Comments on: Wisconsin’s Big Cats

By: kittenz

kittenz — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:17:14 +0000

captainadam_21,

I don’t recall having said anything about “ranching”; perhaps you should actually read my post before you cast stones.

Most people who have livestock do not have such large-scale operations. Those who do, have to accept occasional predation as part of the cost of doing business. Problem individuals of predator species can be eliminated on a case-by-case basis. Other possible deterrents to predators, such as livestock-guardian dogs, are being used by some ranchers with a lot of success.

Pumas are part of the natural balance of predator & prey. Irresponsible ranching and misguided predator-elimination programs have done much to disrupt that balance.

By: squatch-toba

squatch-toba — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 17:13:50 +0000

Hi amstar!!! You are completly right in what you say. There was a supposed sighting of a cougar in Charleswood ( a ‘burb of Winnipeg) not long ago. I think the bottom line is that cougars have always been here. It’s just a matter of them becoming more common because of the boom in deer numbers. I have seen cougar tracks in the Sandilands Prov. forest, and also in the area around Stead Mb. And yes, just like Sasquatch, the “powers that be” close their minds and shake their heads when a witness comes forward. By the way amstar ,you can get a great book called Manitoba’s Big Cats; The story of cougars in Manitoba. It was available at the Mb. Museum in Wpg., but can be ordered through book stores I’m sure!

By: amstar

amstar — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:02:00 +0000

I live in Southeastern Manitoba near the Whiteshell Provincial Park (about an hours drive from where a man had photographed a cougar a year or two ago).

Last December one of the neighbor’s dogs was mauled by a large animal and had the fur and skin ripped off its stomach. It survived, and at first the Vet’s only explanation was that it may have been attacked by a bear. Now, based on the examination of the claw marks at the time of the attack and on some recent cougar sightings in the area, the Vet feels a cougar was the culprit.

Unfortunately, no matter how many times people in our area report a cougar sighting, the Wildlife authorities continue to poo-poo the idea that a cougar is prowling around our area. We live just to the west of the entrance to a vast wilderness area and it does not seem out of the ordinary that the big cat may travel looking for food.

Unfortunately, like Sasquatch, no one believes it until there is photographic proof– or else someone or some animal gets killed! Cougars are out there and anyone living in a rural area must take precautions.

By: captainadam_21

captainadam_21 — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 14:41:37 +0000

Kittenz, your knowledge of ranching is laughable. Just the idea of someone rounding up hundreds of cattle every night to place them in a barn (which would have to be the size of a city block or larger) from a pasture the may be miles and miles away from the barn is impossible.
But the idea of cougars making a comeback is a reality. A few years ago, in South Dakota there was the same rumor floating around that Game, Fish, and Parks was purposefully releasing cougars to thin out the deer herds.

By: crgintx

crgintx — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 13:39:09 +0000

DLE, the cougar wasn’t pressing into human territory, humans are pressing into its territory. Population growth throughout the Western states is pressing into areas that were wilderness just 10-15 years ago. Clear cut logging and other forms of human land use has greatly reduced the feeding grounds of deer, the cougar’s favorite meal. Young male cougars and older cougars no longer in there prime are forced into areas with marginal game aka civilization. Even large dogs are easy pickings for the cougar who can take down game as large as adult elk, 5 times its size. As I recall from the cougar attacks in Cali, the cougar that killed those folks was a young male. My $.02.

By: sschaper

sschaper — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 05:22:19 +0000

I don’t doubt that they are back. It is general knowledge that a cougar has been denning somewhere in the Mankato, Minnesota area for some years, no doubt she’d had kittens and they’ve grown up. And of course there is that wolverine caught on security camera in Zumbrota a couple of years back. And this whole area is prairie, especially out towards Mankato, not forest. Wisconsin has a lot of forest in the north, and naturally cats will expand outward when they get old enough not to be tolerated in their mother’s territory.

I have to agree, cougars kill people and livestock. Free range animals aren’t feasibly put indoors every night. And the human casualties, such as they’ve had in California and Boulder, Colorado as the cats expand their range, well, let’s just say that I’m not a misanthropist.

By: dle

dle — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 03:31:54 +0000

I lived in the Los Gatos (“The Cats”), CA, area during the Internet boom. The town was part of Silicon Valley, a mix of hilly wilds and large suburbs.

During that time, at least two people were killed and a couple more badly injured by a cougar roaming the area. The cat was discovered to be purposefully stalking people. It was eventually shot and killed. Big cats have persisted in the area, though.

While cougars have their place in God’s created world, they do not mix well with people, especially today. I know I would fear for the safety of my family should cougars continue to press back into densely populated areas.

By: eireman

eireman — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:09:44 +0000

These sightings are nothing new. Ever since early settlers hunted cougars, pushing them farther west, sightings periodically crop up. It stands to reason, they’re not extinct and all of North America was once their range. But I think the increase in recent years could be traced to the population boom in the west, especially along the Front Range. It could be that as they were once forced westward, that now they are once more being forced out of their habitats. In essence, they’ve nowhere left to run. In time, I think wildlife officials will be forced to recognize their return to eastern haunts. A recent documentary illustrated how rangers working in an Arizona refuge for years still had never caught a glimpse of these elusive cats. They’re shy, well-camoflauged, and rarely move about in the day. Makes for the perfect recipe to hide from man, right?

By: kittenz

kittenz — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:53:37 +0000

It is a wonderful thing that pumas are repopulating their former range.

The fact that ONE of them took temporary refuge in a barn does not change that.

The cat leaped out of the barn, right past a surprised man, and did not even attempt to hurt the man; its only concern was ro get away.

People may have to begin securing their livestock indoors at night, and closing their barn doors, but they should do that anyway.

By: mthood

mthood — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:18:15 +0000

I work in Milton, WI, and live not far away as well. There have been sightings off and on for many years, however the DNR never recognized them.

I don’t think you would call it a population boom of big cats. Most of South Central Wisconsin is farm land broken up with small patches of woods, so there aren’t that many places for a large population of cats to exist.