Cougars

[fishinwrench]

Cougars are alot like tornadoes.... Fascinating to look at from a distance, but when there's one in your neighborhood it makes you a bit uneasy.

[jdmidwest]

...you'll notice most of these incidences were in heavily populated counties...

Probably more in lesser populated counties, just less people around to photograph them.

[jeb]

Well if you want to call 3 fatalities and 11 nonfatal in 26 years in a very large heavily populated Mountain Lion friendly state a track record then you're right. I would call it a pretty poor record myself. I think their deaths from dogs is probably higher though.

I didn't say it was a major deal. But you said they "don't have any track record of being a danger to humans". I was merely pointing out that that is not factually correct.

[wayne b]

most people would think that I am nuts but a few years go my dad and me found some tracks round a pond that looked like large cat tracks(no claw marks) we also found some deer kills that had bite marks to the back of the skull and to the throat region also the hair had been pulled out of the of the deer and as scattered around in a fairly large area ( not sure if hawks and buzzards scattered the hair). We then saw what we think was a large cat as it crossed the road in front of his truck. it was light reddish tan color and was about the size of a large redbone hound but its tail was much longer and bushier than a dogs would be. Mdc at that time told us there were no cougars in Mo and that tracks were probably from a dog but they never came out and looked at them. I am still convinced that what we saw was a cougar. I grew up hunting and generally spending time in the woods and still do but I have never encountered tracks like that again or seen an animal colored like that since.

[labradorguy]

I saw a one on my farm in southern Jefferson Co. last fall while bush hogging a field. It was a youngster; I could tell by the size and the coloring. I spoke with MDC but they had zero interest in coming out. That fall I found 13 dead deer on my property, none near water, so no blue tounge. One had it's back cut up. I asked MDC if they wanted to come out and confirm it but they declined.

I've spent almost my entire career working outdoors in British Columbia, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona. I know what a cougar is when I see one. They have watched me working, stalked me while I was elk hunting, and I have sat and watched them in the desert with a spotting scope. My local agent who has been helping me with restoring the quail population believed me and asked the MDC cougar expert to come out. She pointed out my experience with them, the deer carcass that they could look at, and the hair I found in a barbwire fence. No interest. The boss said the last time he went out, it turned out to be a 40lb. red tabby cat.... Another guy said he believed that maybe it could have been a cougar traveling through but "doubted it". He said it was possible that young males were coming down the Missouri River corridor and expanding their range. I mentioned that I believed there was a breeding female out at the farm and all interest from MDC immediately went away. I believe they don't want to acknowledge them.....

[Wayne SW/MO]

A female would be a different story, but beyond that I do believe a young male will hang around where there are a lot deer until he gets that urge, and will then move on.

Given the reasons behind their expansion, eventually there has to be some movement of young females also.

[labradorguy]

No sightings and no dead deer this year, so I believe you are right. It was exciting and I was happy to see one at my farm. I'd like to see another one out there.

[Wayne SW/MO]

We had the tracks of one coming through our barnyard in OR. We may have had other visits, but it was high desert and seldom wet enough for tracks. I would always see their tracks in the snow when elk hunting late. I always hoped to see one but never did.

[labradorguy]

I had one stalking me one night when I hunted right up till dark. I was chasing a very big bull and ended up about three miles from my truck. I had to walk out in the dark on an old logging road. It was in 3-4" of fresh snow and mostly uphill at 11,000 ft., so it was slow going. I heard a bugle and stepped off the logging road about 100' to overlook a valley and see if I could see them against the fresh snow. It was too late to shoot, but I thought it may give me an idea of what the herd was doing for dawn. I only looked for about a minute and walked back to the old road out. Right on top of my track was a big cougar foot. The sun was down, dark timber on both sides for the next two miles, and I'm alone. That will raise the hair on the back of your neck... I repeated the same thing about 1/4 mile later by walking out of the timber into an aspen stand. I came back in and bingo, his tracks were all over mine... I shined my light but no eyes. The logging road made a 90 through an old clear cut before heading into a mile of really thick timber. I did the 90 and got down about 70 yards up the trail, next to a deadfall. I waited there to see what he was up to. Within 5 minutes a dark shadow came up the road. It hesitated at the bend and made a couple false starts in my direction, then backed up and continued straight along the break in the direction of the last bugle. I was glad to see him move along. That was one of those hunting trips that you never forget. lol

[Quillback]

I had one stalking me one night when I hunted right up till dark. I was chasing a very big bull and ended up about three miles from my truck. I had to walk out in the dark on an old logging road. It was in 3-4" of fresh snow and mostly uphill at 11,000 ft., so it was slow going. I heard a bugle and stepped off the logging road about 100' to overlook a valley and see if I could see them against the fresh snow. It was too late to shoot, but I thought it may give me an idea of what the herd was doing for dawn. I only looked for about a minute and walked back to the old road out. Right on top of my track was a big cougar foot. The sun was down, dark timber on both sides for the next two miles, and I'm alone. That will raise the hair on the back of your neck... I repeated the same thing about 1/4 mile later by walking out of the timber into an aspen stand. I came back in and bingo, his tracks were all over mine... I shined my light but no eyes. The logging road made a 90 through an old clear cut before heading into a mile of really thick timber. I did the 90 and got down about 70 yards up the trail, next to a deadfall. I waited there to see what was he was up to. Within 5 minutes a dark shadow came up the road. It hesitated at the bend and made a couple false starts in my direction, then backed up and continued straight along the break in the direction of the last bugle. I was glad to see him move along. That was one of those hunting trips that you never forget. lol

That's spooky. I lived in the Pac NW for 20 years, lots of cougars in the region, did a lot of hunting, fishing and hiking and never saw one.