HomeProbable Mountain Lion Eludes Authorities in Milwaukee
We have to make note of this event, since it points out how hard it is to get a photo of a cougar that doesn't want to have
its picture taken.
An apparent cougar has been wandering around urban Milwaukee for just under a week. Only a short blurry video, and a
horrible still were managed of it. Not enough for a "confirmation" but some features visible. Sound familiar?
People scoffed, dismissed the witnesses, etc, until a Milwaukee PD Sergeant responded to one of the calls, and got
a first hand brief look at it. The sergeant described it as a "large wild cat". The photos and video show a cat
with a long thick tail hanging down, with the profile of a cougar. A large contingent of police thought they had
it contained, but alas, they couldn't find it.
Here are a couple of quotes from the PD:
“From my understanding, it was a 100% confirmation that it was a lion-like animal. They know it`s a cat-like
animal — could be a young African lion or could be a mature mountain lion/cougar species. Unfortunately we
weren`t able to keep visibility on it long. It went into some thick vegetation,” MPD Lt. Paul Formolo
said Sunday.
and MOST IMPORTANTLY:
“Anytime there’s a confirmed sighting — they stand down and let the tranquilizer guns be prepared. We’re
going into each scenario with tranquilizing being the first option,” MADACC Executive Director Karen Sparapani said."
So note, here is a cat running around Urban Milwaukee, and yet very little "evidence" comes forth. Imagine
what a cat can do in New England? This demonstrates again that just because people aren't getting pictures
doesn't mean its not there. Lets hope the cat moves to more suitable territory. Also note it went into an URBAN area.
July 31st, 2015 - 12:21
Doubtless many sightings here in Ct are either bobcats or coyotes. Most sightings are fleeting and often at night, twilight or dawn. Even someone with considerable experience can make a mistake under those kinds of circumstances. But a good point is made that even in an urban area mountain lions can be exceedingly elusive. And in some of the more rural areas of Ct there is a lot of wooded or semi-vacant land where one or several mountain lions could go undetected for a lifetime. But their “travelling man” lifestyle keeps them from staying in areas where avoiding detection is easy. Mountain lions are not like whitetail deer that typically live their entire lives in an area of about one to two square miles. Mountain lions like to wander. Hence the mountain lion that was killed on the highway here in Ct a few years back. That lion had traveled a LONG way.
I’ve only seen one animal I thought was a mountain lion. But the circumstances were such that 13 years later I still remain convinced it was a mountain lion. The animal was travelling on a 2-track going through a hay field on the edge of perhaps 3 square miles of wooded hills near Sharon, Ct. The hay was close to 3 feet tall so a bobcat would have been completely hidden, but the back, head and neck of this animal were clearly visible. I was able to observe the animal from a distance of about 75 yards for more than 5 minutes. A crosswind was blowing so the animal could not scent me. At one point the animal stopped walking and looked in my general direction for probably 15-20 seconds. WITHOUT A DOUBT FELINE. This was NOT a canine. The color was correct for a mountain lion. With the height of the grass I never got a glimpse of the tail though I was mostly looking at the head, neck area and front end. After he had been out of sight for a while I wished I could have looked for tracks, but it was summer and the ground was dry. A couple of years later I ran into a game warden while out deer hunting and I asked him about my sighting. I was fully expecting the standard denial. Instead he commented that he and most field personnel knew that the occasional mountain lion passed through the area from time to time but that none believed that there was a breeding population or even any “resident” mountain lions.
July 31st, 2015 - 12:31
I had one personal experience when I was only 8, but with my parent that was an experienced outdoorsman. The cat crossed the road in front of us, and he was quick to point out the features, size, tail, as to encourage me not to approach one ever. It froze long enough in the headlights to allow that. My other parent was involved in tagging bobcat kittens at the time, and I would go once in a while on that adventure. Its not known how many are around, but at the least a few are passing through. They have quite a range normally, and are Very elusive. Any credible wildlife biologist with experience in our area will not rule out their presence at least in limited numbers. That is very likely to change dramatically over the next decade.