Posted on 03/13/2009 3:24:31 PM PDT by SJackson
SPOONER (AP) - There's been no sign of the mountain lion that game managers in northwestern Wisconsin tried to capture and collar last week.
The mountain lion was photographed in a tree in the area of Washburn and Burnett counties west of Spooner before it crawled down and ran away.
Jim Bishop of the state Department of Natural Resources said the animal is believed to be alive but may have left the area, or even headed to Minnesota.
DNR personnel used some fresh snow to search for signs of the big cat on March 11.
But wildlife biologist supervisor Ken Jonas said nothing was found.
The DNR workers hoped to capture the mountain lion so it could be blood-tested to determine where it came from and fitted with a collar so that it could be tracked after being freed.
For expanded coverage, see the next edition of The Country Today
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But we dont have a pic.
State wildlife officials pursue mountain lion
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Wisconsin wildlife officials continued March 5 to pursue a mountain lion roaming near Spooner in an effort to fit it with a radio collar.
It’s only the second documented wild mountain lion - also known as a cougar - in the state since the early 1900s. One spotted in January 2008 near Milton was later killed in a Chicago suburb.
A group of hunters with hounds contacted the Department of Natural Resources on March 3 after spotting the latest mountain lion in northwestern Wisconsin, wildlife biologist Ken Jonas said.
DNR officials tried to capture the adult male twice in two days after tracking it up trees. But each time, the animal jumped out of the tree and ran off.
“We want to be very safe with the animal when it’s in an elevated position,” Jonas said. “We’re using an immobilization agent that’s more gradual. We’re trying to get it groggy, so to speak, and get set up with a net below for it.”
Jonas said his team got one dose of the immobilizing agent in the mountain lion March 5, but the animal fled within 30 seconds and the team couldn’t load the dart gun in time to provide a second dose.
“We tracked it on foot, hoping we could get close enough,” he said. “It kept going very strong over a period of time, and after well over a mile we knew we weren’t going to catch up to the animal.”
Officials decided not to release tracking dogs because the mountain lion might be more easily hurt in his groggy state.
“We definitely do not want to cause harm to that animal,” Jonas said.
Because of that, Jonas said they’ll back off attempts to collar, tag and take blood and hair samples of the animal for the time being but actively investigate its movements.
Rowr!
I know some well-respected locals who’re sure they’ve seen mountain lion here in Northeastern Pennsylvania but, just like this particular Wisconsin cat, no tracks in the snow (or mud) have ever turned up.
Another vote for Franken?
“I know some well-respected locals who’re sure they’ve seen mountain lion here in Northeastern Pennsylvania but, just like this particular Wisconsin cat, no tracks in the snow (or mud) have ever turned up.”
I’m the opposite. I’ve found cougar tracks but not the cat itself. In a wooded park in Madistan, no less.
Could it be a stuffed toy someone put in a tree and photographed? Like the Georgia boys did with the Big Foot hoax?
Possible, but not likely, they’ve been floating around here for awhile. Usually without pictures.
About a month ago, only 30 miles northeast of here, a horse was killed by what is suspected to have been a cougar. A second horse in the herd was mauled but survived. This happened near Watertown,WI. Needless to say, I am glad I have always had my horses in nice stalls at night. The wildest predator I have seen in my pasture was a scared little red fox. In the past I have chided my horses for acting afraid of nothing while we ride along, assuring them they are in no danger, as they are the biggest things around. However in light of the local horse maulings, it seems the nature of the horse is right again.
I saw a tv show awhile back about big cats in Oklahoma killing livestock. Tracks were few and far between.
I don’t know that it is a rumor. I simpy said it’s possible.
Possible, but I’ve seen very few toys that included that dark spot under the tail!
I’m just finishing “Bendigo Shafter” by Louis Lamour. Ben was mauled by one bad lion. Great book.
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