Are big cats back on Midwestern prowl?

just southern wrote:

<quoted text> You sir are a moron, the wis. dept. of. nat. resources stated that THEY planted the cats, the Nicolet national forest is over 2.5 million acres, stretching from nearly mid wis. to the midlle of the U.P. that is where they 'hid' them. The indian reservation borders this area and the D.N.R. surmises that those which were released there moved to that area as well. You should keep your mouth shut about that which you have no knowledge, I bet you have always been a know it all and a bully, remember, a know it all= know nothing at all, what a knob.

You referred to 60 "breeding pairs," a number likely not matched in the total of all the zoos in the country, where habitat is created to match their wild environment. Even with that source available, the likelihood of coming up with that many proven breeders would be a pretty big stretch. Besides, 60 breeding pairs would pop out another 120 - 150 cubs at minimum; in their "proving" phase. Not a particularly manageable number, either.

How about taking a bit of a logic check, before spewing personal insults. Making that type of comments, while hiding behind a keyboard is what they call bullying.

in that case it was probably a overweight domesticated house cat.

Darkwater wrote:

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The one I saw had a long light brown tail, not a short dark one. It was also larger than a German Shepard.

Tony wrote:

in that case it was probably a overweight domesticated house cat.
<quoted text>

LOL yikes!

Sweet Sue wrote:

These are dangerous predators which stalk and attack from behind. Since there is concrete proof they are here, the public needs to know how to protect themselves and to avoid them in their habitat. This is a serious matter.

Mexicans have been around for years...why single them out now???

They have been tracking large cats around saline,pope and hardin counties for a while.

Black Hills wrote:

The graphic is wrong, at least in South Dakota. There is not a single confirmation in western South Dakota shown on this graphic. The mountain lion population in the Black Hills is perhaps the largest around. Western Nebraska has a good amount, but probably not as many as the Black Hills, however there is a large cluster of red dots, Do we need to go back to geography class?

The article didn't contain the entire report or didn't show it correctly. The Black Hills of S.D. are a known, established, recognized breeding area for mountain lions along with western North Dakota and Nebraska. We even had two in/near Omaha..one tranquilized and in our zoo, as he had been injured, and one hit by a car on I-80 just south . Experts say both came from the Black Hills area.. I am not sure why it didn't show up on your graphic.

I'm out in western Illinois and do not want to see any kind of "Big Cat" introduced. This is a load of BS, they won't keep the deer population down. What's easier to catch... a deer or a baby calf, a small pet dog or a todler playing in the back yard?

Cats like that go after the easiest thing they can catch.

They've already killed a cougar out here and have pictures of more just north of us... on the back porch of a house... not chasing a deer.

You people who think this is a good idea need to have your heads examined.

Dean wrote:

Two months ago I was driving on Oak Park ave and about 148th street in Oak Forest. I seen what appeared to be a big cat about the width of the car in front of me run across the street. At first I thought it was a dog or coyote. Then I realized it was way to big to be either.

You seen 'im? He was an Artesian!!!

just me wrote:

LaLa, you really are from Lalaland. There are no bears in Illinois. I did however, see the biggest cat I ever saw, with the longest tail I ever saw, come out of the woods just as if he/she owned them on 31st Street just west of LaGrange Rd. A deer had bounded across 31st street a few seconds prior, and then out came this cat. I don't know if it was a Bobcat, but I always though Bobcats were on the small side, and this cat was anything but small.

There are too Bears in Chicago. You will be able to see them this fall in last place!!

I hate cats

An artical in the Gilmer County Paper (Ellijay, GA.) some time in the spring of 2007, stated the Eastern Cougar was officially on the "Extinct" list.
Maybe they have just been migrating west to get away from all the development that has taken place in the North Georgia Mountains.??? The development has distroyed the natural topography.

Be good to see them.make for a good hunt.

The cougars aren't "back" or "migrating". They never left. My father saw one in Southern Illinois in the sixties. He was on a farm tractor and the cat pretty much ignored it and loped across a plowed field (we gathered a paw print but no one was much interested).

My brother found two deer carcasses in the loft of our old barn a couple of years ago. The carcasses looked as if they had been eaten with some bones scattered. The only way into that loft is 10 ft. up a permanent wooden ladder.

I saw one this morning here in South BArrington

I saw a cougar last night about 11:00 pm in the edge of the trees on the side of Butterfield Road ( Rt. 56 ) right by Hidden Lake Forest Preserve. This isn't the first time. Last summer I almost hit a deer that a cougar was chasing across the same road into that same forest preserve. I just missed the cougar, too.

About 4 months ago I saw a Bob Cat near Buncome ( S. IL. It was very beautiful. It just walked across the road in front of my car and then turned and looked at me. It was very comfortable with the situation and was not alarmed. This is the first time I saw a bob cat.

Ther are some big cats in teh Big Muddy.And if you want to see some really big cats one needs to go make the short drive to Grand Tower,IL and fish the Mississippi

About a month ago in Southern Illinois, my husband and I were driving and also saw a Bobcat. He was walking in a field.

About 3 years ago on 146 coming out of Vienna I had to slow down on the road for what I thought was a big dog until I slowed down and it was NOT a dog. Big cats are on the prowl.

A week ago today at 12:00 noon, my 20yr old son got a good close look at a cougar. It was walking across a hiway not far from town and headed into the woods. He called me on the cell# and was pretty shocked and excited. Said it was brownish tan, real long bodied, and had a massive long tail. Also when it walked the head was kinda down, and it's shoulder blades moved up and down a bunch. He figured it was as tall as his siberian husky but had a very long lean body. This area is close to I-70 near the Indiana border. I have heard of big cat sightings south of us, but there is at least one up here!

i was leaving murphysboro heading into desoto on 149 i believe, as i was about to get to the bridge i see something up ahead on the rd so i slowed down. it looked like a house cat on steroids It was brindle like and had some massive muscles and the size of a over grow house cat, I was shocked and believe me this didnt look like a baby bob cat ive seen those.