Cougar in Rock County

[Crew2323]

RockCoCougar's name is sure fitting today. A cougar was confirmed to be in Milton, which is only 15-20 minutes from where I live. It'd be sweet to see that thing up close. Maybe RockCoCougar knows something we don't?http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/devil.gif

[DuWayne Steurer]

Heard this story on the radio yesterday (I live in Janesville). According to eyewitnesses, the beast is a good 6 foot head to tip of tail. Apparently a man came face to face with it (12 feet away) in a hay loft, and the cougar fled by jumping out a window.

 

Speculation is that it's a captive-raised animal that was released or escaped.

[trwi7]

I've always wanted to see a cougar in the wild up close. The closest I've gotten to that is a lynx. Someday I hope, someday.

[Invader3K]

I'm not sure if anyone would really want to see a cougar up close...they've been known to attack and even kill humans occasionally.

[Hammer]

There have been cougars in Monroe County for a couple of years but the DNR was either too lazy to investigate or is against alarming the public. They have been spotted by several people that would definately know what a cougar is and have been taking down livestock every now and then. I hunt out there and am literally shaking on my way to my tree stand in the morning and on my way out in the evening due to these things. I would NOT want to come face to face with one of them in the woods.

[trwi7]

I'm not sure if anyone would really want to see a cougar up close...they've been known to attack and even kill humans occasionally.

Ehh I've seen bears and stuff in the wild up close. It's obviously a risk but I'd be willing to take the risk.

[Fatter than Joey]

Ehh I've seen bears and stuff in the wild up close. It's obviously a risk but I'd be willing to take the risk.

 

Not me. My folks live in Bend OR, (which is in the Eastern part of the state, i.e. east of the mountains), and every voting cycle they have a ballot measure to allow the hunting of cougars and mountain lions with dogs. It gets a lot of attention, as one side points out that there has never been a verified attack by cougars on humans in OR, the other side points to the attacks that people have suffered in other states and Canada -- and the attacks on OR residents livestock and family pets (lots of dogs and cats go missing).

 

The thing I think that is different about bears and predatory cats, is that generally you don't get to see the cat, until their teeth are lodged in your melon.

 

Here is a link and another that documents cougar and mountain lion attacks in North America -- this is not for the squeamish..

[Invader3K]

There have been cougars in Monroe County for a couple of years but the DNR was either too lazy to investigate or is against alarming the public. They have

been spotted by several people that would definately know what a cougar is and have been taking down livestock every now and then. I hunt out there and am

literally shaking on my way to my tree stand in the morning and on my way out in the evening due to these things. I would NOT want to come face to face with

one of them in the woods.

Actually, I was going to say...way up north where my in-laws live, the DNR is known to occasionally deny the existence of certain wild life in the area, including, if I'm not mistaken, cougars.

 

[splitterpfj]

It's funny that this would come up right now, this just came into my inbox -

 

Here is a photo of a cougar killed in Steeleville, Missouri. The guy who shot it is 6 feet tall and weighs about 220 lbs. He was in a deer stand and saw the cat pass him downwind. He then saw it pass him upwind. When the cat passed him again (closer this time) downwind, he knew that it was hunting him. So, boom.

after viewing this, do you still feel safe in the woods?

 

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa319/toddecopp/cougar.jpg

[Invader3K]

Yeah, I definitely wouldn't want to run up against that thing, personally.

[trwi7]

after viewing this, do you still feel safe in the woods?

I never said I would feel safe I just said that I'd like to see a cougar in the wild. FtJ brings up the point though that cats are very hard to find in the wild.

[Fatter than Joey]

I never said I would feel safe I just said that I'd like to see a cougar in the wild.

 

Fair enough -- I would as well, -- in theory -- my guess is though, you aren't going to see one grazing or fishing for salmon http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[trwi7]

Fair enough -- I would as well, -- in theory -- my guess is though, you aren't going to see one grazing or fishing for salmon http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

Maybe I could attract one by putting a chicken leg in my back pocket.

[RyDogg66]

I thought this was a thread about older women.

 

In all seriousness though, seeing one of these up close would definitely NOT be cool.

[Crew2323]

I probably should have qualified my statement by saying "It'd be sweet to see that thing up close...as long as it was outside my picture window as I gaze at it from my living room." As FtJ said, it'd be cool in theory, but not in reality. That picture from Spitter is quite amazing.

[trwi7]

Here's the tracks.

 

http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/jan08/cougar2-nw.jpg

 

 

[Glennron]

Boredom got the best of me, and I somehow ended up looking at "List of fatal cougar attacks in North America." There's some pretty scary ones, such as : "Killed while jogging on his high school track in Idaho Springs, Colorado."

[MadScientist]

Boredom got the best of me, and I somehow ended up looking at "List of fatal cougar attacks in North America." There's some pretty scary ones, such as : "Killed while jogging on his high school track in Idaho Springs, Colorado."

You have to think of this from a cat's perspective. A jogger for all the world looks like a bouncy edible cat toy. How's a poor hungry kitty supposed to resist.

 

In all seriousness, don't jog in wild areas where cougars or mountain lions roam. Of course a high school track is not what you would call a wilderness area, so I'm sure the cougar in question was destroyed.

[heresrobin]

Apparently the best place to find urban cougars in Milwaukee is at Victor's or in Madison at Lucky's Bar and Grill (see link), just in case you can't get close enough to one in the wild:

 

http://www.urbancougar.com/dens_wi.php

[RockCoCougars]

Been away from the boards for a while. One of my kittens ran away, and I cant find him anywhere....

[bullox]

Cougars are everywhere, sniffing out deep pockets.

[GAME05]

Ehh I've seen bears and stuff in the wild up close. It's obviously a risk but I'd be willing to take the risk.

i've seen many many bears while hiking, some awful close. i'm not too scared of bears (black ones, anyway), but i'm sure scared of cougars. i've had a handful of friends who've seen them in the wild despite how rare it is to see one. related, one friend of mine woke up to a Florida panther in his camp one night (<50 in the wild). in none of my friends' stories did they say "wow it was sure cool to see one" but their stories usually end with them having to find clean pants.

 

[splitterpfj]

Thank GOD for the plate glass in the door!

And, wouldn't this mess up your whole night

if you were to take out the trash at the wrong time?

 

These are from a guy out at Rock Springs, Wy .

The pictures were taken from his kitchen onto his patio deck.

The critter was watching his grandkids playing on the kitchen floor!

 

Rock Springs is about 100 miles south of Pinedale, Wyoming

and 100 miles east of Rawlins...

 

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa319/toddecopp/cougarthroughwindwo.jpg

[Fatter than Joey]

Picture links not working! -- Must see cougar sizing up grandkids! Please fix! http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[splitterpfj]

Can you see him now?