Apparently, pictures really do speak louder than words.
On October 10, 2009, a motion-detecting game camera was triggered by a cougar near Bruce township in the Eastern Upper Peninsula.
Finally, FINALLY, the DNR has been handed irrefutable evidence from a verified location which proves what folks have been saying for years—that we have cougars living in Michigan!
Despite official reports stating that the last cougar in Michigan was killed near Newberry in 1906, I, personally, saw a cougar cross US 31 (within 3 miles of our house) as I was driving north to work one morning about six years ago. The big cat simply loped across the highway right in front of me. There was no mistaking this gianormous, tawny feline for a smaller bobcat or lynx as its long tail formed a gentle S-curve that stretched gracefully behind it.
I stopped the car to watch as it bounded effortlessly over a blow-down then disappeared into a tangle of new growth where loggers had clear-cut a section of woods several years earlier. My sighting was later validated by a friend who saw a cougar drinking from the lake in front of his home early in the morning on the same day, less than mile from where I had encountered it. Unfortunately, by the time he found his camera, the cougar had moved on.
When I mentioned my cougar sighting to a friend in the DNR, he admitted that the DNR had been fending-off cougar reports for years because once they acknowledge that we have cougars in Michigan, they are obligated to (spend big $$$) protect them. (And they wonder why we are tempted to suspect our government of a UFO cover-up? Sheesh!)
So far, the DNR only admits having cougars in the Upper Peninsula. However, it's only a matter of time before someone in northern lower Michigan is able to document the cougars we're seeing locally.
The growing popularity of trail and game cameras that sportsmen and wildlife enthusiasts are using will hopefully provide conclusive evidence once more.
~ Robin
On October 10, 2009, a motion-detecting game camera was triggered by a cougar near Bruce township in the Eastern Upper Peninsula.
Finally, FINALLY, the DNR has been handed irrefutable evidence from a verified location which proves what folks have been saying for years—that we have cougars living in Michigan!
Despite official reports stating that the last cougar in Michigan was killed near Newberry in 1906, I, personally, saw a cougar cross US 31 (within 3 miles of our house) as I was driving north to work one morning about six years ago. The big cat simply loped across the highway right in front of me. There was no mistaking this gianormous, tawny feline for a smaller bobcat or lynx as its long tail formed a gentle S-curve that stretched gracefully behind it.
I stopped the car to watch as it bounded effortlessly over a blow-down then disappeared into a tangle of new growth where loggers had clear-cut a section of woods several years earlier. My sighting was later validated by a friend who saw a cougar drinking from the lake in front of his home early in the morning on the same day, less than mile from where I had encountered it. Unfortunately, by the time he found his camera, the cougar had moved on.
When I mentioned my cougar sighting to a friend in the DNR, he admitted that the DNR had been fending-off cougar reports for years because once they acknowledge that we have cougars in Michigan, they are obligated to (spend big $$$) protect them. (And they wonder why we are tempted to suspect our government of a UFO cover-up? Sheesh!)
So far, the DNR only admits having cougars in the Upper Peninsula. However, it's only a matter of time before someone in northern lower Michigan is able to document the cougars we're seeing locally.
The growing popularity of trail and game cameras that sportsmen and wildlife enthusiasts are using will hopefully provide conclusive evidence once more.
~ Robin
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