Cougar sighting in Drumbo

mikej · Post by **mikej** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 5:57 pm

there have been numerous sightings here in our my small town . last year we were reading of sightings every week in our local paper. there was even one case where it attacked a family dog. we have the same story about the mnr releasing them to control the deer pop. i don't know weather to believe that or not. the mnr is telling us they are an escaped pet, there was even something in the paper saying that it should be shot on site if it is an escaped pet. these things are such a grey area you never know what or who to believe

maple · Post by **maple** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 6:50 pm

One of the handouts I got from the MNR display at the Carp Outdoors Show last weekend, lists the cougar as "Endangered" in South-eastern Ontario.

Quite a change from their denying it's existance for years. There must be some political or financial implications in that decision.

It's good to know they are around though. I think.

Maple

chris4570 · Post by **chris4570** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 8:02 pm

Cougars at one time, and perhaps have never seized to exist in Ontario.

How many "pet" cougars are there for sightings to be linked to domesticated animals????

mikej · Post by **mikej** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:01 pm

has anyone ever seen a big black cat similar to a cougar

Chris Dillard · Post by **Chris Dillard** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:05 pm

In the last few years we have had several black bear sighted and relocated near my home. About 8 years ago a friend of mine and I were coonhunting and treed a lion in a cut over in a very remote area near where I live. The cat let us get about 100 yards to the tree and bailed out as we approached. A very unusual occurrence and very exciting!!

mikej · Post by **mikej** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:12 pm

what do you mean by lion ? mountain lion

ecoaster · Post by **ecoaster** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:17 pm

I have a few "pet" cats, but nothing as big as a cougar

. I don"t think they are a common pet, and I am sure that all of the sightings are not all lost or released pets.

Pydpiper · Post by **Pydpiper** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:42 pm

At one point I had a chance to read hours of the reports, most were just comical, old ladies calling the police in the middle of the night because of a noise and a shadow, road crossings at night, only two out of a huge stack were actually worth reading, but all had to be documented.
Typical public behaviour, once the thought is set free everyone "thinks" they seen something, it must have been a cougar.
Problem here is that there has been very few factual encounters. A while back some scat was found, once it was identified the MNR was forced to make it public, it turned sightings on like a switch.
When you hear the term sighting it does not mean anything has been confirmed, it simply means a report was made. Like the little town I live in, now that the word is out people are going to be looking for stuff, rest assured that glimpse of a dog farmer Jack sees out of the corner of his eye was the cat, he just knows it was..
And if you believe what you read in the paper, well, never mind.
If there was more than one or two, someone somewhere would have it documented, a camera phone, a trail cam even a footprint..

Grizzly Adam · Post by **Grizzly Adam** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:42 pm

ecoaster wrote:I have a few "pet" cats, but nothing as big as a cougar .

Here's the only "big cat" around our house.

Note that his presence is a threat to our game populations!

Grizzly Adam · Post by **Grizzly Adam** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:46 pm

Pydpiper wrote: If there was more than one or two, someone somewhere would have it documented, a camera phone, a trail cam even a footprint..

I feel the same way about the fabled "black panther" of East Carolina.

No tracks.

No scat.

No hair.

No carcass.

No car collisions.

No trail cam shots.

No photographs.

No treeing or baying by hounds during bear season.

No anything, but people swearing they saw one, or know someone who did.

I'm always skeptical of reports of animal populations for which there is virtually no hard evidence.

I respect all of you, and maybe you do have lots and lots of cougar in the area, but if you don't have any more evidence than our folks do ... well.

mikej · Post by **mikej** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 9:51 pm

that is a great shot grizz.

pyd i didn't say i believed the papers. actually i am quite skeptical of the whole thing it is something i would have to see to believe i think but the fact still remains they may still be out there. i think you could probably believe 1 out of 100 cougar sightings maybe not even that many. i think if some one sees anything near the size of a cougar then it has to be a cougar. some of the apparent sightings here have said it is brown and some say it is black

Pydpiper · Post by **Pydpiper** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 10:07 pm

That wasn't aimed at you Mike, it was a generic comment.
It is more like 1 in 2000 sightings are worth reading though..
I seen the Cougar, broad daylight, 20 yards in front of me. I had a coffee in in my hand and I was 100 yards from an old rifle range, I was heading down to set up my new .17 HMR.
It didn't even dawn on me what happened, I set up my gun and half way through the day I decided that something just wasn't right about that encounter. I can see it clearly when I think back, there is absolutely no mistaking that animal for any other.
When I called the MNR they sorta blew me off, asked some basic questions and when they got to my occupation I was instantly transferred and they began to take my words a bit more seriously.
If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I really have no idea what my opinion on this would be. I think I would be inclined to doubt it all.

mikej · Post by **mikej** » Mon Apr 06, 2009 10:37 pm

do you work with animals pyd

Chris Dillard · Post by **Chris Dillard** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 12:46 am

Mike thats right. I've seen pictures of dead mountain lions on the interstates in south Alabama but that is the only one I've seen alive. We got a good look at it through my buddies scope. The tree it was up was a old dead snag. If I had to guess on a weight I'd say somewhere between 125lbs to 150lbs. I wonder if the cats around here have anything in common with the bears. Most of the bear darted and relocated are from south Mississippi or Florida according to their tagging information.