There has been a sustainable population of them for many years but this is a first! Right in Minneapolis.

They'll still say it's an escaped pet Or a trasient from SD

Why wouldn't there be cougars in MN? There are deer there; right?

Not many anymore

They aren’t talking about another large one seen on a golf course near this accident this morning.


Probably just a vacationing pair, those darn sillies from South Dakota I imagine.

Osky

You forgot about the wolves?

I’d venture to say there are more deer per square foot in the city/suburb areas of Minnesota any more than there are in most rural areas of Minnesota.
Just ask the guys in the unmarked vehicles in the wee hours of the mornings in the suburbs Minnesota, who may or may not work for the USDA trying to “thin” those numbers. Posting this for a friend.

Osky

Just a gift from your neighbors to the west you’re welcome. We have a pair at the north end of the county running around last I checked no closed season outside of the Black Hills district $25 for a tag and you’re good to go.

They have had an established population here for about 20 years but it is now just becoming accepted as more and more people are getting them on trail cameras, seeing family groups with cubs, etc.

I think there in Wisconsin also.

About 1995, when trail cameras were first becoming common, I was shown pictures of a female with cubs that was taken in the park rapids area. Been lions here for a long time.

They're

A young pair from last Sept elk cams, it’s common to see tracks on the road muddy areas in the spring when we are out chasing turkeys.

we have them all over , lots of trail camera picks.

This walked under my friends deer stand while he was bowhunting- and into a cornfield.

* He started in his stand for an hour before taking this picture

sorry about the bad picture of a photo

That's was close

Cougars downtown MN who would have thought, other than the two-legged ones.

Two years ago we had two on trail cams one was east of Roosevelt the same cat was on a different trail cam within two miles of my place,the other one was south of Warroad.Over the last 40 some years there has been many sighting around here.

Not gonna say we don't have them but for a viable,breeding population, I doubt it.

Ran a big lion off of this fresh elk kill early one morning before sunrise we had a snow after that and he came back the next night leaving tracks. Looked like the lion jumped the young bull on the road from a rocky hillside on the opposite side of the road. They fought along the fence until they ended up on the other side of the fence in a narrow pasture. Still remember the glowing eyes when it crossed in the headlights.

Tracks are common and seeing them live are not all that rare either. I get pictures are the time from friends in the area that catch them on camera or just see them. I have seen many times and have run across their kills a lot.

Good one, Bernie. I usually pull into my garage at less than interstate speed. If you planned to post videos, it didn’t happen.

isn't that why it was in Minneapolis don't the parks and suburban backyards hold the most deer in the state?

that is how Madison is you can see the capitol rotunda and 20 deer all in the same view while coming in on hwy 14

Locals have them on camera from time to time but DNR says they are just transeants and nothing to worry about....

And for now, I believe that.
Seems to always be a young male killed.

the next line when you start getting cubs on trail cams is
" not a significant breeding population"

19 or 20 years ago there was a mother with two kittens south of Long Point shores of Lake of the Woods,those were the only kittens I ever heard of in Mn.

Meeker County. Minnesota. The crow river bottoms have them. Buddy captures them on there cameras all the time. Also his son stuck a deer 2 years ago. Cat got to it first. Had it buried under a pile of leaves and grass.
The kid won’t hunt down there any more. I can’t blame him either.

That's close to me. I've never saw a track or anything. How often do they actually have them on Camera? I can't see a breeding population in Meeker County, maybe a very rare transient but I'm open to being wrong.

a guy show me pic. of a mother with young, he said it was 10 years old pic. 2 miles from Escanaba, where there is lots of houses and people, maybe some of you heard about 102 a cat first tree in wis. the wis. dnr said that the ear tag was from North Dakota, well there was a few pic, of it going across the u.p. there was a story in a magazine about it, about how it was a young male and that it was getting kick out of other males' territory. well, a few years later it got hit by a car on the east coast,

News here says your Minneapolis cat was actually a Nebraska collared cat.
From Lincoln Journal star last night…
Jim

Now you have heard of at least two more sets, just on this thread.

Oh, They're here all right

We have some ranchers we know in North Dakota, and they have their share of cats. Quota there is filled every year in short order.

A bow hunter in WI killed one this fall, it was stalking him in his tree stand. Guess he didn’t get in trouble. If it was a wolf you better have tooth marks in your hide that exactly matches the dead wolf.

yes lots of pics around Kettle Moraine a few years ago so about 45-55 minutes form Milwaukee

I didn’t even think the story was hardly news worthy. Cougar in MN isn’t very rare and several have been spotted in metro previously. DNR hasn’t ever denied a transient population.

"Breeding population" is what they deny

Actually they have clearly stated there is no evidence that Minnesota has a self-sustaining, breeding population. This encounter was just one of many transient males passing through.

Yes, and I’ve heard of a lot of evidence of a breeding population in Mn. You wouldn’t think Mama and kittens would transient too far!

Ide like to ask the question of why we don't have a breeding population? It seems we have the habitat atleast in pockets.

The theory is the younger males get pressured so they leave the area in search of their own habitat range pushing them into new areas.

There were cam pictures some years back from over by Craig if I recall with a female and very young kittens. Previous to that quite a few years pictures were taken of a couple of kittens as well over between Floodwood and Hibbing.

In Goldys area by Zimmerman people were seeing and getting pictures of a young pair. That was maybe 4 years ago?

There is a place owner near me that came over and gave a perfect description of a large cougar in his yard, I went back and saw the tracks but did not see the cat. That was maybe 20 years ago.

Who knows.

Osky

Like I said earlier and many people on this thread have noted, Minnesota has had a breeding population for a couple decades.

And for good reason!!!

I didn't drink their Kool-Aid

"The Wolf population according to them has remained the Same for 20 years"

What they clearly state is the issue

Mountain Lion cubs will often stay with mom for 18 months. A 12 month old kitten would have zero problems keeping up with mother. In the Black Hills 100% of young males disperse compared to 40% of females. Females generally travel a much shorter distance.

MN has an independent Biologist who specializes in Cats. He has investigated hundreds of sightings in MN. He debunks over 90% of all sightings by the general public. Most are just sensationalized stories that grow as they are repeated !


https://www.fs.usda.gov/rm/wildlife-terrestrial/docs/genetics/news/gfh2.html

Actually, according to them, it has reduced. At a meeting in Little Falls a little over 20 years ago, they said the estimated population of wolves in MN was 3,300. With a couple limited seasons since then and no real natural predators, they claim the population has dropped? They are insulting our intelligence!

Actually, I see the DNR not acknowledging a breeding population as a good thing. If Minnesota has a resident breeding population they would have to manage it. In today's political environment I can't see anything positive for hunting and trapping coming from that.

Like the story " About only transient cats"

If there are multiple verifications of kittens, but there is a not a breeding population, then what is the definition of a breeding population?

Exactly right. I'm just fine with them not acknowledging a breeding population.

IF they acknowledge or confirm a breeding population antis would QUICKLY file under ESA, and could shut down all sorts of recreation, both consumptive and nonconsumptive, that could POTENTIALLY interfere with them.
Think decades of studies...

The winner for the day. Nothing good would come your way from an acknowledgement of such a population. Unless you feel listing petitions and more restrictions on hunting & trapping are a good thing.

Cougars will live in just about any type of habitat if people will tolerate them; from desserts to tropical swamps.
However, if people aren't willing to have them around they are relatively easy to eradicate with hounds, particularly in the type of terrain that is found in MN.

Wolves are harvested by Federal Trappers in MN every year. Individual trappers have harvested triple digit numbers. Years with high Federal harvest, usually result in actual fewer conflicts the following year.

Like Donner survivor said, why wouldn’t there be a breeding population in Mn. They could not wipe out the wolves in Northern MN like the rest of the continental us. In the late 80’s experts put the wolf population at 1000 to 1200, we are still over three times that amount and also seeded Wi and the UP

And don’t nitpick other than Alaska and Mn wolves where all but gone from the us, because we did not want them

Truth

David P's got it right. How large could a new Mountain lion zone be in MN and how far ranging the consequences to protect the newly designated endangered cat be? I shudder to think about it.

The Meeker County cat/cats have been on camera for 3 yrs. Last year was the last time the young man hunted the area.
Plenty of other places to hunt. When a cat takes your deer. Eats it and buries the rest. Why stay)))))))!!!!!

Litchfield Mn is the area.

I would love to see a lion. Would you ask the guy if he would be interested in predator calling (back to back and armed) in an attempt to see a cat? Or maybe see if he would be open to sharing a location after a fresh snow for tracking? Appreciate it.

I believe this to be true but if I remember right a guy was charged for shooting one in a culvert a number of years back. So it is still a SSS kind of deal. I haven't seen them but know of several people that have had them on camera around this area.

A bow hunter in WI shot a 135 lbs. male cougar this year, so it is not surprising that MN would have some or more as they seem to be coming from SD based on reports.

Bryce

They have had a season on them in North Dakota for quite a few years, I have had them on camera in North Dakota when deer hunting out there. I had one follow me through the woods one time. Creepy.

North Dakota is starting to get some of our wolves too. Not a bad trade.