Cougar sighting

I've seen em twice with my own 2 eyes here in north eastern ontario. Once, 1 was crossing the road about 200 yards ahead of me about 2 miles from town. The other time i saw 2 of them, (probably a mating pair but what do i know about cougars?) on an old concession road not to far from where i'm sitting right now. When my buddy and i saw them, there was a whole lot of "WTF are those?" going on. We ended up getting about a hundred yards away from them and looked at them threw binoculars and yes, they were definatly, 100%, not phucking kidding, cougars. There are no zoos within, at the very least, a 100 mile radius of here so these were definatly not 'escaped' animals. They sure were a sight to see...
 
gallen270 said:
nb too, but the fish cops deny it. my friends wife claims to have seen one twice on their street, they live out in the boonies and just about every neighbor has seen it at least once.
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Yet not one picture or picture of a track?


That seems to be the most common thread among all these sightings.
 
I've heard from a couple people up in the Lake St Peter area North of Bancroft that there have been a couple sightings up there.
 
There are known and verified sightings in western Quebec (scat and hair. DNA proved to be indeed eastern cougar) around Temiskaming. That's from several years ago. Cats can move great distances and there's no reason to believe they wouldn't go further south where deer are their preferred prey.
 
Funny this is on here, a friend I hunt with says he saw a cougar last week while hunting turkey. He lives less than 1/2 hr north of Brampton Ontario.
 
Woodsman said:
There are known and verified sightings in western Quebec (scat and hair. DNA proved to be indeed eastern cougar) around Temiskaming. That's from several years ago. Cats can move great distances and there's no reason to believe they wouldn't go further south where deer are their preferred prey.
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You'll need to cite that source because I can't find it and have access to all the peer reviewed wildlife journals going back decades. A confirmed event such as that would have definitely made one of them. An analysis of sightings shows that people in easternNorth America who "see" cougars WAY over report kittens with them as compared to Western sightings. Also, in most areas that cougars are colonizing or have been introduced there is typically a very high mortality rate due to human conflicts. After 50 plus years of sightings in Eastern Canada and not only has there been no cougars killed by hunters, cars, farmers, etc. there isn't even a verifiable picture of one or even a definitive clear picture of a track.

If cougars were truly that rare, there would be no way for their populations to persist. There has to be sufficient density for interaction and breeding. If that density exists you need to have several dozen cougars in any given area. That leaves a lot of sign in the form of tracks, kills and conflicts with humans.

Source:

The Eastern Cougar: A Management Failure?
James E. Cardoza and Susan A. Langlois
Wildlife Society Bulletin, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Spring, 2002), pp. 265-273
 
I hunt on a farm very close to Orford. The farmer had a calf last year get attacked by a predator and drag it across a field. It was reported to the mnr and they came out and checked it out. They told him he could kill on site if he saw it. A week later I saw a track in his back field,, they werent dog or coyote,, they were massive prints. There is also another farmer about 3-4 miles south of there that lost several head of cattle over the winter.. There is atleast 1 out in that area.
 
sjemac said:
You'll need to cite that source because I can't find it and have access to all the peer reviewed wildlife journals going back decades. A confirmed event such as that would have definitely made one of them. An analysis of sightings shows that people in easternNorth America who "see" cougars WAY over report kittens with them as compared to Western sightings. Also, in most areas that cougars are colonizing or have been introduced there is typically a very high mortality rate due to human conflicts. After 50 plus years of sightings in Eastern Canada and not only has there been no cougars killed by hunters, cars, farmers, etc. there isn't even a verifiable picture of one or even a definitive clear picture of a track.

If cougars were truly that rare, there would be no way for their populations to persist. There has to be sufficient density for interaction and breeding. If that density exists you need to have several dozen cougars in any given area. That leaves a lot of sign in the form of tracks, kills and conflicts with humans.

Source:

The Eastern Cougar: A Management Failure?
James E. Cardoza and Susan A. Langlois
Wildlife Society Bulletin, Vol. 30, No. 1 (Spring, 2002), pp. 265-273
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I don't remember the specific article or issue, but it was in the Sentier Chasse et Peche magazine in french here in Quebec. I'll see if I can't find it on their website and let you know.
 
Woodsman said:
Here's something I found:

http://www.easterncougarnet.org/QuebecPR-corrections.htm
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Thanks.
I've been searching since and have found an article or two that supports the existence of cougars in Eastern Canada (though no confirmed evidence of it being the Eastern variety as opposed to the "garden variety" western critter).

http://www.ofnc.ca/cfn/120-4/Bertrand.pdf

I hope they are there and breeding and haven't simply been released by idiots. Some video or better yet, a road kill would be the icing on the cake and put to rest the rumors once and for all.
 
sjemac said:
Thanks.
I've been searching since and have found an article or two that supports the existence of cougars in Eastern Canada (though no confirmed evidence of it being the Eastern variety as opposed to the "garden variety" western critter).

http://www.ofnc.ca/cfn/120-4/Bertrand.pdf

I hope they are there and breeding and haven't simply been released by idiots. Some video or better yet, a road kill would be the icing on the cake and put to rest the rumors once and for all.
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Well in another french article, apparently of the batch they have hair from in Quebec, 4 samples were true eastern cougar and the other 4 were south american cougar!

http://www.iforum.umontreal.ca/Forum/2006-2007/20070212/R_8.html
 
big boar said:
Funny this is on here, a friend I hunt with says he saw a cougar last week while hunting turkey. He lives less than 1/2 hr north of Brampton Ontario.
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thats where my mom said she seen it. Caledon/Orangeville area. Know of a few other reports there. My dads friend shot a really injured buck last fall with his bow. It was missing a hind foot and had massive claw marks on his back and neck. Thing could hardly walk from its foot and being so wore out, he figures a cougar attack but I dont know how the buck would get away in that condition. The claw marks are very weird though.
 
From what I heard lately down here (and I seem to be in the loop on these things due to past employment and people I know) they have confirmed Puma concolor or cougars in the Chatham Kent area through hair traps that were set up in an area that had many sightings over the past ten years or so, some of which I have personal experience with. I will reply on here if I hear any more on the topic..

Have a great day!
 
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