Another Cougar Spotting

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3396969 (see link for photo)

 

Rumours of cougar sightings have run rampant in North Bay area for years.

 

And the handy camera work of Jim Turncliffe has put the large cat in the spotlight again.

 

Turncliffe, who has lived on Widdifield Station Road for almost 40 years, said he has been seeing large cat tracks on his property for two or three years. The longtime trapper dug up a field book and confirmed the tracks belonged to a cougar.

 

On Nov. 26, Turncliffe woke at dawn and saw a large animal in is dog pen. Realizing, he hadn't put his shepherd-husky mix in the pen the previous evening, he grabbed a camera and headed outside in his sock feet.

 

"I came around from beside my shed and took a photo," he said, adding he was standing less than 20 feet from the pen. "It saw me and shot out like a cannon and was in the bush in seconds."

 

He thinks the cat may have been after deer scraps he left in the pen for his dog.

 

Turncliffe and his friend, Alain Denis, a resident of Lennox Road about three miles as the crow flies from the Widdifield Station property, are both avid hunters.

 

"This is a cougar, no two ways about it," Denis said looking at the picture.

 

The Ministry of Natural Resources has yet to confirm the sighting.

 

"We can't say for sure that is a cougar," said Jolanta Kowalski, a senior spokeswoman with the MNR in Toronto. "We do get a fair number of photos of cougars sent to us, but 99% of the time they turn out to be hoaxes."

 

The ministry sent two officers to Turncliffe's property Wednesday and one confirmed the cat in the photograph was indeed a cougar.

 

"We have someone on the ground doing an investigation," Kowalski said.

 

The officers set up a trail camera that is activated by movement.

 

"We will try and catch photos of the cougar again," Kowalski said.

 

Reports of cougar sightings have not been uncommon in the area.

 

A couple reported seeing a cougar on MacPherson Drive toward Centennial Crescent last winter. And a Bonfield woman said she saw a cougar behind her home around the same time.

 

There were several reports of cougar sightings in the North Bay area in the fall of 2008, including numerous near Birchs Road and Marshall Avenue in West Ferris. Police upped patrols in the area.

 

Some schools kept students indoors during recess and West Ferris Secondary School asked its students to avoid door-to-door canvassing for the food bank.

 

There were also sightings reported in 2007.

 

The ministry has never verified the animal because it has not received evidence of photographs, scat or tracks in the area.

 

Kowalski said there are free ranging cougars in Ontario but they are rare and it's not clear where they come from.

 

"The most likely origins are releases, escapes, migrants from other jurisdictions or possibly remnants of the original Ontario population," she said.

 

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.

 

"However you can kill a cougar, or any other species at risk if, and only if, you are acting to protect yourself, another human or an animal if you think there is an imminent threat to the health and safety of the human or animal," Kowalski said.

 

She suggests residents of the area be aware of their surroundings when out and about, stay out of wooded areas between dusk and dawn, travel with others, make noise and carry a whistle.

 

"All animals are unpredictable, and the public should always exercise caution and never approach one," she said.

 

Turncliffe said his dog, Shiloh, usually roams the property but hasn't left the perimeter of the house since the sighting.

 

For now the deer scraps will be put in front of the motion camera, and Turncliffe will keep a close eye on his property.

 

"If it goes near one of my dogs, I will shoot it."

 

———

 

About cougars

 

———

 

Since 2002, 1,000 cougar sightings in the province have been reported to the ministry and the Ontario Puma Foundation.

 

A handful of sightings have been confirmed by photos, track marks or DNA taken from scat (droppings).

 

Ontario cougars maybe brownish-grey, reddish-brown or light beige.

 

Male cougars can weigh up to 200 pounds and measure up to six-and-a-half feet from nose to the tip of the tail.

 

Cougar tracks have four toes. The tracks measure about three inches long by 3.5 inches wide.

 

Source: Ministry of Natural Resources

[lew]

Thanks Doc, interesting story and great picture.

[Rizzo]

not what I was expecting but thanks for the read

[cityfisher]

hard to fake that one... That's one Big cat sitting in a dogs pen.

[BillM]

Just a big house cat according to the MNR, lol!

[Rod Caster]

A couple years ago, some college students witnessed a cougar attack a deer at Canadore! I sure hope it doesn't get shot, I'd trade 100 dogs and my cat for 1 wild cougar... That sounds insensitive doesn't it?

[torco]

interesting report, I wasn't sure if it was going to be a real story or not

 

Did anyone else notice that the banner ads for this post are about the other kinds of cougars, lol.

[mercman]

not what I was expecting but thanks for the read

 

So much can be said about a thread title like that

x2 on the read.Interesting article.

[GreenCanada]

A couple years ago, some college students witnessed a cougar attack a deer at Canadore! I sure hope it doesn't get shot, I'd trade 100 dogs and my cat for 1 wild cougar... That sounds insensitive doesn't it?

 

I agree to some extent with your comment. I wouldn't necessarily trade, but I definitely believe that these cougars should not be shot. They have a right to live and just because someone may not follow the suggestions to increase their safety does not mean that they should be able to kill it. Ie. if someone lets their dog out to go to the bathroom at 1am and does not keep an eye on them and a cougar attacks the dog, then unfortunately the owner is to blame. The cougar should not be killed.

 

We as responsible individuals should heed the warnings and take the necessary action to ensure the safety of our family.

 

Great article, thanks for sharing!

[tb4me]

The fact that they are in the woods is wonderfull to me. I like the idea that they are there. If they get heavily populated then we will have to change the meaning of the term "cougar hunting"

[jedimaster]

...we will have to change the meaning of the term "cougar hunting"

 

I dunno, whats wrong with the current definition of cougar hunting? But cool picture none the less.

[Nipfisher]

I dunno, whats wrong with the current definition of cougar hunting? But cool picture none the less.

 

 

Jedimaster..."cougar" hunting requires tight pants and slick moves on the dance floor. There are some favourable venues in North Bay where I have hunted. Before I was married....of course.

[Billy Bob]

OH My.......Cougar hunting....I ALWAYS thought they HUNTED you......hmmmmm...wife always said I could have a girlfriend "if" she would cook and clean....that always seems to scare them off....I wonder if these "cougars" would cooperate...LOL....

 

Nice article and keep us informed.

 

BTW are they any good to eat....that's the bottom line with us Redneck's...

 

Bob

[jedimaster]

BTW are they any good to eat....that's the bottom line with us Redneck's...

 

He 'cmonn now be honest who hasn't indulged... err nevermind...

[Whitespinnerbait]

The internet was due for another HOAX !! :wallbash: :wallbash:

[Billy Bob]

He 'cmonn now be honest who hasn't indulged... err nevermind...

 

Errrrr, it might be good for her.....BUT....

[highdrifter]

Anybody else notice that "Cougar Life" add at the top of the page??!!

[tb4me]

Anybody else notice that "Cougar Life" add at the top of the page??!!

ha ha ya I seen that... So much for a family site...I can hear it now " Dad , I know what a Cougar is" and mom says , " how do you know, what web sites is your father showing you"...lol

Edited December 8, 2011 by tb4me

[irishfield]

The MNR finally admitted back in June of 2010 that they know for a fact that cougars are back in Ontario

 

It’s really, truly official: Cougars in Ontario are fact, not fable.

A definitive four-year study by the Ministry of Natural Resources has finally put a rest to all doubt that the big but reclusive cats prowl the province’s wilderness.

“Cougars have been here all along . . . we are collecting additional information about them now,” said Rick Rosatte, a senior research scientist in Peterborough. More than 30 pieces of evidence have been collected, including photos of tracks, DNA and scat samples that verify the big cat’s presence.

Of the roughly 2,000 reported sightings in the province since 2002, very few have been confirmed by track marks or DNA. Ontario’s original population was thought to have been hunted out of existence in the late 1800s. The last cougar shot here was found in 1884 near Creemore, south of Collingwood.

Rosatte says the study begun in 2006 has had three phases: investigating potential sightings; examining tissue, scat or DNA; and setting up cameras across the province — including at Kenora, Lindsay and Sault Ste. Marie, where the last confirmed sightings occurred.

He interviews people who think they’ve spotted a cougar, tries to determine the animal’s size and, when it sounds really promising, sets up trail cameras triggered by motion and heat. Dozens have been set up, but there are no photos yet. “We are hoping for photos, but cougars travel a lot and they travel very fast,” said Rosatte.

The cats, also known as pumas and mountain lions depending on region, can travel up to 50 kilometres a night, within a territory ranging up to 1,000 square kilometers.

But the big question about the natural-born killers with a muscular saunter, is: Where did they come from?

“Were they always here? Are these native cougars? Are they coming from the west? Or are these released captive animals?” said Rosatte. “It’s intriguing.”

He doesn’t think there’s a large population but declined to put a number to it. “I don’t think it’s substantial,” he said.

Stuart Kenn, president of Ontario Puma Foundation, who has been tracking the elusive animal for three decades, estimates there are 550 cougars in Ontario. There appears to be a “cougar corridor” bordered by Ottawa, Peterborough and Owen Sound to the south and North Bay, Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie to the north.

“The best way to study these animals is to track them down with dogs,” Kenn said. “But since the province has listed them as endangered, we can’t do that.”

The foundation, which shares data with the ministry, has already developed a recovery plan that, among other things, encourages protecting large wilderness tracts where cougars prowl.

But while cougars are out there in the wilderness, there’s no need to worry, said Kenn. In Ontario, “There’s never been a confirmed attack on a human by a cougar. It’s very, very rare.”

 

[Guest ThisPlaceSucks]

a forestry tech i'm good friends with saw a cougar years back on the ranger lake road. they are definitely out there. the fact they aren't spotted more often is a testament to how stealthy they really are.

[carll2]

well weve had 2 cougar attacks out here in quebec eastern townships and beauce area this year,,,the article really doesent suprise me, but i mean hey they were here before us, maybe it will help keep the coyote and deep population in check!

[Freshtrax]

Yea there not here alright tell that to my brother inlaw who shot one who was in the tree above his childs playset 4years ago outside of smith falls. This one had a pink collar on and others have bin spotted with blue ones. He called the mnr to come get her they said they dont exist here. He said he shot one. They said thats against the law. He replied with but i thought they dont exist. Its just like the timberwolfs that "dont exist" in the ottawa valley tell that to the one i hit with my truck. The goverment just dosent want to pay for lost livestock. I have pics of 10cm cat tracks just outside of barrie i took this year when i get to my computer i will post them

[irishfield]

That's Smiths Falls...lots of cougars there! Many I probably dated 30 years ago ! lol

 

Seriously... they've been prowling the woods for a long time and the MNR knows and have released them. Many "rumours" about them reintroducing them just like Turkeys.. and probably why the collars.

[Freshtrax]

Thats exactly why the collars

[irishfield]

Thats exactly why the collars

 

Pink and Blue.. Female and Male !

Edited December 9, 2011 by irishfield