I thought I saw a puddy tat!

[Hamilton Reef]

With 700,000 deer hunters I'm surprised that some bozo hasn't seen and shot at one of the cats. I'm glad this is not the case. I appreciate just knowing nature still has a few of the creatures around.

Cougars still prowl in Michigan
DNA proves at least 20 are roaming, most in UP

http://www.freep.com/sports/outdoors/cougar1_20011101.htm

[PW]

Yeah, this was cool news. Makes this state seem just a little bit wilder.

Several years ago, a large cat approached me while I was fishing a river in a remote part of the eastern UP. Couldn't quite make it out behind the brush, but it was deer-colored, large, and making these short, sharp hissing sounds. Birds overhead were flying and circles and chattering like mad. I was sort of spooked, but I also wanted to get a better look at it. I didn't know what to do, so I hissed back at it. The cat let out a god-awful scream, then ran back into the woods, making a lot of noise as it went. Having heard often from official sources that cougars were extinct here, I assumed that the animal on the riverbank that night was a bobcat or possibly a lynx--sometimes even small animals can kick up a ruckus when they run through the brush. But after reading yesterdays FP, I'm pretty sure it was a cougar.

[$Big Pimpin$]

They should try and bring the Cougar population up to about 600 that would be really cool.

[Jackone]

Too many people for a population of that size.:(

[Hamilton Reef]

I learned something new today in Eric Sharp's article.

Another problem is the species' penchant for cannibalism.

Females kill each other and the kittens of other females, and males will kill any cougar they are not intent on mating with. The big cats are so deadly to each other that female cougars have evolved a bizarre survival strategy. They begin a false estrus (heat) when they detect signs of a male in their territory, and though they can't become pregnant, they mate with the male to avoid being killed.

For the full article:

http://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/newreply.php?action=newreply&threadid=10623