I didn't bother to report it to the DNR since they claim there are no wolves in lower Michigan.
[Odd to say the least. It leapt like a cat.]
I noticed the same thing. At first, I thought it could just as easily be a cyote, we have lots of them here. But that tail, the bouny gate and the way it jumped....I doubt it to be anything but of the feline species. If it is a cougar or whatever, it may be feeding off a healthy diet of young deer.
Can you imagine deer hunting and having this thing walk by you? Think of the looks you get at camp. "I saw a couple of does and a trophy buck that I couldn't get a shot at. But man, you should have seen the mountain lion that walked under my tree stand."
Wonder if someone had an illegal exotic cat they turned loose?
That thing looks like it is between 150-200 pounds, but I am not convinced it is a cat yet.
I agree with YOU.
I think its a mountain lion. It looks like one and moves like one.
There HAVE been verifiable sightings of cougars in Michigan's Upper Penninsula, and there is book out which indicates they might be in the lower penninsula.
Indiana is just next door to Michigan.
I DOUBT anybody who owned this as a "pet" would release the animal. But the best way to check for sure is by capturing it and chekcing out the fangs. Sometimes people who keep these animals mutilate them by defanging them. If the fangs are missing, its an escaped pet. If not, it may be wild cougar or an escaped pet that wasn't defanged.
My bets are on a wild cougar.
They ARE expanding their range eastwards and southwards.
Pretty neat.