Cougars???

[Curtis]

I'm not sure if this topic has been on the board yet or not beacuse i have just recenty got the internet again. The "where are the deer" post got me thinking, im pretty sure their is one in my area my uncle shot at it a few years ago & neighbours have reported sittings. Its just a thought but could that be a reason for deer decline in some area's? I dont even wanna know how many deer a cougar would kill per yr..

 

Anyways what are your thoughts on cougar sittings?

[Terry]

yes there are cougars...no secret that I know of

 

http://www.ontariopuma.ca/

[Cookslav]

There are cougars in Ontario, there is no doubt, the only thing up for debate is if they are naturally reproducing.

I have not heard if the MNR has released an official stance on this yet?

 

Personaly I'd say they are, based on the volume of confirmed sights.

If they are not there were ALOT of pet cougars that escaped their pens.

 

Now...

Insert the jokes cause we know they are comming

[capt bruce]

 

this picture was sent to me awhile ago ,its one of those internet things" a friend of my uncles brother etc. etc." I dont know where it was really taken or by whom but it is a little scary

[DRIFTER_016]

Yep, they're about.

Back early in the decade when I was living in Grand Valley we had one down by our pond that was feeding on the gut pile from the deer we cleaned back there.

[Dano]

I believe. A good friend of mine who lives in Southgate (N/W of Shelburne) was over at a neighbours and the MNR was there investigating the killing of two horses on his property. My buddy told them that a really big dog had been leaving prints around his pond. The biologist went over to his pond and confirmed that they were indeed cougar tracks. He made me promise not to tell his wife, lol. He also has a pic of a bear in a cornfield next to his house.

[Burtess]

I would think they are around, but more so in the remote areas, you would think there would be way more sightings if they were around higher populated areas.

That being said a couple of years ago while walking in the Dundas Conservation Area with my kids, we found the rear leg and part of the hind quarter of a deer about 15 feet up in a tree. Wonder how that got there????

 

Burt

[craigdritchie]

I'm not sure if this topic has been on the board yet or not beacuse i have just recenty got the internet again. The "where are the deer" post got me thinking, im pretty sure their is one in my area my uncle shot at it a few years ago & neighbours have reported sittings. Its just a thought but could that be a reason for deer decline in some area's? I dont even wanna know how many deer a cougar would kill per yr..

 

Anyways what are your thoughts on cougar sittings?

While most seem to agree cougars are likely found in Ontario, no one - MNR included - seems to be able to confirm it. If the big cats are here, they are extremely few and very far between. That being the case, no one should be shooting at the damn things.

 

Deer decline? Where? Whitetails are almost out of control in Ontario.

[cram]

I have never seen one but would bet $ that they exist here. Way too many sightings and signs of them.

 

I doubt they have a measurable impact on the deer population though. Too few of them (by nature) and there are lots of deer anyway. Coyotes and wolves may be cutting into that, but still....

[Richard S.]

That would make sense since the Puma's main diet is deer. This is there native range, and according to the Ontario Puma foundation there are about 550 province wide and their numbers are steadily increasing as well.

 

 

Rich.

Edited December 8, 2009 by Richard S.

[Dara]

I had one run across the road in front of me up here 2 years ago out by my cabin.

No doubt about what it was.

[irishfield]

Definitely amongst us !

[Whitespinnerbait]

There are Absolutely no cougars in Ontario whatsoever...None !!!!!

 

No pics = No proof = No cougars

[Dara]

There are Absolutely no cougars in Ontario whatsoever...None !!!!!

 

No pics = No proof = No cougars

 

 

The buggers are too fast to get a picture of

[Whitespinnerbait]

The buggers are too fast to get a picture of

 

[backbay]

Actually, there are cougars, particularly in North Toronto. One took off with all my assets a while back.

Edited December 9, 2009 by backbay

[danc]

I was fortunate enough to see one many years ago while Grouse hunting. No doubt about what it was. A huge tawny colored cat that appeared on the trail about 30 yards in front of me.

[richyb]

A few years ago we were told by some loggers that they seen one by our vehicles while we were fishing at a camp by sudbury. My grandfather seen one last summer just outside of kirkfield. My brother also seen one in the same area in the spring. There was tracks in orillia last year that were confirmed by a puma specialist.

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

i've yet to have the privelege but several friends have had sightings... there's only one animal with a tail like that...

[azebra]

how spooky is your house cat? hiding, quiet stealth, hunting.. these cats I feel are here and they simply wont let you see them ..

[Whitespinnerbait]

Actually, there are cougars, particularly in North Toronto. One of took off with all my assets a while back.

 

 

[T Fisher]

I saw what looked like a huge cat with a long tail in my head lights. We were coming home from a moose hunt in October 2007. We were about 200k south of Cocrane Ont. It was that time of day when all the animals big and small are moving, the break of dawn around 6:00am. I was driving with my co pilot sitting in the passanger seat we both turned to each other yelling Cougar ?. It crossed in front of my truck aprox 30 meters. What a site.

[Skud]

There has been many sightings of one in Innisfil. The 6th line and Huronia rd. area(confirmed 'off the record' by MNR). There is also been reports of a 'family' of cougars in the area of Hwy 9 between Hwy 400 and #27 down in the swamps. I believe!

[bigfish1965]

There are CONFIRMED pumas in Niagara...(confirmed by MNR via scat samples in a cave adjacent to a quarry) as well as a black panther who has not been seen in awhile in the Fort Erie area. There is another believed to live in the Port Colborne area ( attacked a horse on a trail).

Another puma attacked a horse in Fonthill and was seen leaving a barn with a smaller cat in tow that may have been a young puma. A tracker was hired to kill the puma in Fonthill since it was in a farm next to a school but she got wise and moved on.

The MNR does not believe these are Eastern Cougars, but escaped pets and are not protected by the Endangered Species Act or Species at Risk.

Interestingly the law that does protect cougars lists the incorrect scientific name for the cat leaving the law kinda useless anyway.

[ch312]

while quading this summer two of us watched an adult cougar jump across the trail about 20-40 yards ahead while we were going 60km/h. we both stopped right away and both knew exactly what it was. my buddy in front saw the entire body and i saw the rear half. definitely a cats paws and long tail. no question about what we saw. i have been hunting since i was a kid (over 15 years?) and can track deer through some nasty stuff. but, this cat left no sign at all and we looked around for a while to get a pic of tracks.

 

this was located about 5-7 minutes WSW of the brantford city limits. it was roughly 20-30 yards from the fences of houses near the "windmill store" in mount pleasant for those who know the brantford area.

 

 

a few years ago my father and i saw a very fresh large cougar track in mud. there is simply no canine that could leave such a track which was basically like a giant house cat track with rounder toes.