cougars are back in sw wisconsin!

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FYI: Cougars are back here! When we moved here, I heard rumours of cougars over in Avalanche, about 20 miles away (the west fork of the kickapoo is some of the best trout fishing in the nation, if you are interested....) and WildCat Mountain is called such because of rumoured cougar sightings. Well, I go to church at a monastery located outside of Boscobel about 15 miles from my house and one of the monks-to-be had one walk across the path in front of him two weeks ago. Then, the neighbor there heard one, and had one of his cats ripped up.

So, Saturday night (8/31) I am outside at 10:30 and HEARD one. It sounded like a woman getting murdered, and it reverberated through the valley below (I live on the ridge). It was one of the most amazing sounds I have ever heard. Rather envigorating, since I never in my life thought I would ever hear that! I called my friend who lives about 5 miles away in Dog Hollow, and she said her kids claim to have heard one at night two weeks ago, but she didn't believe it until I called.

-- marcee king (thathope@mwt.net), September 03, 2001

Answers

Hey Marcee! How far are you from Hillsboro? My brother used to have a youth camp over there. They drove thru Wildcat on their way to church all the time. I love that area!

-- Deb Foster (DFoster987@aol.com), September 03, 2001.

About 7 or 8 years ago, I was watching the hill by my house. There is a wildlife path at it's base where animals go to a rather large swampy area. I saw a black panther trot across the field there. We've had sightings of them(it) around the Waupaca area for years. It was a rather large creature and I've watched for it ever since. My husband saw a lynx one day while going to the dump. It doesn't surprise me if there are cougar in Wisconsin. But then, not too much surprises me since moving out from the city. God bless!

-- Ardie from WI (ardie54965@hotmail.com), September 03, 2001.

Deb: I'm not far from Hillsboro....how long it takes depends on how fast you take the curves....about 45 min to an hour south. I live in the middle of nowhere with a Soldiers Grove mailing address, but nearer to Rising Sun. Yeah, it is gorgeous here, but don't tell anyone.

Ardie: I feel like I'm living "little house on the Prairie" sometimes now. That was all I ever wanted to do as a kid....so I better get ba ck to my canning so I can have something to show for the day. Somehow if I don't have something solid to hold onto or look at I don't feel accomplished....

-- marcee king (thathope@mwt.net), September 03, 2001.


I live up in Northern WI by Chequamegon Bay area. Ten years ago, my husband spotted a young cougar near our place. At that time there were more sightings in our area. My neighbor had one on her back porch. Not sure what they sound like though. We have also seen a bobcat or two in the last couple years. They sound like a woman screaming. My Mom had one screaming near her place two weeks ago.

-- Jeanne (jat@ncis.net), September 03, 2001.

Now the question is: Are they there because of increasing numbers which is good, or are they there because their previous habitat is being destroyed and they had to move,which of course is very bad.

We had one near here about 2 years ago and of course the good ole boys felt they just had to hunt it down and kill it.

We have a fantastic organization here called Operation Wildlife. They rehabilitate animals back into the wild. When they get a large cat ready to release it is always a bittersweet time since they know it's average lifespan will only be about 18 months because of the people who will shoot them for no reason other than that they exist.

-- debra in ks (windfish@toto.net), September 03, 2001.



We live in central Wisconsin and last year we had a cougar in the back field (eye witness) and the other neighbor heard it. Wasn't too thrilled about going in the woods to bow hunt after that!!

-- Pat (mikulptrc@aol.com), September 03, 2001.

I don't doubt any of you that have seen or heard a cougar. However, I can't help but wonder if they're "back" or whether these are "dumped" animals. All too many people obtain "cute" wild animals as babies and then can't care for them. Some of them get dumped or escape. Not that WE will be likely to figure it out -- I just wonder. I do have a cyber friend who lives in Gary, Indiana (it's a large city, in case anyone doesn't know) who was recounting her sister's adventures in capturing a cougar loose in the city (her sister is in animal control). That was an escapee.

There have been NUMEROUS sightings, over a long period of years (20+) in SW England (Devon or Cornwall, can't remember) of large cats, usually reported as being black. Many people are certain they're cougars that have escaped into the wild.

-- Joy F [in So. Wisconsin] (CatFlunky@excite.com), September 03, 2001.


hey this is off subjet a bit..but can anyone tell me what it is like homesteading in sw wisconsin? Specifically nearish to Monroe?

Email me if you'd rather-I am from Norhtern Illinois (chicago burbs) and am sorta familiar with the garden stuff there-but where I am from it is flat. the area we are looking at is hilly so I am told. We re going for a visit this weekend....would just liek to learn more about the general area.

thanks, Sarah

-- sarah (heartsongacres@juno.com), September 03, 2001.


I have heard the "woman screaming" sounds while in Connecticut 8 years ago and again behind our house in Maine within the past year. We have lost many cats as well. One neighbor had a dog disapear. Scary, but thrilling.

-- Epona (crystalepona2000@yahoo.com), September 03, 2001.

i have seen classified adds in the Dallas TX newspaper offering tigers for $5G and leopards for $3G. although i don't remember the price i also saw adds for lions, black leopards and monkeys. they also had bobcat kittens for $600 which in TX doesn't require any special permits. when i was a kid my brother & his dad scored a triple on bobcat while fall tukey hunting, a week later the local papper ran an article where the fish & game guys said there were absolutely no bobcat in the county where they had been hunting. alot of pros aren't as smart as they think they are.

-- Pops (cindy556@devil-dog.com), September 04, 2001.


To Debra and Joy: There is a rumour, which apparently is a likely scenerio due to the chain of gossip that around Boaz this guy was breeding them in captivity and then got in trouble with the law for something and let them all loose. This makes them more dangerous because they are used to humans, if this is true.

To Pat about bow hunting: Well, my dad has been reading up on cougars (animal lover) as there have been sightings in central IL as well. Apparently, you don't have much to fear. You are more likely to get killed in a car wreck, apparently. However, to be safe, avoid the woods at dusk/in the dark, and if you run into one, DO NOT RUN. Look it in the eyes, grab a stick or rock if you can, and start waving your arms and yelling in a DEEP voice. This will usually scare them off.

Years ago he taught me that if I was ever attacked by a large dog or cat (like a cougar) the best defense is to wad your fist in a ball and ram it down the back of their throat as far as you can. You may get chewed up some, but you will choke them to death, and they can't get to the rest of you that way. I don't know why my father chose to impart this bit of knowledge upon me, and I don't know if it is accurate but it does make sense.

Kids have more to fear being small, high-pitched in tone, and likely to run.

-- marcee king (thathope@mwt.net), September 04, 2001.


The environ Mentalists are reintroducing panthers into the mountains of Virgina, into areas populated by quite a few humans, for the expressed purpose of keeping the deer population in check. After reading up on what all the environmentalist movement wants as long range goals, I really suspect that those panthers were introduced to help reduce human population levels too. It makes sense, if you think humans are a cancer on the face of the earth, and harmful to "our Mother Planet", to take steps that would scare humans back into the cities for protection from nature.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), September 04, 2001.

We're also in Central Wisc. and have heard of several "eyewitness" accounts (by reliable sources) of a lone wolf in the area and several bear. Which is worse to encounter in the woods alone? Wolf, Bear or Cougar? I grew up in Upper Michigan and am used to having bear around. I am fairly confident that taking the precautions we do, like singing and whistling, making lots of noise and taking a german shepard and blue heeler with us as we hike around our place, that the bear will be more afraid of us and run the other way when they hear us coming, but the lone wolf sighting and now this cougar news makes me a little hesitant to venture out alone with my 4 year old. Also, my husband recently encountered a domestic cat, gone wild, who had apparently contracted some kind of rabies that came after him when he had the blue heeler with him! Yikes, It's a little hard to carry a rifle (22) and garden produce (our garden is a hike through the woods) at the same time.

-- Rose Marie Wild (wintersongfarm@yahoo.com), September 04, 2001.

A guy near to where I used to work a couple years ago laundered his meth money by dealing in big cats. He had trouble keeping them in fresh meat and so it wouldn't suprise me if he let some loose if he was having a tight month. There have been confirmed sightings south of here tho (S.MO.)

-- Susan (smtroxel@socket.net), September 04, 2001.

Here in S. E. KS, we have bobcats, cougers and some have reported seeing black bear. We never go down to the woods unarmed. Only thing I have seen here are bobcats. And yes, we understand 'they' are trying to keep down the deer population by reintroducing wild animals. Wonder if they ever thought about raising the limit and extending the season. Rifles are a whole lot safer and efficient than couger and black bear. What we must remember though when out in the woods with our big bad firearms, is if we shoot, then we must shovel, then shut up.

-- Belle (gardenbelle@terraworld.net), September 04, 2001.


I hope that these wonderful animals are returning to habitat that we humans forced them out of. Why are there so many hostile posts about wildlife? I have coyotes very near me and a fox den in my pasture. SUre, I occasionally loose a chicken, but I have greater losses of ducks to the eagles in the spring (the ducks figure the problem out and hide out in the run in shed for a few weeks until they leave). I'm sorry to loose one of my fowl, but I understand that nature has a balance. When people took over this land, we took space away from the creatures that were living here. As hard as it is for some people, we need to learn to share with these animals or we are just proving how ignorant we really are.

-- Dianne (yankeeterrier@hotmail.com), September 05, 2001.

daffodillylady: Someone else said they don't think these were set free, just returning to their natural environment. I fear more from hitting deer in my car than from the cougars. We don't have enough hunters to deal with all of them, and the cougars would rather have deer meat.

Rose Marie: I would say you have nothing to fear ever from a wolf. A bear you can help keep off your property, I am told, buy putting out containers with honey around your property borders, and have tons of cayenne mixed in. I don't know if it works, but I read this. Still, bells help scare them off. I don't think there is anything to fear there either except maybe for when the young are first born. Cougars are not a real threat either. Just don't let your son go wandering off at dusk/evening alone in the woods.

Belle: Shoot, shovel and shut up? What a hoot!

Dianne:

While I think Belle's "3 sh's" are a hoot, I have to agree with you. I love the coyotes, I love living with wildlife around, and I don't feel any great danger. More like aw. I will be more cautious, though, when I get my goats next year.

-- marcee king (thathope@mwt.net), September 05, 2001.


We have a few cougar here in very rural SE OH too, one was sighted on our property by wild turkey bowhunters a few springs ago. I have not seen or heard it, I wish I could though!!!

We have plenty of deer and small game for cougar to eat, I don't fear them at all. A large dog, German Shepards are best, at discouraging cougar from getting too close to your homestead.

-- Annie Miller in SE OH (annie@1st.net), September 08, 2001.


My cougar story:

 Journal entries for December 2000
 Journal entries for December 2000

I actually did see the critter itself driving up the hill one night.  I also had seen its tracks when I was still on foot in the snow.  About the size of my hand, no claw marks (ergo not a dog).  The critter I saw was most definitely a cougar.

I did try to report this sighting, but the forester guy I talked to refused to take it seriously.  He sneeringly told me there are no eastern cougar in Missouri.  Ya know what, I could not care less whether I sighted an "eastern" cougar returning to its natural range, or a "western" cougar outside its natural range.  I also had them tell me I must have seen a bobcat.  Pardon me, a bobcat is about the size of a large housecat, about 15 lbs or so (not the 40 someone else mentioned).  And, it DOESN'T HAVE but a STUB of a tail.  Not a big long thang whipping around behind its back as it lopes easily down the road and into the woods.  Also told me the tracks must have been from a dog - hmmm, with no claw marks, and the size of my palm?  I don't think so.

This was definitely a cougar, and it has been cited in the area by other people as well.  No matter what Fish and Game says.

Am I worried?  Not really.  Disney nature flics aside, cougars seldom attack people, especially when deer are so plentiful.  This one has been around for several years at least, and is obviously very shy of people.  Nobody is likely to shoot it because it is illegal and Fish and Game REALLY enforces that law.  It'd be too much work to hunt it down since it is shy of people anyway, and most folks likely to plug it for fun are also too lazy to track it.  There are just enough folks living around here to make it difficult for someone to track it without being seen trespassing.  So far, its been left alone. I am, btw, in S Central MO, 1 county north of the Arkansas border.

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), September 08, 2001.


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