Ontario Cougars!

Pyd said:
I seen one, outside of Brantford Ontario, 3 minutes from my house.
I was driving down a partially abandoned road to an old rifle range to sight in my new .17 HMR, it was about 8 in the morning. As I rounded a bend the cougar jumped from the riverbank (Nith), hit the road once in front of me and it's next contact with the ground was in the bush, out of sight. This happened in good light, 10 yards in front of me.
I didn't give it much thought, I was on a mission with a new rifle. About 3 in the afternoon I couldn't stop running it through my head so I called the MNR, the gal on the phone was as sceptical as the majority of posts here. After several questions she asked me one that seemed to trigger a bit of interest, and she put me through to the Biologist, Pud Hunter. I learned a lot that day and Pud and I still speak on a fairly regular basis.
I don't think there are many out there, or we would be seeing pictures on trail cams, but I know without doubt that there is at least one.
Click to expand...
Is this PUD your alter ego ??? Sorry but I had to ask given your handle.:D
 
Superbrad said:
What about the pic and article I posted ardent?... And the fact that mnr themselves confirms the existance of cougars in ontario?... There arte literally hundreds of pictures that surface each year which the ministry simply pushes aside by saying "we can't confirm it's a cougar"...

I can only recall maybe 3 cgn'rs saying they saw a cougar in ontario... Are the claims here really that prevalent?
Click to expand...

Yep, there are tons of guys here claiming to have seen one, or their friend, buddy, sister's realtor, etc has seen them. More sightings are discussed here from Ontarians than I heard all year in cougar country in the Rockies. That one photo, who knows, looks fishy and I don't buy everything on the news, but let's say it's real; that's one. Where are the other hundred shots, and trail cam photos? Cougars are routinely caught on trail cams in the foothills, with far less human sightings, but why not in Ontario where I read more rumours of sightings than anywhere else? Like I've said, I do believe a small population is likely there, I don't believe all these sightings.
 
Ardent said:
Yep, there are tons of guys here claiming to have seen one, or their friend, buddy, sister's realtor, etc has seen them. More sightings are discussed here from Ontarians than I heard all year in cougar country in the Rockies. That one photo, who knows, looks fishy and I don't buy everything on the news, but let's say it's real; that's one. Where are the other hundred shots, and trail cam photos? Cougars are routinely caught on trail cams in the foothills, with far less human sightings, but why not in Ontario where I read more rumours of sightings than anywhere else? Like I've said, I do believe a small population is likely there, I don't believe all these sightings.
Click to expand...


OK... fair enough... I am not willing to buy into the idea of Ontario being overrun with cougars either....lol... but let's keep in mind that it's far more likely that there are some cougars here than there is not... how many are actually seeing them?... who knows?...

Let's also keep in mind that a cougar sighting in the rockies wouldn't be discussed and heralded as such a big deal as everyone already knows there are cougars there..... Let's also keep in mind that BC leads the entire world in Bigfoot sightings.... :) ....
 
Turkeyslayer 1300 said:
Last winter I worked with a fellow who was trapping deer in Marlborough Forest near ottawa in order to gather information to write his doctoral thesis on hunter/deer relations. He was working in conjunction with the MNR and after a while I asked him what he thought about cougars in Ontario.

It turns out another person he knew wrote a paper on cougars in ontario and had put out large numbers of "DNA" traps. Essentially a bait with strands of barb wire surrounding it, similar to what they used to do for black bears. The fellow would then collect any fur samples that were found caught in the wire. He on several occasions found "cougar" hair and after DNA analysis it was found that the DNA was similar to South american cougars or pumas and did not compare well with the North American DNA. So there are cougars here, they were just at some time in captivity.

Where would the MNR get money to release cougars? They can't work overtime and hold bake sales to buy fuel for their pickups?Last year the cougars were supposed to have been released in Luther Marsh to control the deer. I think MNR releases are a load of cow cookies.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't even be surprised if there is looneys breeding and releasing them. There's groups who love them and would want to see them back. And there is supposed to be a few hundred in captivity in the province, so.. just takes one nut to breed and keep releasing.

As for sightings, I haven't had the pleasure but know people who think they have and I don't doubt them and they have no reason to lie. We already know they're here, just as some pointed out likely in very small numbers.

I also really doubt if someone shot one (especially a landowner/farmer) they'd give a damn about reporting it or want to deal with the headache it would entail (for multiple reasons, but one being below).

The cougar is listed as an endangered species under Ontario's Endangered Species Act, 2007. The act prohibits the killing, capture, possession, buying, selling or trading of a cougar.
Click to expand...
 
I have seen 2 in Northern Ontario. Both on the way to my trapline. I am quite familiar with lynx vs cougar....and well the tails on these two were quite long. Both spotted crossing a LARGE logging road during the day. Jumped across a 15 foot ditch like my house cat jumps on the couch. One spotted in 1990 with my father...he saw it too. Second in 2007 I was by myself but it was unmistakable. Almost the exact same spot. I have no delusions it was the same cat as the sightings were 17 years apart.
 
The thread started because of a newspaper story that, yes the Ontario MNR agrees cougars exist in Ontario. No need to keep chiming in and asking for further proof. The scientists have done enough looking and thinking to say yes. OK, some are escaped pets, like the black jaguar near Guelph (?) and there are an estimated 50 private pets, but the DNA is diverse enough to support the proof.

http://easterncougar.org/CougarNews/?category_name=ontario

Now, I want to see the MNR research Mediumfoots and hybrid moose/caribou.
 
Ardent said:
Yep, there are tons of guys here claiming to have seen one, or their friend, buddy, sister's realtor, etc has seen them. More sightings are discussed here from Ontarians than I heard all year in cougar country in the Rockies. That one photo, who knows, looks fishy and I don't buy everything on the news, but let's say it's real; that's one. Where are the other hundred shots, and trail cam photos? Cougars are routinely caught on trail cams in the foothills, with far less human sightings, but why not in Ontario where I read more rumours of sightings than anywhere else? Like I've said, I do believe a small population is likely there, I don't believe all these sightings.
Click to expand...

More people in the bush per unit area than out west.
 
Turkeyslayer 1300 said:
More people in the bush per unit area than out west.
Click to expand...

Definitely not unless you've got a stat on that, out west we are resource economies and people are traversing the countryside every which way at a frantic rate. More trappers, surveyors, loggers, prospectors, bush pilots, geologists, drillers, miners, hikers, etc etc traverse the west than Ontario without question. I'd like to claim we're less traveled, and I can be lulled into believing that, but our economies quickly remind you that's not so. There are however a lot more places for things to hide with the mountains and valleys.

Look forward to the trail camera photos coming out, and I do believe they will. I just think there's far, far fewer than people think. I hope they make it.
 
Ardent said:
Definitely not unless you've got a stat on that, out west we are resource economies and people are traversing the countryside every which way at a frantic rate. More trappers, surveyors, loggers, prospectors, bush pilots, geologists, drillers, miners, hikers, etc etc traverse the west than Ontario without question. I'd like to claim we're less traveled, and I can be lulled into believing that, but our economies quickly remind you that's not so. There are however a lot more places for things to hide with the mountains and valleys.

Look forward to the trail camera photos coming out, and I do believe they will. I just think there's far, far fewer than people think. I hope they make it.
Click to expand...

Trappers loggers and prospectors are far more abundant in BC ... but pale in comparison to north bay residents and timmins mining residents etc...... our population rates are higher amongst all latitudes....

I do think you have a great point in that the cougar numbers are small here and the number of sightings do not correlate....

I have seen a cougar... when I was in BC and accompanying a dog hunt.... it was amazing and you are right in that when you see one you know it...

I firmly believe cougars exist here.... in small numbers... I also believe sightings are exxagerated.... but they are here nonetheless...
 
Ardent said:
Definitely not unless you've got a stat on that, out west we are resource economies and people are traversing the countryside every which way at a frantic rate. More trappers, surveyors, loggers, prospectors, bush pilots, geologists, drillers, miners, hikers, etc etc traverse the west than Ontario without question. I'd like to claim we're less traveled, and I can be lulled into believing that, but our economies quickly remind you that's not so. There are however a lot more places for things to hide with the mountains and valleys.

Look forward to the trail camera photos coming out, and I do believe they will. I just think there's far, far fewer than people think. I hope they make it.
Click to expand...

I should have better qualified my statement, in the areas that these cougars are reputed to be present in there are larger numbers of people using the land than out west. Alot of these sightings have been reported in areas of crown land that are FULL of hunters and other recreational users all year long. You would think that if these big cats were so prevalent kills would be found and their would be more trail camera photos as you've mentioned.
 
Last edited:
I misunderstood your meaning as well, makes perfect sense. :) Yes, that's what strikes me as bizarre.

Directed at the thread in general, with the number of trail cams in the regions of Ontario people are claiming sightings, and all these hunters and outdoorsmen (even here) claiming to have seen them, where are the pictures? The kills? Even just the tracks?

If they're out there in any concentration, they'd have shown up on trail cams by now. I have to admit amusement towards those bemoaning the potential resurgence of the Cougar in Ontario as dangerous, game eating wraiths- it's amazing we're still alive in the west with all the Cougars, Grizzlies, Lynx, Wolverine, Wolves et al! :p
 
Ardent said:
Directed at the thread in general, with the number of trail cams in the regions of Ontario people are claiming sightings, and all these hunters and outdoorsmen (even here) claiming to have seen them, where are the pictures? The kills? Even just the tracks?
Click to expand...

Thats what gets me...
 
Then again, our camp sets out a number trail cams a week or two ahead of deer season every yr, & we haven't yet got a single pic of a yote/wolf, yet we know the country is over run with them!!
Or maybe cougars just aren't attracted to a bag of apples :cool:

As for pics, well most guys in the bush don't have a camera handy the instant it takes for any animal to dissapear. I've seen a number of bears & wolves in the wild but I've never taken a picture of one, how many others are the same!

Ardent: do you dispute the MNR physical evidence?
 
The lack of pictures always gets me too. But then, we have a black bear around here too that always seems to elude cameras. One gal got a good picture of it, and footprints have been photographed all over the place, but even for an animal that isn't known for being quite so stealthy it's photos are far and few between.
Me, I seen the Cougar here. Don't really care who believes me. If I were going to come to a gun site and lie about something I would do it about my tight groups in the general area, or my stripper/nympho girlfriend in the hot wives/girlfriends thread, not about a cat that I caught taking a drink from a river.

Pictures aren't going to prove anything, the naysayers will just dismiss that too. Heck, our MNR who is known for hiding everything that passes across their desk from licence fees to existence and presence of animals has outright said that they are here, and people still argue it.
 
I am the only guy in my camp that does NOT own a cell phone or digital camera with me at all times. The younger guys can't even go the the out house without a cell phone. I feel there are alot of guys hunting each fall with the ability to photo kills, tracks other evidence. I think ultimately a very few actual sightings of escaped cats backed with lots of local folk lore is the situation.

Darryl
 
Pyd said:
Pictures aren't going to prove anything, the naysayers will just dismiss that too. Heck, our MNR who is known for hiding everything that passes across their desk from licence fees to existence and presence of animals has outright said that they are here, and people still argue it.
Click to expand...

^This....

A quick google search of "ontario cougar sightings" yields piles of articles, a few pics, many tracks and many confirmations through DNA by the ministry....

I find it amazing how this is such a topic of contention amongst people both here and elsewhere... On this site in particular people routinely claim 1000 yard deer kills with underpowered rifles, 0.5" 200 yard groups with 300 dollar package rifles and many other hunting and shooting feats that defy modern science.... yet mention ontario cougar and you are full of it?....



senior said:
Then again, our camp sets out a number trail cams a week or two ahead of deer season every yr, & we haven't yet got a single pic of a yote/wolf, yet we know the country is over run with them!!
Or maybe cougars just aren't attracted to a bag of apples :cool:

As for pics, well most guys in the bush don't have a camera handy the instant it takes for any animal to dissapear. I've seen a number of bears & wolves in the wild but I've never taken a picture of one, how many others are the same!

Ardent: do you dispute the MNR physical evidence?
Click to expand...


I agree with this also.... I have shot 4 coyote on my property in the last 2 years.... I have seen two chase a fawn through my back yard.... I have five trail cams that run all year round and have gotten thousands of deer pics.... coyote?... one.... one lousy pic...
 
madtrapper143 said:
I am the only guy in my camp that does NOT own a cell phone or digital camera with me at all times. The younger guys can't even go the the out house without a cell phone. I feel there are alot of guys hunting each fall with the ability to photo kills, tracks other evidence. I think ultimately a very few actual sightings of escaped cats backed with lots of local folk lore is the situation.

Darryl
Click to expand...

Yes, between "local folklore" and hillbillies hittin' the 'shine,

it's no wonder there are numerous sightings.;)
 
The few pics that floated around my area came out as fakes....This is why I have an issue with the whole deal....How far is someone willing to go to trick people? ...Bring in scat, or hair to plant evidence???? I wouldn't put it past some...

My father has trapped his whole life on huge acreage, and has not caught one, or seen any evidence of them... This where some sighting have taken place...He routinely catches yotes, wolves, and fisher on his stake...Some years back he even caught a few bob cats...

Until I see a live one, or a dead one on the back of a truck, I will be very sceptical..
One would think a cougar would be spotted around local deer yards...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom