Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

msar-riders - Re: [MSAR] cougar sightings

msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Mounted search and rescue

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "David Skofstad" <dbs54neigh@earthlink.net>
  • To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [MSAR] cougar sightings
  • Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:31:39 -0600

You didn't expect a reply from the Chicago, IL, area but here it is.  A Cougar was shot and killed by Chicago PD in a north side neighborhood this year. DNA testing indicated the same cat had been confirmed in the area of central Wisconsin some months before.  There have been reports for a couple of years of cougar sightings in northeastern Illinois, some of them from reliable observers.  A casting of a footprint was taken about 18 months ago by a wildlife biologist. 
 
Perhaps cougars are taking the evolutionary path of coyotes...formerly highly shy and secretive, now not so much.
 
As a side note, local animal rights crazies have been very critical of the shooting, stating that cougars "never attack humans".  This cat was a couple of blocks from a grade school. My opinion, it would have been irresponsible in the extreme to pass up the chance to contain the threat.
 
 
----- Original Message -----
Sent: 8/19/2008 6:53:24 AM
Subject: [MSAR] cougar sightings

I am writing this to ask the people in the western states where  there are cougars what the best action or reaction riders should take if they come in proximity to a cougar.  I work in a park in the Midwest and there have been many recent and reliable sightings of this cat.  This is an extreme rarity in this area and I don't know how to inform riders how to  handle this situation.  T. J. McCormick



Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page