Mountain Lions moving farther east.

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Charlielolyoloswag
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Mountain Lions moving farther east.

Post by Charlielolyoloswag »

So the big house cats we've all been hearing about may be coming back to their historical ranges. In the 1990's they started showing up in the Black Hills of South Dakota and in western Nebraska. These animals ended up starting populations and now they seem to be extending even further recently there was one killed in NW Iowa: http://www.iowadnr.gov/About-DNR/DNR-Ne ... Ida-County , then there was a possible one photographed on a trail camera in Minnesota. http://www.kare11.com/life/outdoors/cou ... /443211042 . Now time for some personal stories: My family owns a farm in the NE part of Nebraska there is some farming but a good majority is woods so it hosts a good population of Whitetail, Turkey, Ground Hogs, Raccoons, among other animals. Well my grandma sometime in the early 2000's was driving down the road towards the house and she saw a large animal in the road as she got over a hill it was still there and then she realized it was in fact a Mountain Lion she has seen plenty of Bobcats and house cats to know it wasn't one of those and it just made it's way across the road into a cornfield. Then there was also the time I was shed hunting in late winter a few years ago. I was making my way down a trail which was thick of cedars then down the trail I found some tracks they were very large and I took some pictures but I've lost them since. As I was making my farther down the trail I came upon a dead deer, this deer was covered up a bit and had been eaten from what I've heard is typical of a mountain lion kill. The neighbors run some trail cameras on their property and they got a picture of one late at night, I'll try to get the picture but it was definitely a mountain lion. These are just a few cases of the animals moving farther east. So what do you guys think of it? I've also heard of them being in Missouri too. I do think that the Midwest can hold a population of mountain lions as long as they are carefully managed and aren't too close to residential areas.

Here's some information on these animals and a map showing the sightings of them in Nebraska:
http://outdoornebraska.gov/mountainlions/
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InstinctiveArcher
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Re: Mountain Lions moving farther east.

Post by InstinctiveArcher »

We've had them here in Michigan for quite a while. The DNR just wouldn't admit to it. They're definitely starting to take a toll on the northern deer herd. They are now in the lower peninsula as well, so our herd might start declining now too.
I've found tracks in the U.P. before. Sends a little tingle up my spine. I have a cousin who was attacked out in Washington while deer hunting.
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Charlielolyoloswag
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Re: Mountain Lions moving farther east.

Post by Charlielolyoloswag »

Yeah, there's a reason I like to carry a gun in the woods. I haven't noticed much of a decrease in deer population but we have quite a few more deer than you guys up north so I suppose that has something to do it it although I do find a deer every once and a while dead and covered up like a lion would.
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stancomputerhunter
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Re: Mountain Lions moving farther east.

Post by stancomputerhunter »

InstinctiveArcher wrote:We've had them here in Michigan for quite a while. The DNR just wouldn't admit to it. They're definitely starting to take a toll on the northern deer herd. They are now in the lower peninsula as well, so our herd might start declining now too.
I've found tracks in the U.P. before. Sends a little tingle up my spine. I have a cousin who was attacked out in Washington while deer hunting.
Happens in IL too. Definite photo proof for a couple of years of a pair in far Northern IL that came down from Wisconsin. And a video of one in the city limits of Chicago. Amazing it wasn't killed with all the gunfire there! After the Chicago sighting, IL DNR finally admitted that they "may be in the state".


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