Could a mountain lion be lurking locally? Here's what Michigan and Indiana experts say.

Yahoo

18-02-2025

A coworker asked me recently whether I'd heard of any 'lions' in the area. Not the African or Detroit kind, but mountain lions. Also known as cougars.
A delivery man had just told her he'd seen one on the north side of Buchanan. He also mentioned a customer, presumably near that area, who'd claimed that five or six such lions had walked through her yard.
The conversation about periodic mountain lion sightings has been lurking in the Michiana area over the years. Louie Stout says that, when he was writing hunting and fishing columns in The Tribune, he'd heard about sightings from readers often enough that it seemed like a real possibility. In a 2017 column, Stout recalled readers who said they'd seen cougars in Cass County in 2009 and 2010.
But solid proof has been elusive.
One hunter wrote to Stout about a mountain lion stopping and staring at him while he was fully camouflaged as a bush, from 35 yards away. It was at the edge of an apple orchard in Marshall County in 2020, as the hunter waited for deer. The hunter's description of the cat seemed to nearly match a mountain lion: an elongated, tan-colored body with a long, rope-like tail. The hunter mentioned pointed ears, though a mountain lion actually has rounded ears.
In those few minutes filled with awe, the hunter never snapped a photo of the critter. He said he didn't want to risk moving and scaring it off.
Live from St. Pat's: Eagles lay first egg at St. Joseph County park. Watch Notre Dame live nest cam for more.
To sort out my coworker's question, I spoke with the large carnivore specialist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Brian Roell, who's based in the Upper Peninsula's snowy, dog-mushing heaven of Marquette.
Roell oversees the state's effort to investigate the public's claims about such big-cat sightings. He says the DNR didn't have a record of anyone calling about a cougar in the Buchanan area.
But his team does get hundreds of similar claims all across Michigan, including hundreds of photos. So often, they turn out to be coyotes, foxes, large house cats or bobcats. Bobcats are much smaller and have a distinctively different look, but they do dwell in Michiana. My coworker has seen one on her wooded property in Niles.
The DNR has, in fact, documented and confirmed mountain lions in the Upper Peninsula. They likely came from western states, Roell says. The closest would be North and South Dakota, because they are the closest states with breeding cougars. The young male cats in the U.P. are solitary and dispersed as they seek their own territory, he says, not hunkering down to breed.
In the Lower Peninsula, the DNR's only confirmed sighting of a cougar since 2008 was by a wildlife area east of Lansing in 2017.
Some speculate that people have young cougars as pets, then release them when they get too big.
The public can report them and other wildlife sightings in Michigan via the DNR's Eyes in the Field website.
'If you provide evidence (of a cougar), you will get an email from me,' Roell says,
Evidence could be scat (or droppings), paw prints or a cougar carcass. The state has a 'cougar team,' he says, that reviews all of the evidence and must come to a majority decision about the whether or not a cougar was there. That includes verifying whether a photo or video truly was taken where the person claimed it was.
There are plenty of hoaxes, he notes.
Still, Roell isn't ruling out the possibility, adding, 'We can never say never, but we have no evidence to show that it's in the Lower Peninsula. … It's kind of like bigfoot.'
Many posters at the Facebook group Michigan Citizens for Cougar Recognition, with 16,200 members, insist that mountain lions are living in the Lower Peninsula. Recent posts acknowledge what the DNR says about mistaking the identity of other animals. But that doesn't deter members from their firm belief as they share photos and sightings.
The Indiana DNR's only confirmed mountain lion reports in recent years are in southern Clay County in 2009 and in northern Greene County in 2010. Those two southwest Indiana locales are so close that it could have been the same animal, but officials aren't sure.
Lt. Ashley Jackson, of DNR Conservation District No. 1 in northern Indiana, says he hasn't heard of any cougar reports in the past year, but there was a spate of reports during the pandemic.
'I'm not going to fully discount it,' he says.
If the big cats are around, Jackson is surprised that they haven't been documented by the 'astronomical' proliferation of trail cams. Hunters regularly position these cameras at their chosen spots. They get alerts on their cellphone whenever something moves into view.
Derek Pelc says people do mention sightings at Berrien County Parks, where he is chief naturalist. A few have showed photos, he says, 'that we ultimately determine as house cats or unconfirmed because the picture is of too low quality.'
I've been writing about local trails and parks for over the past few decades, and I've yet to hear of any close calls between cougars and hikers, paddlers or other outdoor explorers. Have you?
So, there isn't a need to reach for the panic button. But, given how folks have reported these sightings with awe, we can share some respect for such a beautiful creature.
∎ Cougars once lived in much of the eastern U.S. but were wiped out in Michigan in the early 1900s and in Indiana in the late 1800s.
∎ A cougar can weigh 80 to 160 pounds and stretch from seven to eight feet. The tail may be two to three feet.
∎ A bobcat, by contrast, can weigh 15 to 30 pounds and stretch 30 to 50 inches, with a tail of just four to five inches. Its fur has dark speckles and stripes.
∎ Cougars are reclusive. So, there is little likelihood that they'd show up in neighborhoods or urban areas, the Indiana DNR states. If you do encounter one, the DNR advises, don't approach it. Rather, give it a way to escape. Don't crouch, either. Stand, face the animal and make yourself look big, slowly raising your arms and speaking in a firm, loud voice.
∎ Report Michigan cougars in a link here in this column online. Report Michigan wildlife in general at a link here in the story online. And learn more about the state's cougars through this link.
∎ Report Indiana mammals through a form linked here in the text of this column online.
Hike a 5K or 10K on the paved bike trail at Potato Creek State Park in North Liberty with the Hoosier Hikers on Feb. 22. Registration will be open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. near the park's nature center. Look for the club's signs. Once you're signed in, you can hike at your own pace. Cost is $4. For questions, contact Bob Buzolich at [e-mail].
Winter sports and tubing: Ready to ski or snowboard? What's new, where to go locally for downhill, cross country.
Want to talk with fellow adventurers, clubs and experts about your next Midwestern expedition, however big or small? The 30th annual Quiet Adventures Symposium gathers March 1 at Michigan State University. Expect lots of exhibits, plus a series of talks and even demonstrations that cover hiking, camping, paddling, biking, fishing, adaptive sports, wildlife conservation, and boat building and restoration. It will keep you busy all day, and you'll be saturated with ideas and inspiration.
The symposium will run from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Michigan State University Pavilion, 4031 Farm Lane Road, which is south of Mount Hope, East Lansing. Admission at the door costs $20 per person or two for $30, $5 for students and free for those 12 and younger. Advance tickets can be bought for $13 online through Feb. 26. Learn a lot more at quietwatersociety.org.
Where and how should visitors be allowed to ride e-scooters, hoverboards, Segways and other micromobility devices in national parks across the country? The National Park Service wants to hear from you by March 17 about a proposed rule.
The NPS current rules classify micromobility devices like cars, so they're subject to the same rules as motor vehicles. But the proposed rule says that the superintendent at each park or site has the authority to manage the use of these powered devices, including on sidewalks and gravel or paved paths.
To comment, visit www.regulations.gov, search for '1024-AE79' and follow the instructions. Hard copies may be mailed to Jay Calhoun, National Park Service, Division of Regulations, Jurisdiction and Special Park Uses, MS-2560, 1849 C St. NW, Washington, DC 20240.
Find columnist Joseph Dits on Facebook at SBTOutdoorAdventures or 574-235-6158 or [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Mountain lion cougar reports in Michigan Indiana need proof DNR says