Backroads, the DNR’s stance is that the moose are in decline from the brain worm that comes from whitetails. Our deer are over populated!

https://twin-cities.umn.edu/news-ev...ight-decline-minnesotas-moose-population

It’s all crap of course. But that’s their narrative. The end goal is to repopulate the state with all critters that the evil cis white males decimated. Bears and wolves are moving further south. The big death kittens are just another big cute fuzzy critter that the city slickers love and will vote for keeping around. While greater mn pays for it.

I fully agree that we don't need another apex predator or another project to be studied for countless years and endless dollars. I've heard reports of cougars for years some by people I consider knowlegable and experienced. Never heard of female with young ones until now. Should be interesting.

Not sure how religious cougars are. But that really isn't the issue, cougars don't reproduce nearly as fast as wolves, or kill as much per critter as wolves. It will be quite some time before they could develop a high enough population to affect the deer herd. What they will do is be a rallying cry for antis that will use their scarcity and "vulnerability" to curtail trapping and hunting.

We don't really have the habitat that it would take to have a large population of cougars. They have been in Minnesota for the entire 25 years I have lived here and there is still a nominal population but the antis will use this in every way they can.