# Cougar shot north of muskegon



## walleyein (Jun 4, 2007)

Can anybody confirm this, here is the picture.


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## HUBBHUNTER (Aug 8, 2007)

Is there any sort of story behind this picture?


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## MEL (Jul 17, 2005)

In my expert opinion, Yep!!


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## wintrrun (Jun 11, 2008)

MEL said:


> One guess. Nope wrong. Newest, internet/facebook rumor


 
I'd agree.
That does not look like any of the cougars i know north of Muskegon


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## walleyein (Jun 4, 2007)

This is what I read. This was the male cougar shot by a hunter just north of here he said was climbing up his tree after him. The male cougar weighed about 180 pounds had all its claws and teeth. This was not someones escaped pet, this was a wild animal and a dangerous one.


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## HUBBHUNTER (Aug 8, 2007)

walleyein said:


> This is what I read. This was the male cougar shot by a hunter just north of here he said was climbing up his tree after him. The male cougar weighed about 180 pounds had all its claws and teeth. This was not someones escaped pet, this was a wild animal and a dangerous one.


Where did you read this? Any links?


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## Robert Holmes (Oct 13, 2008)

I saw her in the casino last night now she is dead. I do not believe the photo was taken in Michigan only believe 10% of the stuff that flies around on the computer.


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## Liver and Onions (Nov 24, 2000)

walleyein said:


> Can anybody confirm this, here is the picture.


At least this isn't that picture from North Dakota again. 

L & O


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## BrikTan (Nov 1, 2008)

Kinda hard to get a behind the shoulder **** at a cat coming up a tree???????

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


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## BrikTan (Nov 1, 2008)

Shot**

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


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## troutguy26 (Apr 28, 2011)

I heard the same thing and that is the exit hole hit em up by the neck on the other side and angled thru. These guys also got trail cam pics of this critter. Hope it goes public like the one in the u.p. then more people will beleive they are out there.


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## jimmyo17 (Jun 7, 2011)

All this cougar stuff lately is hilarious ive heard of none shot but ive been told about 10 times theirs a black one out running around in marion springs and one of my other buddys friends claims he has trail cam picks of one that the dnr are looking at right now. haha


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## football12 (Dec 3, 2009)

Confirmed thats a picture of cougar that appears to have been shot. Where? Behind the shoulder. Location, 99% sure it was in a state that has a wild cougar population out west and they have an established hunting season. Most likely Idaho a wild guess and it was treed by dogs and shot.


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## Stick Slingur (Oct 17, 2011)

Although I have never seen one I wouldn't be so sure that nobody else has. There are documented cases of cougars traveling from out west. No breeding pairs have been documented just idle males. Now big foot is an entirely different matter, kind a like UFO's. What I have seen are plenty of bobcats and once a canadian lynx. So if these other cats have made their way here why not a cougar? Would it scare you guys to think you could encounter one in the wild or is there some other reason to bash cougar spotters as seems so popular on this forum.


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## MichHoytHunter (Dec 11, 2011)

BrikTan said:


> Kinda hard to get a behind the shoulder **** at a cat coming up a tree???????
> 
> Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


Thats what i was thinking.


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## i missed again (Sep 7, 2008)

Stick Slingur said:


> Although I have never seen one I wouldn't be so sure that nobody else has. There are documented cases of cougars traveling from out west. No breeding pairs have been documented just idle males. Now big foot is an entirely different matter, kind a like UFO's. What I have seen are plenty of bobcats and once a canadian lynx. So if these other cats have made their way here why not a cougar? Would it scare you guys to think you could encounter one in the wild or is there some other reason to bash cougar spotters as seems so popular on this forum.


how could you tell the diferance from a lynx and a bobcat


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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

IMHO, that is the best kind of cougar for Michigan.


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## Blueump (Aug 20, 2005)

Grass looks pretty green on that side of the fence for this time of year! Just saying!


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## Stick Slingur (Oct 17, 2011)

i missed again said:


> how could you tell the diferance from a lynx and a bobcat


The lynx was quite a bit different from bob cats I've seen. The second half of the tail could be described as having been been dipped in ink and was maybe 6" long. It had no rings like bob cats. The back of the ears were just black, no white like the bob cats. It was also substantially bigger. I was bow hunting, standing on the ground backed up to an evergreen and the lynx came to within 18 yards at its closest point. It was Oct 21, 2007. it had not grown its winter coat yet and was quite muscular. I'd guess it was perhaps 10" wide at the shoulders. Bob Cats I've seen have never been anywhere near its size.


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## 2PawsRiver (Aug 4, 2002)

My money is on......"Not"


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## Mickey Finn (Jan 21, 2005)

http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=51215


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## Swamp Monster (Jan 11, 2002)

That cougar has traveled further after death than it did when it was alive! People want to prove they are in the LP so bad they will fall for every email and bar stool story they get wind of. It is entertaining though!


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## MEL (Jul 17, 2005)

Sonofabitch, that pesky Mesick cougar is back again? How many times does that cougar have to get killed?


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## btoeps74 (Oct 8, 2011)

Mickey Finn said:


> http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=51215


So this story has been around since 2009. I would think there would of been some more info since then.

Not sure if anyone seen this on the DNR website a few weeks ago. I didn't know the DNR here had a cougar task force.


Nov. 30, 2011

The Department of Natural Resources recently confirmed the presence of a radio-collared cougar just north of the city of Hancock in northern Houghton County. The animal was captured on a trail camera on Nov. 13, walking directly in front of the camera, with the noticeable presence of a radio collar.

DNR Wildlife Division staff visited the property on Nov. 17 where the trail camera is mounted and verified the location of the camera. Property owner Jesse Chynoweth submitted the pictures to the DNR for confirmation.

"This is the third time this animal has been captured on trail cameras in the Upper Peninsula," said Adam Bump, a wildlife biologist with the DNR's Cougar Team. "The Wisconsin DNR earlier verified two trail camera pictures of this cat as it passed through Wisconsin on its way to the UP."

The Department has also verified a set of tracks from a cougar in southern Keweenaw County on Nov. 20. The cougar passed about 30 feet from a deer hunter who later returned to the area with a friend to snap pictures of the cougar's tracks. The animal is almost certainly the same, radio-collared cougar that was photographed about 15 miles south near Hancock a week earlier.

The DNR is still in the process of tracking down where the cougar is from and has been checking frequencies from collars of cats from South Dakota, Utah and Montana. Only western states currently have cougars collared for research projects, so the animal likely traveled a great distance to reach the Upper Peninsula.

The Department will inform the public if more details are discovered about this cougar.

Cougars, also known as mountain lions, were once found throughout North America, including Michigan. Habitat loss and heavy persecution led to cougars being eliminated from Michigan in the early 1900s. The last known wild cougar taken in Michigan was killed near Newberry in 1906. Although sightings have increased and are regularly reported in the Upper Peninsula, verification is often difficult. Cougar tracks and a cougar photo from in the eastern Upper Peninsula were verified in 2009. Additionally, the DNR was able to verify several sets of cougar tracks in Marquette and Delta counties in 2008. The radio collared cougar has been photographed in Houghton and Ontonagon counties in 2011.

Established cougar populations are found as close to Michigan as North and South Dakota, and transient cougars dispersing from these areas have been known to travel hundreds of miles in search of new territory. Characteristic evidence of cougars include tracks, which are about three inches long by three and a half inches wide and typically show no claw marks, or suspicious kill sites, such as deer carcasses that are largely intact and have been buried with sticks and debris.

Reports of cougar tracks and other evidence should be made to a local DNR office or by calling the department's 24-hour Report All Poaching line at 800-292-7800.

Cougars are classified as an endangered species in Michigan. It is unlawful to kill, harass or otherwise harm a cougar except in the immediate defense of human life. For more information about the recent cougar tracks and photo, call your local DNR office to report it or report it on our website. To learn more about cougars and how to identify their tracks, go www.michigan.gov/cougars.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state's natural and cultural resources for current and future generations. For more information, go to www.michigan.gov/dnr.


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## MEL (Jul 17, 2005)

btoeps74 said:


> So this story has been around since 2009. I would think there would of been some more info since then.
> 
> Psssss(Im gonna let you in on a little secret that only those who have been on this site for awhile know. There was no cougar in Mesick. That was whats know as an internet rumor. Its one of
> dozens of Michigan cougar reports that keep on resurfacing on this forum. After awhile you will see a pattern here..Lots of cougar reports that some new guy posts up cause his buddys bartenders girlfriend says its true. Just so you know, most here, 90% or more, dont believe that
> ...


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## TrekJeff (Sep 7, 2007)

If the question "Is this real" has to be asked on a forum and not put out on the news, then you'll have your answer.


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## tjays (Nov 5, 2004)

Same CAT that was shot last year....:yikes:


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## PWood (Aug 6, 2004)

MEL said:


> Sonofabitch, that pesky Mesick cougar is back again? How many times does that cougar have to get killed?


9, I believe.


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## i missed again (Sep 7, 2008)

Stick Slingur said:


> The lynx was quite a bit different from bob cats I've seen. The second half of the tail could be described as having been been dipped in ink and was maybe 6" long. It had no rings like bob cats. The back of the ears were just black, no white like the bob cats. It was also substantially bigger. I was bow hunting, standing on the ground backed up to an evergreen and the lynx came to within 18 yards at its closest point. It was Oct 21, 2007. it had not grown its winter coat yet and was quite muscular. I'd guess it was perhaps 10" wide at the shoulders. Bob Cats I've seen have never been anywhere near its size.


thanks for the education


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## MichHoytHunter (Dec 11, 2011)

cougars are here in MI. Don't believe me if you want. My friend who hunts in the U.P watched one chase a squirrel up a tree while he was hunting. My dad saw one cross the road up there while baiting bears 20 years ago. Another friend's wife said she saw one out her back door a few years ago. She lives around the Rockford area. I've seen one in Illinois. They are around, but very rare.


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## BirdyGSP (Aug 21, 2010)

Stick Slingur said:


> The lynx was quite a bit different from bob cats I've seen. The second half of the tail could be described as having been been dipped in ink and was maybe 6" long. It had no rings like bob cats. The back of the ears were just black, no white like the bob cats. It was also substantially bigger. I was bow hunting, standing on the ground backed up to an evergreen and the lynx came to within 18 yards at its closest point. It was Oct 21, 2007. it had not grown its winter coat yet and was quite muscular. I'd guess it was perhaps 10" wide at the shoulders. Bob Cats I've seen have never been anywhere near its size.


I've seen a lynx before too.
Canoeing on the Pigeon River with my brother.
The lynx was trying to cross the river on a fallen pine tree. When we came around the corner, it decided to turn around to get away. We got a real good look at it because there were still branches on the tree and it was trying not to fall in the water. We actually back paddled because my brother didn't want it jumping into the canoe. I would add 2.5-3 inch black tufts on the tops of the ears, to your description.


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## Gigantopithecus (May 10, 2011)

This story is true! My buddy's friend's brother's friend knows the guy!


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## boehr (Jan 31, 2000)

Gigantopithecus said:


> This story is true! My buddy's friend's brother's friend knows the guy!


He must know my aunt's nephew's daughter's boyfriend's cousin.


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## shephard1993 (Aug 5, 2009)

Stick Slingur said:


> Although I have never seen one I wouldn't be so sure that nobody else has. There are documented cases of cougars traveling from out west. No breeding pairs have been documented just idle males. Now big foot is an entirely different matter, kind a like UFO's. What I have seen are plenty of bobcats and once a canadian lynx. So if these other cats have made their way here why not a cougar? Would it scare you guys to think you could encounter one in the wild or is there some other reason to bash cougar spotters as seems so popular on this forum.


 I spend a fair time in the woods. I have with my own eyes seen the same number of couger as I have big foots LOL. Cant say if there were a few I would see one thue. Almost every back road in Northern Michigan is checked by cat and coyote hunters daily. Seems if there was even one sooner or later these guys would tree it. I dont know maybe the couger and big foot both huver over snow covered roads like a UFO.


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

If you ever do see a cougar in the wild, you will never forget it, not the sighting nor the feeling that follows seeing it.


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## MEL (Jul 17, 2005)

GIDEON said:


> If you ever do see a cougar in the wild, you will never forget it, not the sighting nor the feeling that follows seeing it.



I agree. Every time ive seen one they are highly memorable


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## GIDEON (Mar 28, 2008)

Yeap try seeing one and then tent camp (basically alone), there never seems to be quite enough firewood, and those lanterns never seem to throw out quite enough light, and dawn takes a long time to come.


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## MEL (Jul 17, 2005)

Yep, hate that!!!


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## buckykm1 (Dec 19, 2011)

About 6 years ago a local farmer stopped by my house and asked me to come look at some tracks in his field, they were cougar tracks, and that fall i saw 2 of them while deer hunting running together, that was south of Kalamazoo. i hunt out west, i know what the tracks look like.

Kevin


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## Lugian (Aug 19, 2007)

MichHoytHunter said:


> cougars are here in MI. Don't believe me if you want. My friend who hunts in the U.P watched one chase a squirrel up a tree while he was hunting. My dad saw one cross the road up there while baiting bears 20 years ago. Another friend's wife said she saw one out her back door a few years ago. She lives around the Rockford area. I've seen one in Illinois. They are around, but very rare.


They are "very rare" but you know 3 people who have seen one, including yourself. That's remarkable.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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