East Tennessee mountain lion tracks(pictures)

MI VHNTR, For someone that has shown his ignorance about wildlife and was caught making up a story about the MDNR Releasing Wolves i would be carefull who you try to insult. Why do you try to insult those who are skeptical? Why the hostility towards skeptics? Especially since you don't have anything to back your stories up with?? Why can't you find any proof? With all the sightings what is the problem?
I really don't think there are pet cougars running around in Michigan either, they would have been discovered even quicker than a wild ones would. Pet Cougars have been found in the east however, this is known because they posses South American Cougar DNA, The South American species are generally what Captive pet Cougars are but not always. One was found hit in Kentucky in the late 1990's. It was half south american and half western. Either it was bred from South and Western parents(which is not uncommon) or a pet bred with a wild cougar (is uncommon) .. Also you think there arn't any pet cougars loose so that is not possible since you know so much about them.


I posted this in another thread.. but it's a must read for anyone that is facinated by Cougars.. This is from the UK where the Cougar are not native, but they have thousands of sightings and the same "evidence" we have for Cougars in Michigan..Also they claim the population was started by released pets.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Even though they have been illegal to own since the 1970's over there.http://www.bigcatmonitors.co.uk/index.htm
 
I would like to say something here,90% of the black bear tracks you see,will only show four toes.For some reason the small toe seldom shows in a black bear track.I would never say there is no cougars in TNN because i don't know.Take a close look at these tracks made by black bears i posted a while back.

http://www.predatormastersforums.com/ubb...page=0#52589823

The tracks posted at the biginning of this thread are those of a black bear.If they were cougar tracks,i would gladly say so.
 
BenVW, there are links posted in reference to cougars in MI on PM. These links have included cougar references by MI DNR biologists, MI state police, the CMU labs and average people. You have dismissed them piecemeal for some strange reason. You then proceed to attack anyone that does not blindly follow your "enlightened way of thinking." Do you actually think that you are you the only one capable of determining what animals roam the MI woods and everyone else is lying, incapable and/or ignorant of the wildlife here?

One more thing. You'd better be a bit more careful with your personal attacks. They are way over the line.

Now, back to MI "non-existant" cougars.
Here's a little refresher, in case you forgot:

"Whatever you call the cat, it is a name that MDNR spokespeople have been reluctant to utter in public. The cougar has been considered officially extinct in Michigan since 1906, although the animal has been spotted there with amazing frequency over the years. Recently, a multi-year study by the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy, a private conservation group, purported to have produced DNA evidence that the big cat still exists in Michigan as a small breeding population. This hypothesis also is based on 50-some years of reported sightings from biologists, forestry workers, experienced woodsmen and even MDNR employees."

"A week later, on a neighboring farm, the mysterious predator tried to tackle a full-grown quarter horse, leaving telltale claw marks high on the horse's back. The animal also left behind palm-sized pugmarks in the dirt surrounding the corral. Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) biologist Tim Webb told local press the tracks were those of a "large feral cat" that probably exceeded 100 pounds. That could mean only one thing: a cougar, a.k.a. puma and mountain lion."

" In January 2005, the Michigan DNR announced that hair samples retrieved from a car bumper the previous November came from a cougar. The hairs were retrieved by a state trooper after a motorist reported hitting "a large cat. The incident occurred in southern Menominee County, not far from the Wisconsin border. The samples were forwarded to a lab at Central Michigan University for analysis, which confirmed them as "cougar" (genotype unknown)."

"This is exactly the kind of information we are looking for to gain a better understanding of what animals are present in Michigan and identify potential areas for additional work," said DNR Natural Heritage Unit Supervisor Ray Rustem. "Though the information indicates the presence of a cougar, it still does not confirm the presence of a breeding population in Michigan."


MI VHNTR
 
The original pic sure looks like a bear track to me.

That being said, there's no reason cats couldn't be in TN (or MI). At one time they lived over the entire continent from desert/plains/swamp/forest/mountains. I believe the early settlers in the TN area called them catamounts.

I would tend to think any in TN would probably be released pets or their offspring just because there isn't a large naturally occurring population anywhere close, but lions DO travel a fair ways (hundreds of miles) sometimes to establish new territories. I think it much more likely that an immigrating population would show up in UP MI than TN, but those could also be released pets (as could any cat found in the west for that matter).

No DNR would suppress evidence of cats because it would cost them money. That would be a total reversal of the "normal" bureaucratic mind set and reality. In fact just the opposite would certainly be the case.

If DNR could establish that there was a viable breeding population (how many cats ensure genetic viability?), they would get more money to study/protect/control them. That very thing has happened in too many instances for it to even be questionable. There are even cases where a sub-species has to be invented by a DNR so they can get more money.

Look at the northern CA spotted owl. It's genetically identical to every other spotted owl, but (with the help of political groups) they managed to have it designated as a separate (endangered) sub-species and have gotten millions of extra dollars to "protect" it.

In most places, one of the primary forces behind the reintroduction of large predators (wolves and griz) have been the DNRs. They get more money when they are protecting/managing an endangered species, and the "real" purpose of any ambitious bureaucratic administrator is to increase the size and power of his department.
 
When I was younger I lived in AZ back then a person could make a few bucks from ranchers on Mt Lion pelts as well as coyotes and bobcats. I spent much of my High school years all over the Rim country of Norther AZ Mt Lion , Cougar, Puma or what ever you call them will travel a long ways a male will stake out territory fifty miles or more in area Unmated females even larger. I was told by one of the old timers when I was a kid that for every MT lion you see there are 8 or 10 you don't. I know what I saw the other day.
I have seen Black Jaguar in Guatamala and Honduras that was not quite as long ago as High School. This was not a Jaguar. It looked more like a Mt Lion ( if you have seen both in the wild you can tell the differance) I will continue to look for it since it is in the area for now. If I can I will get a picture or a hide to get mounted
 
Did the track exhibit claw marks in front of the toes? I am by no means an expert, but if the track was in mud, say on a road or something, the absence of claw prints in front of the toes might help to indicate the difference between bear track and cat track. Dont cats have retractable claws? Just a thought.

-BANDIT
 
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