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Micah35

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Doug,
I saw you on Channel 8 tonight on the special about mountian loins in Iowa. Not to far from home.( I live in Massena, about 50 miles east of Underwood.) I was just wondering about something said in the segment. They said that mountion lions are not native to Iowa, they were surely around the state before it was settled weren't they?
Thanks, Micah



[This message has been edited by iowawhitetail (edited 02-08-2001).]
 
Micah

I'm sure they were, but like the wolf they haven't been around for almost a century. There was one confirmed cat track in south central Iowa a year or so ago (the plaster cast of the track was confirmed by ISU).

I've had three different calls since mid-December. The first one turned out to be a coyote kill. The day after looking at the scene with the deputy that called me, two DNR biologist (area bio and his supervisor) came out to the scene with me and for over an hour we searched the area and came to the same conclusion that coyote took down the deer. We'd never seen anything like it before (it was an adult doe with no apparent injuries like being struck first by a car).

The other two instances were tracks that by process of elimination weren't canine, because of the more oval shape and they didn't have any claw marks (indicative of the canine family). They were much too large for bobcat--so like I said, by process of elimination that left only a cougar.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Doug Clayton
 
This is an interesting subject to me. I'm majoring in Environmental Science with a biology emphasis at college and I love this stuff. Do they think that they are animals that have gotten loose from owners or is there a possibility that they are moving in from other states?
 
On the lion issue, I live in southern Iowa and there has been 3 sightings. There was one that had been seen on our farm but we have not seen it with our own eyes yet. I would have to see it to believe it.. If there are lions around I would think that more people would be seeing them. There are a lot of coyote hunters around here and they have not seen a lion yet. I did see a bobcat
last turkey season but no lions.
 
Doug,

Sounds like another attack ( Horse ) over the weekend, how you gonna catch a Mountain Lion in Iowa?

TLH
 
Ogz,

The news that I heard was over the local radio station and the attack was in the Underwood area on Friday night.

TLH
 
Tony

It seems this "thing" has taken on a life of its own. I talked to Richard Bishop (DNR Bureau Chief for biologists) the other day and he saw a blurb on tv about the lion story. It must have been a sister station thing courtesy of Omaha's Ch. 7. Then Radio Iowa (I'd never heard of them before) called yesterday for an interview (thankfully very short) and then in yesterday's Omaha World-Herald there was a story. The reporter had contacted me late last week and wanted to see the pictures I'd taken.

Since then I've had several more calls reference possible sightings/tracks.

I'll try and remember to bring the pictures I've taken and show them to you at the Deer Classic. I'll be working the DNR booth the late shift on Saturday and then the early shift on Sunday.

Doug
 
Doug,

Sounds good on the weekend, should be fun visiting with everyone.

As far as the "thing" goes, I have always heard stories, especially in the "hills" and have even seen some "big cat" tracks deep, deep in a ravine over by Prep Canyon. I usually just held my bow a little tighter and worked my way back out of the area.

Good Luck with your search!

TLH
 
Right in my own backyard...

HARLAN -- An unknown vehicle struck and killed a mountain lion in Harlan Saturday night, August 25, at the corner of U.S. Highway 59 and Willow St.


Harlan authorities are speculating that it's the same mountain lion that has been reportedly seen throughout southwest Iowa, injuring at least one animal near Underwood and also seen near the Logan area.


"It possibly is the stray that wandered in here from the west," said Harlan Police Chief Lee Gordon.


According to police reports, an unknown vehicle with a female driver allegedly struck the animal at the corner of U.S. Highway 59 and Willow St.


The driver stopped at the Amoco Gas Station and Convenience Store and told the clerk there she had struck something, but didn't know what.


The animal was sighted by a local resident, who found the lion lying in the road apparently dead at about 12:02 a.m. early Sunday morning.


"Officers were summoned," said Gordon. "We picked it up and later took it to Darby Sanders at the Nishna Bend Nature Center."


Gordon said it is possible that the mountain lion is the one seen over the last eight months. He said he checked with the only known place in the area that has had exotic animals, and the owners there said their lion had died about one year ago.


"So it's possible," said Gordon. "There have been some sightings I know of."


Gordon said officials would like to get in contact with the woman driving the vehicle that hit the mountain lion.


"It would be nice to know if it was coming into town or leaving," said Gordon.
 
I heard over noon on "Radio Iowa" that the DNR is confirming this did happen and it was a wild "cougar" first one reported in the state since the late 1800's. The cat was probably feeding on small animals and especially whitetail deer fawns this time of year.

Crazy!
 
827jbcat.jpg


OmahaWorldHerald
 
I heard on the radio today too about that lion being the first one seen since the late 1800's. Heck, there was one hit and killed in Jasper county just 2 or 3 months ago and the DNR had 3 confirmed cougar sightings on their records for the year 2000. There's lots of people that keep them for pets and just turn them loose when they get tired of them.
 
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