
But officially, we still don't have mountain lions here.
I have not seen deer in trees, but that might be next.

[John Scifres]

Liberals in black helios releasing cheetahs are responsible.

[metsastaja]

Thought I would post this picture here.  There are only supposed to be 100 adult "Florida Panthers" in the state.  We have recently started to see sign where I hunt. One of the other guys captured this photo on a trail cam

 

[lpcjon2]

A Mt.lion killed two joggers in one day and attacked another in the same spot in California.They are predators and can be territorial.I read an article about a guy who was stalked by a lion and when it approached him he shot it and stuck a broad head in his head. Then the lion took off.The next year another hunter arrowed a lion in the same area and a broad head was stuck in the skull.you be the judge.

[Izzy]

In that pic you can clearly see the deer tracks going up the tree.That explains everything.That dumb cat walked right past it and never looked up.  

[30coupe]

Our DNR denied the existence of mountain lions in Iowa for a long time in spite of sightings and tracks. Then they spread a rumor that it was a tame cat that had escaped. Now they grudgingly admit there MIGHT be some here.

A friend of mine has trail cam pictures of one on his dead stock pile (hogs). He suspected it was a cougar because the dead pigs kept disappearing, so he set up a trail camera and did get some pictures of the cat helping itself. This is about three miles from where I hunt, but I haven't seen any sign as yet. No deer in trees either lol.

There have been some killed here now, but there is no penalty since they don't exist (officially).

We do have lots of coyotes and lots of deer, so I don't think the 'yotes take many. They do clean up gut piles and road kills pretty well. They might take a fawn now and then, but I have never found any deer bones around dens here. In fact, I've never seen any kind of bones around the dens.  Mostly they eat rodents and carrion as near as I can tell.