Mountain Lions in Missouri

[hank franklin]

Here's a link to a story in today's STL PD about mountain lions. Story

I've seen one in Franklin County, near New Haven. We later found tracks that seemed to prove it pretty definitively. I called MDC and they didn't investigate.

I wonder what y'all think about this.

[mcp633]

I've seen one here in Cole County also. I believe if there is a self-sustaining population of cougars here, they are appearantly doing alright on their own with no need for additional protective measures. I doubt a cougar has many natural predators, and encounters with humans are rare, so I don't see a real need for them to be on the endangered list.

[jOrOb]

AR Game and Fish insists that there are no Cougars in AR. I have personally seen 3. Each was in a different area with significant distance between, so I doubt that they are even related, let alone the same cat. There are numbers of Black Panther sightings told around too, but I have never seen one.

I don't understand why they don't want to acknowledge their existence, but they spend a lot of time denying it.

[hank franklin]

I don't see that we'd have any interest in "protecting" mountain lions. I don't want one in my woods.

[Stuartwp]

I have a freind who reaises a lot of cattle. We where talking about Mountan lions last year and his position is if they show up in his cross hairs, they are certainly endagered.

I was also talking to a customer at work and he told me he had a freind around stockton who found one of his calves dead 12 feet up in the fork of a tree. The conservation Department told him it was a bobcat. I don't know if this is true or not (a good story never cost anything extra) either way, it would take a very healthy bobcat to drag a 70-100 pound calf that high up a tree.

Also worked with a lady who Father raises cattle south of Butler. He had a yearling calf show up sick and when he brought it in, it had a series of even cuts on both sides that where about five inches a part. The conservation Department also told him it was a bobcat. I have never seen bobcat tracks, but again a five inch spread and still be able to reach around to the ribs of a 400 pond yearly makes for a pretty heafty bob cat. And why would a bobcat jump on the back of 400 pound yearling in the first place?

[hank franklin]

I wonder why the MDC blows off mountain lion reports. I didn't call until I found the tracks. I took photos of the tracks, offered to send the photos. They didn't even want that.

[gonefishin]

I agree with all of you. There are certainly Mountain Lions in Mo and there have been for years. I think the MDC stays mum on the subject because they don't want people getting upset because there are dangerous predators on the loose. I see no reason to have populations of mountain lions in a state as populated as Missouri-especially one that makes a lot of money on outdoor activities. I agree with the farmer quoted earlier if I get one in my crosshairs--he will be extremely endangered".

[hoover25]

I wonder why the MDC blows off mountain lion reports. I didn't call until I found the tracks. I took photos of the tracks, offered to send the photos. They didn't even want that.

IMHO MDC does not want to acknowledge Felis concolor in Missouri because they are afraid of lawsuits. Basically, if MDC admits that there is a population of "dangerous or lethal" animals, then would the public hold them responsible for not "doing something to protect Missouri's citizens."?

I am also guessing that they receive a BUNCH of calls of people reporting pumas or puma tracks. While many of us know our critters, a lot of folks do not. I have personally talked to landowners that swore they had puma tracks on their land....I saw the tracks and they were most definately from a canine, not a cat. I am guessing that they are sick of going on those type of calls unless there was some agricultural damage or some human-cat episode.

That said, I saw a great big cat last year on my way West Plains. It had a long tail and was dragging a road kill deer off the road. It could have only been a puma.

Oh yeah, I have also heard of the escaped pet theory. Bascially, that most of the puma reports were of domestically raised pumas. Maybe so....I dunno, there are too many people out there with exotic pets.

Just my two cents.

[Randall]

i'm from warrenton, and i've seen more than one mountain lion, one being black that both my parents have seen consistently. i'm with gonefishin and flem on the "endangered" animal opinion... if it can eat me and i can see it, i'm gonna kill it.

my real problem is with people who raise large predators though. i doubt many of you will believe this, but there was actually a report of an african lioness that escaped from one of those places that raises large predators back when i was in highschool. for about two months i think, sheriffs deputies were escorting kids to and from the bus stop because of reported sightings on my road, within a mile from my house.

wild cats may pose a slight danger, and kill deer, cattle, and pets but a predator that is used to people is a threat when it escapes. you know it isn't afraid of people, and that it associates us with food, a deadly combination.

[jOrOb]

A couple of years ago, we had two big cats, I think lionesses, escape from a refuge that noone in a very small town knew existed. This place took in animals from people who no longer wanted them (like a pet that got too big, or an animal that was too old to be of use to the circus). These two big cats simply dug out under a fence and escaped. It was pretty worrisome for about a week. Eventually one was shot. The guy that shot it might have just been panicking, but he swears that the cat was stalking a house where children played in the yard.

This caused a big stink and eventually the refuge was closed.