palmergt3

> Mountain lion is real, but dead
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> BY MARION RHODES
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> WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
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>
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>
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> The call came in at the Sarpy County Sheriff's Office at 7:15 a.m. Sunday.
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>
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> A woman claimed she had seen a mountain lion lying on Interstate 80, near
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> the Gretna-Louisville interchange.
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>
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> Deputy Brian Fjelstad didn't get excited. The Sheriff's Office has
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> received at least a half dozen such reports over the past two or three
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> months.
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>
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> The latest had come earlier Sunday, about 1 a.m. A caller reported seeing
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> a live, large cat near Highway 370 and 192nd Street, just east of Gretna.
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> No one went out looking for it, because nighttime sightings are nearly
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> impossible to confirm.
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>
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> "You're not going to find a mountain lion at night," Lt. Steve Grabowski
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> of the Sarpy County Sheriff's Office said late Sunday morning.
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>
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> As Fjelstad was driving along the Interstate to check out the day's second
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> sighting, he thought he'd probably find a deer that was hit by a car.
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> That's what these type of calls usually turn out to be.
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>
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> He arrived at 8:07 a.m.
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>
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> A bundle of light brown fur was lying in the eastbound lane of I-80. "Like
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> a deer," Fjelstad thought.
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>
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> Then he noticed the long tail. The feet, the size of a grown man's
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> spread-out hand. The large cat head, lying in a small pool of blood.
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>
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> That's when he realized this wasn't another unconfirmed mountain lion
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> sighting. This one was for real.
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>
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> His anxiety level rose slightly as he came closer, close enough to touch
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> the more than 6-foot-long animal with the shiny black boot on his right
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> foot. The body was stiff.
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>
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> The mountain lion was dead.
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>
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> Droplets of red blood still stained Fjelstad's boot as he recounted the
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> episode outside the Sheriff's Office.
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>
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> Together with a fellow deputy, Fjelstad had wrapped the cat in a blanket
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> and put it in the trunk of his sheriff's cruiser. It was heavy, at least
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> 100 pounds, he said. With a hand gesture, he showed the cat's size on all
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> fours - just below his waist.
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>
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> Grabowski, who was standing nearby, said it was a lot bigger than the
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> mountain lion caught near 114th and Davenport Streets in October 2003,
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> which is now being kept at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo.
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>
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> Fjelstad was astonished by the find.
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>
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> "I never expected it would turn out to be a mountain lion," he said.
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>
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> But not Sarpy County Sheriff Jeff Davis. A couple of years ago, he saw one
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> of the majestic cats himself.
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>
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> "I know they're out there," Davis said. "They're on the move."
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>
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> Although this mountain lion was found in a rural area, there are
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> subdivisions and hundreds of acreages nearby. Davis said he hadn't heard
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> any reports of attacks on livestock or pets, but he warned people to be
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> cautious.
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>
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> "We get enough sightings that I have enough reason to believe that there's
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> more out there," he said. "Maybe not in my lifetime, but down the road,
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> there could be a problem."
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>
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> Sheriff's officials said they assumed the earlier sighting was the same
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> animal, if that report was a mountain lion at all. That sighting was about
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> four miles northeast of where the dead mountain lion was found.
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>
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> The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will do a necropsy on the cat to
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> determine its age and cause of death, and examine its stomach contents.
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>
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> Game and Parks policies will determine what happens with the animal's
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> body, but Davis said he hopes the animal will come back to Sarpy County,
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> possibly for a display in the Cabela's store to be built at the Interstate
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> 80 and 126th Street interchange.
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>
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> Either way, though, he was sure this wouldn't be the last time Sarpy
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> County would see a mountain lion.
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>
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> "I've always believed that they're out there," he said. "Obviously, this
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> shows that at least one was."
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> Contact the Omaha World-Herald newsroomCopyright ©2005 Omaha
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> World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be
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> published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or distributed for any purpose
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> without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
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>
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Kyle Colburn

theve been seen in wisconsin here where i hunt near waushara county

jashoffa

I am sure they are around. I think I saw one one day while I was driving but it went by so fast I can't say for sure. I am not worried about walkikng around the woods, the fields or creeks and rivers. I ussually have a gun and I am sure that they will be gone long before you get near them. I don't know about you but if I see one and have a shot. I am taking it. if I miss well fine then if I don't....well I cross that one when I get to it.

RJH

I saw one next to my house last year walking on a hill about 100 yards away.Went outside to look and it was gone. I didn't call anybody cause I didn't want them to think I was nuts.But earlier this year the had a sighting in lynnwood il which is near me. And yes we are only 30-40 south of chicago. They also found one up by the wisconsin border last year dead. I think they are here there is alot of food for them and they have huge ranges.

wazzy

i live in lena il and about 8 years ago i am alomst certain i seen a cougar twice in about a months time in jo daviess county where i grew up .and for the last few years when checking deer in they do sometimes ask if you have seen any cats or cougars .

jashoffa

like on a message board???? interesting