Mountain Lions in Minnesota

[ezzy333]

In the past 2 or 3 years there have been some young males moving into Iowa and ever a couple in IL so I amsure there have been a few moving in and maybe back out of MN for past few years too. With the ban on hunting in too many places out west they are running out of territory and the young males are trying to find an area to call home. I would guess we will see a few more in the next few years.

Ezzy

[ezzy333]

When I was in Kansas years ago all it took was for someone to report they saw one and there would be 2 or 3 dozen sightings in the next few weeks. The best one was the guy who found their tracks along a gravel sand road. Even saw the critter making them. Had to change his story when it was discovered the kid that lived on that road was wearing his football spikes when he run along the edge of the road. Several even saw black ones. We have ahd those samr type of experiences in a lot of places so that is why the DNR requires proof before they can scare everyone with a report they are there.

Ezzy

[ezzy333]

Don't believe you can find black in out Mountain Lions. Several other big cats carry it like the African leopard but it isn't seen in tigers or lions.

Ezzy

[Don]

I believe that the Black cats down by Mexico are Panthers, not Mt Lions. Panthers are a bit smaller.

[AHGSP]

I'm not an expert and didn't sleep in a Holiday Inn Express, but have done a fair amount of research on the big cat and what I've read and been told by our Biologist is; they do not have an actual Black Fur, but like Grouse, have varying degree's of color variation that under differing lighting conditions appear to be Black, when in reality they are a darker brown to gray. FWIW, we have many sightings, typically in and around our larger(1 Mil. Ac.+-) Mon National Forest and George Washington N.F.(WV and VA 1.78 Mil. Ac.), every year and our DNR is in vehement opposition/denial of their existence here as well.

[markj]

DNR denied em in Iowa till a guy hit one with his car and killed it. They mounted it and put iton display.

[stlgsp]

MO denied them too until one was hit by a car. The first one they said was a fluke, after the second one was hit they admitted that there are a few. In 2001 a man shot and killed a wolf that was bothering his livestock thinking it was a coyote. It had an ear tag and radio collar and found that it had been released in Michigan.

The farm I deer hunt on is near a place that kept some caged big cats. It was an erie feeling sitting in the woods alone and hearing them roar early in the morning. It was kind of fun to bring someone new out and "forget" to tell them about the cats, after the first roar the walkie talkie would light up.

[High Voltage]

OUTDOORS NOTEBOOK: Mountain lion didn't come from Greenbush, Camp Ripley Archery hunt etc.
compiled by Brad Dokken
Grand Forks Herald - 11/02/2008

Mountain lion tale: A trio of mountain lions caught on trail camera eating a deer carcass didn’t come from northwest of Greenbush, Minn., officials say, despite a popular report making the rounds over the Internet the past couple of weeks.

According to the erroneous report, the trail camera photos “were taken near Russell’s cabin 18 miles northwest of Greenbush.”

Problem is, no one ever seemed to know who Russell was.

According to Stan Wood, manager of the Roseau River Wildlife Management Area, correspondence between Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officials and biologists from the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks conclude the cats were photographed near Keystone, S.D., in the far southwestern part of the state.

As the cougar cruises, that’s more than 700 miles southwest of Greenbush.

One of the cats also is sporting what appears to be a yellow ear tag, which South Dakota officials have attached to several mountain lions as part of a research project in that state.

While these particular cougars were nowhere near Greenbush, the presence of mountain lions in northwestern Minnesota certainly isn’t out of the question. In December 2004, a radio-collared mountain lion spotted near Arvilla, N.D., later was tracked to a remote area of the Roseau River WMA.

That cat later slipped across the border into Manitoba and hasn’t been heard from since.

[ACooper]

Moutain Lions (aka panthers, catamount, cougar) are all the same with different supspecies around parts of the country like the florida panther which is just a sub species of the rocky mountain cats. There has never been a proven black color phase mountain lion. Recently there have been many documented accounts of jaguars in the extreme south west parts of the US, New Mexico and Arizona, with cats caught on trail cams set up by researchers and a mountain lion hunter that treed one in AZ. Jaguars do come in a black phase but it is rare.

Here is an article and photo.

http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/ra ... rner-glenn

[Devils Creek]

Isn't it funny how all DNR's work? Even up here in Manitoba Canada....

I remember 20 years ago, Manitoba DNR was denying cougar sightings till one got hit by a car near Stony Mountain Prison. Probably about 50 people stopped and looked at the remains before it got scooped away.

Two years ago, near my home town there were three separate sightings in one week by reputable people in broad daylight. DNR said it was a bobcat.

A friend's two year old quarter horse colt came out of the bush with deep claw marks on both sides of its hind quarters (so deep the horse will carry the scars for life). DNR said it was done by a dog.

Then the pictures started to appear including two VERY clear close photos (like at about 20 feet). One up near Riding Mountain, and one down near the US border at Plum Coulee MB. It was pretty hard to dispute those, and DNR is now saying they're coming up from the Dakotas and MN. (there are rumours they were released to look after our excess deer population)

[ezzy333]

(there are rumours they were released to look after our excess deer population)

I think this has been used in every state here in the mid-west also. Guys, stop and think about why the DNR does what they do. They can not say there are big cats in the state until it has been proved or you would have a near panic from some people and sightings from many many more and all of it would be rumor till proved. I have been through this so often and seen the results. And it isn't just related to wildlife. Same thing happened with UFO's. And the weather department can't report tornadoes till they are confirmed since people who should know better report so many sightings that just aren't true. Happens to be a product of our society. We have a mountain lion here in our local area that is getting old and feeble by now I am sure but it has never killed anything and no one has ever been able to get a picture though it has been sighted many times. And I stood next to an intelligent individual one evening when she saw a tornado and run for the basement screaming when a little scud cloud was headed in our direction. And I am sure you all could report some of the same experiences in your own neighborhood. There are always questionable clues such as some of the people seeing black ones or the pictures that somehow is the same picture that was shown in another state.

I want to know when the cats show up but I also don't want to know when they really aren't here and that says show me the proof. I know for a fact that is the way most DNR's work, thank God.

Ezzy

[BigShooter]

FYI -

A few short years ago officials used to deny the existence of Lions in North Dakota. Here's an excerpt from the 11/17/08 N.D. Game & Fish newsletter,

" Seventh Cat Taken in Zone 1, One More Closes Zone
North Dakota’s sixth and seventh mountain lions in zone 1 were taken by deer hunters over the weekend. If one more cat is taken from zone 1 before March 31, 2009, the quota of eight will have been reached and the season within zone 1 will close immediately.
If an eighth lion is taken, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department will notify media outlets via a press release announcing the close of the season in zone 1. Hunters should monitor the mountain lion situation closely, especially with the deer gun season open through Nov. 23, by accessing the Game and Fish Department website at gf.nd.gov.
Zone 1 includes land south of ND Highway 1804 from the Montana border to the point where ND Highway 1804 lies directly across Lake Sakakawea from ND Highway 8, crossing Lake Sakakawea then south along ND Highway 8 to ND Highway 200, then west on ND Highway 200 to U.S. Highway 85, then south on U.S. Highway 85 to the South Dakota border.
Zone 2, with no quota, is the remainder of the state and is open through March 31, 2009."

Mark

[gonehunting4days]

I live in Windom which is in the SW part of the state and we have had alot of siteings in the last 3-4 years. If you ask me there its just getting to be to many just to be considered and occasional siting of one passing through the area.

[Tokengimp]

As a kid growing up on a dairy farm just north of Ellsworth in western Wisconsin I saw a Mountain lion along with my dad and brother. It was 1968 we were coming home from the annual Lutefisk Supper at church held the last Thursday in October. Dad was driving the '56 Sedan Deville with my younger brother in the middle and I in the passenger seat we came over the hill past the Art Overby farm on an old gravel road. Just as the headlights reached the bottom of the hill next to a very large Cotton wood tree we could immediately see it was very large. The distinct shape and color and nearly 8 foot long head to tail can't be mistaken for anything else. Dad's jaw dropped when he saw it and at the same time he said "A Mountain Lion!" I was asking him "Is that a Mountain Lion?"
My little brother was only 5years old at the time and had to sit up to see over the dash. When he saw it, jumped in the back seat and hid under the blanket.
For years they have been reported by various folks near El Paso, WI along the Rush River.