Footprints found on Durand farm may be from a cougar

Published Wednesday, June 03, 2009

DURAND, Wis. - A rare cougar might have been roaming on a large dairy farm near Durand.

Marty Weiss said his son found footprints in wet, muddy soil on their dairy farm last Wednesday in the town of Lima and those tracks appeared to be from a cougar.

RELATED CONTENT
	Add a comment

Weiss said his son told him a bear had been near a large bunker silo so he checked the tracks.

The farmer is an avid hunter and familiar with cougar tracks. He told his son "That's not a bear, that's cat like," referring to the three lobes at the back of the foot pad and a stride longer than 3 feet. "We took pictures with a ruler," he said.

Conservation biologist Adrian Wydeven, the DNR's leading cougar expert, examined photographs of the tracks and concluded they could not have been left by a large dog.

The DNR will attempt to monitor the animal and is asking people who spend time out of doors in West Central Wisconsin to be alert for cougar tracks and other signs. Additional tracks, in addition to offering clues to the animal's movements, could lead to the discovery of scat, hair or urine that could be subjected to DNA analysis.

DNA analysis could help biologists determine the cat's origin.

Individuals who find tracks are asked to follow the reporting procedures outlined on the DNR Web pages: dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/mammals/cougar.

It's best to use a ruler or a common item like a quarter next to any track being photographed. If possible, cover the track to protect it.

Mountain lions are listed as protected wild animals in Wisconsin. This means a permit would be required from DNR before someone could kill one.

Males are 80-95 inches in length and females measure 72-80 inches. The long rope-like tail is 28-38 inches long. Adults stand 27-31 inches at the shoulder. The tracks of cougars in mud or snow are usually about 2.7-4 inches in length and 2.8-4.5 inches in width, showing no claws. They are round in appearance and often wider than they are long.

If a cougar is located, DNR biologists would attempt to monitor it's movements.

There are no current plans to capture this animal.

Mountain lions were not seen for more than a century in Wisconsin until two recently. One cougar left tracks near Milton early last year, and was later killed by police in Chicago.

The second cougar was photographed in March in a tree in Washburn County near Spooner. The DNR attempted to tranquilize the animal to put a tracking device on it but the cougar ran off and was never seen after that.

Young male cougars are said to be migrating eastward in the Upper Midwest from a population in South Dakota's Black Hills.