Reports of Eastern Mountain lions

boney

boney

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Northumberland County,Ontario
There is a fella that I used to work with afew years back,who every now and then drops in for a couple of coolies.His place is not terribly far away from mine in south central Ontario.
OK (now here it comes)He has told me that he has seen what he believes to be a cougar in our neck of the woods.YES that is what he tells me.A COUGAR.
I have been to at least 2 websites regarding what "they" call the Eastern mountain lion, (presumably extinct)and there have been numerous reports over several years of large cats being seen and one that was supposed to have atacked a young man around the Cornwall On. area a number of years ago.
Many reports are coming out of the maritime provinces aswell.
Anyway,wondered what you thought of these reports and what would/should /could you do if say,......you were out calling coyotes and one of these pricks showed up for lunch?
If they are out there???

For the record.I have not seen anything lately ,but I did see a large cat back in 83 or 84 that wasnt of the typical house variety.
 
If you call one in, see if he answers to the name Steve French. Don't panic if he comes close, just give him your lunch.
 
Eastern Cougars live in Southern Ontario.

http://www.rom.on.ca/ontario/risk.php?doc_type=fact&lang=&id=135
Range: The species has a very wide range, encompassing large areas of North, Central and South America. There have been hundreds of sightings of cougars in Ontario over the years, and their presence here is generally acknowledged. Cougars in northern Ontario are of unknown origin, but may have moved into the province from the west, or may represent remnants of the original population. Cougars in southern Ontario are considered to be escaped pets. As such, these animals would have a wide variety of genetic backgrounds.
Click to expand...
on-135.gif

Modified from: Beaudin and Quintin 1983
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Tell me if they are considered "escaped" pets in Southern Ontario does that mean they are just cats and therefor not protected ?? :confused: Or does the reverse hold true, house cats that excaped and are living in the wild are protected because they are lumped in with cougars ?? :confused:

Dimitri
 
I saw one in Algonquin Park, about 1983, near the West gate - went across the road in front of me, broad daylight. I did not know there weren't supposed to be any around until later............

Doug
 
i've seen pictures of the eastern cougar- the ears are smaller and the head is less domed- but for any cougar- what a tail- if you see a cat with about 3 feet of tail, it's a cougar
 
The Ottawa papers regularly run stories about cougars, and there are sincere amateur biologists who apparently track down every report. The best one I've read was the guy who lives in Barrhaven (an instant suburb, separated from the rest of civilization by a federal government experimental farm), and who saw a cougar more than once sunning itself on a rock pile in the farm field. Limited deer hunting pressure and excellent habitat, plenty of roadkills and not much predator pressure. I've even seen buzzards and turkey vultures feeding on the carrion.

(( Extract your minds from gutter - the other well-known cougar territory is further north and east in the more densely populated and dimly lit pickup bars and dance halls. ))
 
There have been a lot of reported sightings here in NB as well yet no one has produced a carcass that they found or any other solid proof for that matter so I guess that I am skeptical.

IF I ever see one here in NB while hunting, then I would shoot it just to end the debate but I won't hold my breath!
 
Well BONEY, I live near Trent River and cougars have been seen around here. My farm contains ponies ,cattle,horses,including foals and calves.Also a three yr old Grandaughter. The MNR says the eastern cougar is an endangered species and may not be shot.the fine is 25000$!!! My Farm (and main rifle is a 6.5 Mannlicher) will be protected and if one shows up I will kill it. Should I be Charged????
 
JITC, there is a useful adage out west, that goes something like this:

Shoot, Shovel, and Shut Up!

Doug

The reason the cougar is an endangered species is that it SHOULD BE.
 
Last year around my family and I were on our way to Kanata to visit the inlaws, halfway there, around Maxville, something in a clearing (rough field) caught our eye. My wife and I saw a full grown cougar with a younger one walking behind it. Amazing thing to see. We thought we were near a zoo or something because they were only about 75 yards from the 417. They certainly do exist.
 
There have been a number of credible sightings here in NB, including a recent one which was captured on video. As evidence of the fact that they are here, the DNR has recently gone from denying that we have them(which they have done since as long as I can remember, notwithstanding countless eyewitness reports), to stating that since they don't have a cougar biologist, they are not qualified to express an opinion on their existence:p A trapper I know had a black one in his coyote snare last winter, but it snapped the wire as he approached the trap. The government here has adopted the same policy concerning cougars as they have concerning wild turkeys in NB, just pretend they are not here and avoid having to answer any questions.
 
My dad is a CO in NF and we have seen cougars on NF Island many times. I have also seen a cougar chaising a mulie doe near the AB/SK border. They are secrective animals and it wouldn't surprise me to see one anywhere, as long as there is food and shelter why wouldn't they be there?
 
I remember when I was a kid living on the farm, we had a cat who left for the wild. Oddly, it never forgot the family and once or twice a year it would show back up and come in the house for a couple hours, have some milk and be gone again.

The cat got HUGE!!! Not as big as a cougar persay, but definately didn't look like your run-of-the-mill housecat!
 
Here in eastern Manitoba there have been a few sightings over the past few years. A fellow I know real well spotted one in the sandhills just north of Stead, as well one was seen crossing the Trans License road by a group of fishermen. But according to the CO's around here, they don't exist in MB.
 
Back in N.B. in 1981 My grandfather and I were driving along a dirt road, came around a corner and saw something laying in the road a couple hundred yards ahead, at first we thought it was a deer but it didn't look right and it layed there until we got about 25 yds away and we knew it wasn't a deer, it got up and slowly sauntered across the road into the bush. definately a cougar. we called the warden and he came and made plaster casts of the tracks, it was a cougar and a good sized one. I've seen several out west here in the last 25 years and only ever saw one that might have been bigger. That was east of Woodstock NB. Several other camp owners in the area had seen it too.
 
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