Doesn't really suprise me any. Although I haven't heard of them there, I have heard reports of them in Wisconsin and I know they are in SE Iowa. There is a report of a cat trying to get into a ladies house on the outskirts of Omaha. She saw it, i.d.ed it, and the tracks supported her sighting. A couple were shot last year not too far from me by a farmer. I know people who saw the cats. I belong to a yahoo group called midwest big predator watch, and I know your report would be welcome there.

The range these cats will travel is astounding! There is a documented report of one which was collared in either Utah or Idaho, and a few months later, was killed by a train in, if memory serves, Oklahoma. Apparently the thought here is that they are Western cats looking for new territory. The problem with the theory, is that they won't keep traveling through open country unless there are other cats to keep pushing them, especially several hundred miles. Their ranges are huge, but I can't see a single cat moving to SE Iowa unless there are cats in SW Iowa to push them. Another theory is that the DNR is releasing a few to re-introduce them and try to control the deer numbers, which keep increasing. The DNR denies this, but who knows. I know I am concerned about the reports.

Hopefully, they won't keep spreading.