Yikes!

You know, this could not have happened, because we don't have cougars here. (just said that for grins).

Thanks for sharing. Now I'll have that image in my head all night long. I'd rather see one not moving, than one that is walking across my yard, though.

Dawn

Thanks for sharing. That is one critter I had rather keep at a distance, although it might help keep the deer and rabbit population down.

Larry

I figured this thread would get all sorts of business! :) I am pretty happy to live smack dab in the middle of the city where kitties are domesticated :)

Jay,

What town is that closest too? My husband and daughter just saw one a few miles south of town a few months ago. I've heard other ppl who live in that area that have been seeing him for years. There has also been one spotted west of town, several times. I read about a few they've found here in Oklahoma in the last couple years have been proven to have come from the black foothills, which some ppl have speculated they may have actually been trapped and moved here rather than following the river that far. pretty interesting! I think it's safe to say....we have cougars!

Jay lives about as close to Denver as he does to Tulsa so I wouldn't say we have them "here", but there was at least one that was photographed west of Tulsa a few times over a period of weeks last year, in addition to the ones tested from Minco and Tulsa last year that proved to be from South Dakota.

Another one recently killed in Oklahoma came from New Mexico and yet another from Texas based on DNA matching in the last few years. A lot have been killed out near Jay's area in the last half decade, and they are reproducing near there. I would guess there are a few out here wondering the rest of the state at any given time, but they aren't "living" in any area of outside of Cimarron County.

Missouri HAS had a lot photographed and/or trapped and released in the last couple of years. They aren't reproducing there either, but they do have a lot relatively speaking raoaming around. Maybe up to 10 or 20 in the state at any given time. Nebraska and North Dakota have joined South Dakota as having females and actual reproduction and permanent resident cougars.

I've been told by people who live in the area where my husband saw one, that there is a cougar who "lives" on their land. He is there year round and they see him on regular basis.

Who hasn't been told that here in Oklahoma by a neighbor of friend?! (even going back before the last 3 or 4 years back when there were near zero in the state) People who say that do not understand the behavior of male cougars and how that makes the statement almost for sure to be false.

oh, you guys! you are doing it again. there are no cougers in oklahoma. the photo is of a bob cat. teehee.

i live in tahlequah, in the city, and a couple of weeks ago we saw a red fox out our window. he was sitting and looking around and then just wandered off. i feared for my cats, but they are all still alive.

oh, we probably don't have foxes in town, so it was just some reddish dog.

Sheri I live in Elkhart, KS and this cat was shot around 22 miles by highway from town. Closer as the crow flies. He was verified a cougar/cat and picked up by the wildlife dept. Said they plan to mount him in their office after all the necessary checks are performed.

I do want to clarify a few things. The person who shot him tried to scare him away. He had killed at least one chicken I'm told and he wouldn't leave even when shot close to. He would just stare at him. The only thing that could make him move were the dogs. He didn't seem that scared of the people trying to scare him. I understand he would just growl. When they pulled the dogs back he would head to the chicken pen. So finally after all else failed they shot him. There have been reports of a few others around this spring. But this is the first confirmed. Which is a lot less than the two previous years. It seems once they get a taste of domestic animals it is hard to get them to stay away. The female that visited the Campo area two years ago with the cubs was the same way. I visited the NE NM area during the Memorial day weekend. My 88 y/o uncle talked about them. Understand they have saw an increase in that area also. A female and at least one baby was trapped in that area and relocated I believe two years ago. The one in the picture was a young male. Another problem now that maybe forcing some to look elsewhere along with an increase in numbers is outsiders are buying some of the ranches where populations have existed for years. The remote, rugged canyons on those big ranches were a perfect home for them. Now the new owners are concerned about trophy deer hunting so many are making efforts to eliminate the cats. They are either trapped or scared to the point where they start looking elsewhere. Whatever the reason there is an increase in confirmed sightings. The wildlife dept officials doubted this was a cat till they got there and seen them. What they forget is that many of the older men west of here and in NE NM like my uncle have seen more in their lives than they have.

I understand it has basically removed the sense of security the lady had. Dawn knows all too well about that. I also know there have been some sightings that haven't been reported. And I don't blame them for not reporting. In NM and even CO to some extent if they relocate a cougar many times there isn't much ever said. Once the word gets out then the roads are filled with those hoping to see another. And those who criticize livestock owners for protecting their livestock. Jay

The populations of cougars have increased so much in the last 10 years in almost the entire West including the Black Hills and areas like the "mountains" in NM and CO that extend into Oklahoma that it is only a matter of time until there will be reproducing females in more areas of the plain like the NW part of the state even outside the panhandle. Large numbers are now hunted or otherwise killed in places they didn't even exist 20 years ago.

The detailed studies over a long period of time with large numbers of tagged animals in the Black Hills showed that almost all young males leave the area once they become adults unless the existing adult males are killed in the area. The tagged ones have in many instance traveled hundreds of miles looking for mates in new areas in a matter of weeks. These few dozen show up each year in nearby areas like North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and a few down here or even further. Some move back west.

On the other hand almost ALL females ever tagged and tracked have moved to territories that overlap or are near where they grew up. The only female from the Black Hill population to ever verified to have moved more than 100 miles or so was the one that was caught in Tulsa and had health problems and strange behavior.

The places where they are reproducing now in Nebraska have many instances of pictures or bodies of cubs each year as does any area where they reproduce. They don't reproduce here yet because there are no females despite having a few roaming males. Like I said, though, it is only a matter of time until some reproduce in the areas in NW Oklahoma outside of the panhandle because the territory is close to where they live now in Cimmarron County and males disperse from there regularly and some females will soon.

The wildlife dept now has a person researching them and keeping track of the sightings and researching the DNA of the bodies. You can find a recent report on the DNA test results of the Minco one that includes some info from the researcher of ones that tested from NM and Texas that were never publicized. Almost all test to be from the Black Hills, though.

Jessaka, I bet it was a fox. I see both gray and red ones here. Generally they really aren't large enough for me to worry much about the pet cats, but I worry they might get a small banty hen while the chickens are out free-ranging. I've had them try to walk into the garden through the entry arbor while I'm in it, but when they see me they turn and run back out. They seem pretty shy and skittish like they'd rather not be seen. Sadly, I most often see them lying dead in the road. Civilization seems to be hard on them.

Jay, I imagine with all the drought across the southwestern and western US, they also are having to travel farther to look for food. Wouldn't you think that is likely? The year we had so much activity here was also a drought year. When I look at the US Drought Monitor Map, I am shocked at how wildspread drought is this year. It is so widespread and so severe that a lot of the wildlife must be struggling to survive.

I don't want to give anyone the impression that I don't care about the wildlife because we moved here specifically to live in a less populated area where we could enjoy the wildlife. It's just that some kinds of wildlife are a little scary and you do have to protect your own family and domestic animals from wild things that get too close for comfort.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: See How Many States Have Severe Drought

Dawn,
Drought is a cause my uncle mentioned that after I posted I realized I didn't. He said it is very likely once rainfall amounts return to near normal and animal populations build back up that we will see a decrease in numbers. Many of the normal areas where they range are now in drought, have been burned or both. I know an area west of me in the Kim,CO area where there was a huge fire last year. Where you used to see only trees when you traveled the highway now you see canyon walls all the way from the top to the bottom. Then there was a fire between Trinidad and Raton recently in an area where there have been breeding females for years. The same holds true for New Mexico. And in NM when they take off many times they follow the rivers down. The Canadian River starts in NM and goes through the Texas Panhandle. I know most of the ones I've been told about that have been removed in that area the last two years have been fairly close if not on the river. Jay