creekbottomhunter

sunday morning, october 3, a friend and i were hunting in clinton county north of breese. i personally didnt encountar the cat, but my friend claims he saw what appeared to be a cougar. he claimed it had a long tail, so it couldnt be bobcat, and he said it was bigger than a dog. i was just wondering if anyone else has seen any signs of cougars around southern illinois

kluelass

Creekbottomhunter ~

I have this published regarding Illinois:

Cougar evidence in Illinois

This was from a young gentleman who heard what he thought was a cougar and whose mother saw one.

Recently I have sightings e-mailed to me regarding Illinois, but I haven't published these--yet. If I do, I'll probably just add them to this page

KlueLass <>*~_~*<>
Intro to Lew's Lion Info

latigo31

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.

kluelass

creekbottomhunter and latigo31 ~

Here is a map of Illinois cougar sightings by The Waterman and Hill-Traveller's Companion-Cougar Watch: (if they don't have it blocked off their site)



This is a reputable site which usually has the original e-mail accompanying each sighting. Though displayed by The Waterman and Hill-Traveler's Companion it was generated by The Eastern Puma Research Network. It is copyrighted (Map © 2004) with all rights reserved by the Eastern Puma Research Network

latigo31, I am a member at Yahoo! Please tell me how to get into "the midwest big predator watch."

KlueLass <>*~_~*<>
cougarinfo.com

metalback

Last year my sister e-mailed me an article of a cougar that was positively seen up in the backyard tree of a lady that lived just outside of Lake Braken Country Club. That is just outside of Galesburg, Ill. ----They are there folks!!!!

latigo31

I was going to just PM kluelass with this, but thought some others of you might like to check this out as well. The yahoo group is MidwestBIGPredatorWatch, and you can access it from:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MidwestBIGPredatorWatch/

It is ok, but not as good as the one Kluelass showed us.

Keep it safe out there, people.

kluelass

latigo31 ~

Thanks for the link to the MidwestBIGPredatorWatch. I have bookmarked it. Do you have to join the group to see the posts there? Well, I don't have time today anyway, but I'll send your link to the researcher who linked me to this forum.

I really have no business trying to keep track of sightings, as I haven't written up all the attacks I am informed about yet. Still, particularly in states where officials deny cougar presence, I fear such inforced ignorance can jeopardize the "average joe" just going about his/her business with no awareness of the danger from burgeoning populations of protected large predators such as cougars. Since Leigh Ann Cox was killed in Arkansas, possibly by a cougar, I feel especially obligated to inform folks "how to live with cougars" (or how to get permits hunt them? or data to continue to protect them?) in all the states (and most provinces) these days.

Direct Link to Leigh Ann Cox's Report

Didja hear Paul Harvey's report (Friday morning, 10/08/2004) of a Grizzly attacking a hunter? A Google search reveals this happened in Northwestern Wyoming. It turns out the bear had been "relocated" from a location where it was killing sheep. Ahem, THERE IS NO AWAY! Pssssst, it appears cougars and bears are NOT ENDANGERED.

Sorry, folks, gonna experiment with embedding picture in this post to see if it is an image I uploaded??? I thought it would appear in my profile, but it doesn't...

buttonbuckmaster

I hunt a farm near Salem, IL, where the land owner swears that they have seen and heard cats off and on for the past 10 years. I have seen no proof....but I do find myself watching behind ne more than I used too. I'll pose a question here....if they don't exist in Illinois...and you kill one in Illinois (self defense or not).....do you get fined for the endangered species law? I am all about helping wildlife and giving more than you take from the wilderness, but if I see a cougar, its on!

latigo31

bbm,

I cannot speak for IL, but in IA, you CAN kill them legally. As of right now, they are not a protected species, and are most certainly not endangered. I think there are a lot more out there than we think there are.

As for sightings, I found out tonight one was spotted on the edge of the town I live in last week. 20 people witnessed the sighting, as it crossed the highway right by a busy truck stop. It is one thing to think of them out in the timber, and knowing we might come accross one hunting, but another to hear that they aren't afraid of towns at night at least.

Wolfhound76

I'll tell you what I was told. It was second or third hand so it'd be a good idea to check with the DNR yourself.

We've got some here locally (central Pike county near Perry Springs) that attacked my wife's aunts Emu's. My father-in-law contacted the DNR and found out they knew there were cougars running around. He was also told that if you shoot one you have to leave it lay until a DNR CO sees it and says it's ok to do whatever you want to with it.

There should be more dots on that map above, but I guess the reports I've been told never made it to who keeps it updated.