Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire COUGAR IN THE BACK FORTY ??? Southern Wisconsin

A neighbor's wife down the valley shot this photo recently in a zoom mode from the back porch step. She had stopped at a window to peek at some birds in a outside feeder and spotted a large cat in the pasture, grabbed her camera, slowly opened the back door and snapped the picture. Cat took one look in her direction and high tailed it towards the woods. Frantically, she called her husband, who was doing chores and they both went to investigate the tracks. Large prints and long running leaps. They returned to the house to get a tape measure and called some of the neighbors. Soon there was quite a gathering of people. Foot prints averaged about 3 3/4" x 3 3/4". Distance between running sets of tracks 8' to 10'.

Area game warden was called, but showed up two days later. By then beef cattle had screwed up the tracks. Warden looked at picture and said...too short of a tail for a cougar.

I don't know...what do you think?

That cow pony looks pretty calm, unless he was asleep and woke up the minute the lady took the picture.

I think she saw a putty cat, as Tweety Pie might say!

i think the warden had to much to drink or maybe from michigan that what is belive here

Warden needs to get his eyes checked

Someone should be able to enlarge the image more, but looking at the proportion to fence post and the likely gap between barb wire strands, doesn't look "cougar size" to me, but does look bigger than a tabby cat. I agree that I would think that the tail would be longer, even draggin in the snow. The print measurements do sound big though.


Very interesting picture anyway. Thanks for posting.

Roundoak,

Where you at?

In fairness, the cat could be a good distance behind the fence, hence the perspective..

Around here it would be passed off as a house cat enveloped by swamp gas or a large dog with light from the planet Venus reflecting off it.

Seeing the size in that photo, including the apparent length of the tail, my best guess would be a large bobcat. A few years ago I saw a bobcat on a Texas Wildlife Management Area that was almost that big.

From Wikipedia (with duly noted caveat about using Wikipedia info):
"The adult male Bobcat is 28 to 40 inches (71 to 100 cm) long, averaging 35 inches (89 cm); with a stubby 4 to 7 inches (10 to 18 cm) tail,[11] which has a "bobbed" appearance and gives the species its name. An adult stands about 20 to 24 inches (51 to 61 cm) at the shoulders.[9] Adult males usually range from 16 to 30 pounds (7.3 to 14 kg); females average about 20 pounds (9.1 kg). The largest bobcat on record weighed 48.9 pounds (22.2 kg).[14]"
and
"Bobcat tracks show four toes without claw marks, due to their retractable claws. The tracks can range in size from 1 to 3 inches (2.5 to 7.6 cm); the average is about 1.8 inches[32] (as seen in photograph at left). When walking or trotting, the tracks are spaced roughly 8 to 18 inches (20 to 46 cm) apart. The Bobcat can make great strides when running, often from 4 to 8 feet (1.2 to 2.4 m).[33]"

I'm guessing the snow might have slightly exaggerated the apparent size of the cat's paws vs. a firm imprint in mud. Everything together points to a rather large bobcat for me.

Cougars have been spotted in southern Wisconsin as of late. I think the count is up to three now.
I think your neighbor's wife is more reliable than the DNR.

I think the tail is short for a cougar too though you don't get the best look. I saw a cougar ounce and when it took off the leaps were easily double 8-10 feet. I'd say it is an over sized bobcat.

600% enlargement shows it to be a rare Lego cougar.

Bruce

its a frikkin house cat.. it aint that far from the fence.. cmon people...

AND thats REALLY a unicorn in the pic.. his horn just froze off..

Grant County

Oh, man, I gotta shoot me one of those! And get a full-body mount done, too... I'll check with Tom264 first to find out how he's getting HIS kitty mount done, now that the fellers have helped him re-define his expectations...

That is a hoot!

There have been plenty of sightings in northwestern Illinois, so why not in southern WI? A friend I fish the Miss. River with works for ComEd and is out in the boonies working power lines, and sees them around frequently. DNR here denies them being here, however.

I thought I caught a glimpse of one in Crawford Co. I didn't get a long look at it but I can't think of anything else it could have been.

I spotted a cougar next door.

I'm tellin yer wife yer Cougar huntin buddy.