# Cougars in Michigan...Rumor?



## Reptyle (Jul 28, 2005)

Maybe not...These pics were posted on a reptile forum by a friend...He did not take the photos, but apparently some guy up in Michigan did...The story goes that it was checking out the kids playing in the house...Anyone from up in that area heard of this? I can't swear to it, but the guy who posted this has been reliable before...I personally didn't think they'd be this bold...BTW, sorry if this is in the wrong area...


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## Highground (Jan 22, 2003)

A few years ago they did a DNA test on some scat near lake Michigan and it was indeed from a cougar. The guy I sold my land to (adjoining property) said he saw one from his tree stand during bow season a few years back.


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## suburbanite (Jul 27, 2006)

They usually are not that bold. It looks like it was a cold snowy night when those pics were taken, likely the cougar had never seen a house before and was just looking for shelter, not expecting to find humans, and puzzled to see them up close without smelling them through the window.


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## Philbee (Jul 5, 2004)

There is a little town in eastern Washington State that somtimes have had cougars sitting on the steps of the city hall. It seems to me that they can get an attitude like a house cat if no one bothers them. One cougar actually came through a large widow to attack the people inside. One lady went outside to find a large cat with her german shepard in its mouth walking away with it. They can get quite bold indeed. 

We live in western Washington and it is not as rural here now as it once was and we have had some cougar incidents near our home in the past few years. Pound for pound a cat is a very tough critter. It's great to have them arround though isn't it!

Philbee


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## Jersey Milker (Nov 4, 2006)

Most cases are dismissed as pure myth but they found a cougar running free around the neighborhood about ten miles from where i live here in Michigan not long ago. Nobody seems to know where it came from but according to the story ("myth" what a joke) that I read about in the local paper, this animal had taken up residency in this guys yard out back and had a den. Of course as usual the DNR was in denial that such a animal even exists. DNR has a big denial problem, they wont admit there are wolves in southern Michigan, or even a wolverine even though there are pics of the animal to prove that it was indeed in michigan.


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## Highground (Jan 22, 2003)

DNR = Do Nothing Right


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

snopes this one, pictures have been around since 2000, or something like that. Were taken out west, where these sightings are not that uncommon.

My boss got them last week, he was all excited (they were "taken" in SD for that email) Had to burst his bubble.

Cathy


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## copperkid3 (Mar 18, 2005)

09-15-2005, 06:14 PM 


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Quote:
Originally Posted by debitaber
we have cougers here in michigan, the guy down the road from me lost a horse to them a couple of nights ago, and last night I heard them. them make a sound that you will never forget. I think that they are protected here, but sure scares me. I have calves, horses, chickens, and goats. they eat all of them.I don't like them hanging around here. 


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Thought I'd present some additional information on the subject; here's the story from the *FARMERS' ADVANCE * from this past week about the cougar in south-central Michigan.

"Top news stories from the September 14, 2005 edition, Vol. 107, No. 37" 
FARMERS' ADVANCE
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Horse killed by cougar in Jackson County 

PARMA TOWNSHIP, MI â The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy has released results of a detailed investigation of a horse killed on Aug. 31 in western Jackson County's Parma Township. Evidence collected by the Conservancy's Director of Wildlife Programs, Dr. Patrick Rusz, two Jackson County animal control officers, and Parma Township supervisor Wendy Chamberlain indicate the healthy 26-year-old Arabian show horse was killed at night by a cougar (mountain lion).

"Sometimes it's hard to tell what killed a large animal," said Dr. Rusz, who has been researching cougars in Michigan for the past seven years. "But this was a no-brainer. The cougar left telltale bite marks along with tracks â everything but a business card."


Rusz came to his conclusions after Officer Machelle Dunlap and Chamberlain had already realized the same. The pair called him after they had ruled out everything else and the supervisor spotted the cougar crossing a road about a mile from the kill site the following day.


"At first I couldn't believe my eyes," said Chamberlain. "I was in my car at about 10 a.m., and was suddenly looking at a full-grown cougar staring back at me right in the road. There was absolutely no doubt what I was looking at from less than 35 feet away. It took its time crossing the road."


Rusz found that the horse was killed by a powerful bite to the neck just behind the base of the skull that likely dropped the horse, literally, "in its tracks." Rusz noted in a detailed report available at www.miwildlife.org that the spacing between the tooth punctures and the locations of the bites matched cougar in every detail. He also found three track prints consistent with cougar where the horse was killed.


"It is now obvious to us that Jackson County has a large, wild cougar," said Chamberlain. "I've seen it with my own eyes at close range, I've seen the adult horse it killed recently, and I've seen its tracks and signs. No one should get worked up about this cougar; however, it is prudent to educate our citizens about the big cat. Free copies of an informative brochure, "Living with Cougars in Michigan," are available at the Township Office and several other prominent locations around Parma Township. Remember the cougar is an endangered species and protected by Michigan law. It cannot be hunted," said Chamberlain.


For more information about the Michigan cougar, or the work of the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy to save this endangered species, visit the organization's website, www.miwildlife.org. Copies of the brochure "Living with Cougars in Michigan" are available free of charge by sending a business-sized, self-addressed stamped envelope to Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, PO Box 393, Bath, MI 48808. Large quantities of the brochure can be obtained free for distribution at organizational meetings, sporting goods outlets, retail establishments and tourist destinations.
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You've got to love the little "extra" that the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy felt that needed their touch......"Living with Cougars in Michigan"......I remember not that many years ago, when the Dept. of Natural Resources was telling everyone, that there were NO COUGARS residing in the wild in Michigan; in either penisula!!! This was about the same time that my wife and I were traveling thru the Seney Wildlife Refuge during the middle of the night and saw a large "cat" run across the roadway. No mistakening it for a "dog" or other critter. 
Up until last year, the Dept. was also questioning the statements of folks in the "thumb" area; of their claims that there was at least one wolverine being seen. Finally someone video-taped it from a snowmobile and the DNR said it must have come across Lake Huron from Canada!!! That's a heck of a journey.....but the simple truth is, that those state guys don't have a clue on what is out there......or if they do, they apparently don't want to "cause a panic".....so they claim that whatever you think you saw.....wasn't what you thought it was. The "BIG CATS" are indeed back in Michigan and appear to be ready to stay......checking old records and it appears our "forefathers" pretty well wiped them out back in the late 80's......1880's that is!!! And the wolves in the upper penisula have made such a comeback, that the DNR of both Michigan and Wisconsin are actually suggesting a "limited" hunt to control them; seems they are actually doing what predators do best.....killing innocent livestock in the area and farmers aren't too happy. 

About a month ago, a black bear was seen and photographed in southern Hillsdale county; near the border with Ohio/Indiana and there was several news items earlier in the summer, about sightings of a mother/sow and her two cubs in the greater Lansing area......speculation was that one of the cubs was possibly the one now seen near the southern border of the state......since they have a range of over 100 miles.......cougars also have a large travel range; unless they find a nice place that has "plenty of fiddles" close by. 

Hey debitabor, we're over in Rives Twnshp. and have been "concerned" about that cougar .....trying to make sure that the stock is in the barn before the sun goes down (not that a hungry cat wouldn't attack in the daylight), but short of patroling the property 24/7, what can you do? Let us know if you hear/see anything further; I don't believe that the local paper let's everything out. 

copperkid


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## bob clark (Nov 3, 2005)

Highground said:


> DNR = Do Nothing Right


you got that right


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## chicky momma (Jul 25, 2006)

A friend of ours is a taxidermist and saw one cross the road in front of him. 
The neighbor said he found a dead deer up in the crotch of a tree. What else does that? Hubby said while hunting he saw a track that looked like one but it was in ice so not sure. All in Jackson county. It amazes me that with the dead horse, prints etc... that the DNR still has the nerve to say it wasn't a cougar. Lisa


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## Jerngen (May 22, 2006)

A couple years ago when we were living in Grand Rapids, MI there were news reports of a cougar over towards Lake Michigan that was hit and killed by a car. Another one was sited by several people in the same area. 
My wife and I saw one run across the road when living near Roscommon, MI. We and a couple other motorists came to a stop to watch it. 
Despite this.............. according to the DNR, the cougar killed by the car was a fluke (confused migration from a southern state they called it) and other then that cougars don't exist in Michigan


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## Ivy DragonWind (Nov 20, 2006)

Note two things in these photos: weight and season. The paunch indicates its probably a captive animal, and he looks a bit heavy for hard winter. But I dont claim to be an expert or anything...


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