Sightings

I live in a very interesting part of the country. What I mean by that is there are a larger variety of mammals to be found out there than in the eastern part of the Midwest where I've lived (Ohio, Indiana). It has a lot to do with being so close to the Mississippi River and in a more northern part of the region as well. Some of the larger apex predators (notably bears, wolves and cougars) have been reported in this region (SW Wisconsin, NW Illinois, NE Iowa & SE Minnesota).

This summer I had the chance to do some really great tracking with the girls at Scout camp and kids at our local church camp. I want to share two stories of our tracking adventures.

I regularly took the girls out tracking in a nearby ravine that sloped down into a small brook. This was the perfect place to do some tracking because there is always more animal activity near a water source. They were really getting into it as we trailed a right dominate female coyote for a good 30 yards or so. Then I had a girl spot a circular compression shaped track (circular means cat family) that was about two inches by two inches. After taking a few minutes to locate the next set of tracks, we discovered that they were from a bobcat! I've never tracked a bobcat before so I was excited! We followed the tracks into the brush and another girl pointed out some markings on an eastern hemlock. Cats usually sharpen their claws on trees and I was certain that this bobcat had done just that. Now bobcats are more common and it shouldn't be a surprise to find their sign out here.

A cougar however, that is a different story!!

When I was at our church camp this summer, I also took the kids tracking. Again they really got into it once they learned some tricks like determining the sex, dominance of the animal by studying the track. It was there that I discovered another circular compression shape, only this time the track was almost twice the size of the bobcat track (3 1/2" x 4" - almost the size of the palm of my hand). Could it have been a really big bobcat or even a lynx (which has larger tracks than a bobcat)? Possibly, but my mind had already shifted to the next largest feline... the cougar.

When we got back, I asked the camp manager about bobcat sightings in the area. He said yes there had been. I then told him about the track that I came across and saw his eyes get big. I suggested "cougar?" He said that his wife had thought she spotted a cougar about a year or so back but wasn't entirely sure since she didn't get the best look at it.

I was at the camp this past weekend and the camp manager told me that a cougar had been spotted over in the neighboring county! You can click here to read other sightings of cougar in this area.

No doubt you've probably seen the news clip about the cougar in Chicago and even the coyote in Chicago. If not check them out!