Bad track found

[calgarychef]

I'm still trying to figure out why it's a "bad track". I suppose you. Ugh the be concerned that a carnivore is eating the same species you do too.  Don't worry, the cats have been around for a long time and the deer will do just fine.

[Pine]

Well my nearest neighbor has cows and sheep .
As far as the deer goes , I kinda figure that a cat like that has more rite to them than I do .

[longbow fanatic 1]

More than likely it was a Timber Wolf, but it could be a Cougar too. We have them in Illinois.

[Bonebuster]

Michigan has Mountain Lions in both peninsulas.

The DNR knows it and HAS known it for a long time.

The problem with them in lower Michigan, is there just isn`t the room necessary for them not to cause problems.

In the U.P. there doesn`t need to be ANOTHER predator base killing the few deer they have left.

[J-dog]

You know the, critters have four legs and are mobile? Lol

We didn't have coyotes up to 4/5 yrs ago? Now they are everywhere.

Think it would be cool having a lion roam around? Know they take some critters down but just being out there knowing they are there would add to the hunt for me. None around here in eastern nc for sure though. My uncles have deer lease in Texas and they have always had lions roaming.

[maineac]

My wife saw one cross the road in front of her a couple of years ago here in ME.  We have the same "released pet" explanations as well.  For what it is worth, I don't think the DNR's and IFW's can afford to recognize a small population of cats in any state they had been eliminated in.  That would immediately create a new endangered mammal on their list to monitor, and it would give PETA and HSUS all sorts of legal ammunition to stop deer hunts in order to protect the food source of the endangered cats.  It would at least give them the basis of lawsuit to stop deer seasons until a hugely expensive impact study was conducted by the state.  Much safer and cost effective to ignore and explain away sightings of the big cats that have had a small stable population for decades all across the upper midwest and New England.

[Roadkill]

We have plenty of them here in NV.  Seeing one is rare, but exciting.  Seeing fresh tracks in the snow is common, even just above Reno

[Sam McMichael]

Why wouldn't it be logical to see a few of them all the way from Florida to Maine? When the Europeans first arrived in America, the big cats roamed all these areas and more. There is still enough remote territory to support a small population in most states. The only problem I see is that there is not all that much wilderness area, which increases the likelihood of human/cat encounters.

[bowberry]

My wife also saw one cross the road in front of her car. I said " it was probably a bobcat."

she said  "do You know the difference between a bobcat and a mountain lion?"

I said  "yes"

She said  "Well  so do I !"

I guess she saw a mountain lion.  

[jbpharmd]

There are absolutely large predators running around and the wildlife & fisheries departments do not want to admit it! I am in South Louisiana and I saw a Black Bear last year about 50 miles from the nearest known population. In years past I have seen cat tracks as large as my fist and multiple game wardens have told me that there are no cougars in the state. Well, about 5 years ago one shows up in someone's backyard in the Northern part of the state, and another pair is caught on trail cameras in the Center of the state. I'm sure these were just "isolated incidents" or "someone's escaped pet".

[calgarychef]

Having apex predators in an area is a good sign. It means there are large enough pieces of bush to allow them to live in.  Especially with cats and wolves it means that there was a "corridor" of wilderness that they could follow to get somewhere.  Be happy that you still have enough cover for the big cats.  We have thousands of them in alberta and they aren't generally much of a problem.

[Duncan80236]

I don't get it cougars are everywhere here what is the big deal?  We are getting wolves in Eastern Washington now though.  Should be fun when eventually I get to go wolf hunting.

[warpedarrow]

A few years ago there was one killed by a deer hunter within sight from my back porch.  I knew nothing of it until a picture and story were put into the next years special deer hunting edition of a small newspaper in our county.

I have heard them but never had the opportunity to see one.  I think that it would be a treat to see one in the wild.  

I do have a neighbor that runs a wolf rescue operation about a mile and a quarter southeast of our place.  He has quite the setup to keep them contained.  It reminds me a bit of the pens in the movie Jurassic Park.  I have been over there twice now and have several pictures.  He gets in the pens with them and says that sometimes they will want to be social and other times they will ignore him.  They get to howling every morning just prior to sunrise.  Quite easy to hear them over here and I imagine that there is no sleeping in at his place with all that noise every morning.

I wouldn't worry a lot about a track.  The animal that made it may be a hundred miles away by now.  From what I am told, they may make a circut several hundred miles long.

[Ray Hammond]

the reason they say they aren't there is because the Department of Natural Resources or the equivalant in each state is mandated, by law, to hvae a management plan for any large game species in the state.

If they admit the animal is there, they MUST have a management plan. That means money, and manpower. Most state natural resource departments are enduring budget cuts and have no 'extra' people to run that for a new species. Hence- there are no cougars in xxxxxx.

[Wudstix]

Years ago there was one in the swamps near Milford In Pike county northeast PA.    

[Thumper Dunker]

Tons of lions out here. I'm waiting for a wolf to show up while out calling. Lion track is not a bad thing.

[Tajue17]

saw a cougar yesterday at around sundown where I work in Cambridge Massachusetts, had a young one following it and they disappeared into the tree section near the memorial drive side of the Charles river,,,,,, sorry I didn't have my camera 8^)