Cougar Sightings On The Rise

Mornin' to all the folks tappin' trees for maple syrup in this ~balmy~ weather we're having. This is the Wiscampsin Weekly - the email that gets you in the know on the Wisconsin outdoors in 5 minutes or less. New reader? Subscribe here.

*Hey reader, take a look at your license plate real quick once. Notice anything special about it? Criminy, of course you don't! But if ya slap a Wiscampsin license plate holder on, well, we guarantee you'll make your neighbor jealous...*

What we're purring over this week:

• Cougars in Wisconsin 🐱

• Black bear den survey 🐻

• Sturgeon spearing stats 🐠

Cougar Sightings On The Rise In Wisconsin

Ah, yes. Hard to forget your first cougar sighting. That blonde at the bowling alley, Mrs. Incredible, your 10th grade teacher...

Wait, what's that? Ope, different kind of cougar. Sorry!

Mountain lion sightings in Wisconsin are on the rise, folks. And while they may seem pretty foreign, long ago these fierce felines were actually quite common in the state...

Cougars

• Last confirmed sighting of this apex predator was in Dec. 2022

• Though not breeding here yet, expect to see more and more cougars in the state

• Help cull the deer herd and prevent overgrazing

Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!

Well, we have two of the above three (sort of).

Mountain lions, or commonly called cougars, used to be one of Wisconsin's apex predators.

But (queue the violin), these creatures were eradicated by bounty hunters throughout the 19th and early 20th century, the last Wisconsin cat being shot in 1908.

Twenty five years later, Aldo Leopold published "Game Management," the conservationists bible for sustainable wildlife management.

Cougar comeback

Though biologists believe no breeding is happening yet in Wisconsin, cougar sightings continue to rise throughout the state.

Scientists claim these "transient males" are roaming from the Black Hills of South Dakota.

The last confirmed sighting by the DNR took place on Dec. 27th, 2022 when a group of bobcat hunters treed a cougar. Treed = forced or cornered up a tree, like your older siblings used to do to you with a stick.

As you can see from this sightings map, cougars have been spotted... kinda everywhere.

Ecological impact

Cougars have been shown to prevent overgrazing by deer, which typically occurs close to water sources and can impact flowage and plants in the area. Also less deer collisions with your car.

They also help keep the raccoon and coyote numbers in check, as the cougar is the apex predator compared to these lesser predators.

Cougar stats:

• Males weigh average of 150 pounds while females weigh about 105

• Young mountain lions of have spots and a ringed tail, which is why their often mistaken for bobcats

• Can leap into a tree as high as 20 feet in the air from a standstill

• Most active at dawn and dusk and at times when deer are feeding

• Will consume a deer every 7 to 10 days (or the equivalent in sheep, raccoons, porcupines, etc).

Think you saw a cougar in your neck of the woods? Check out this video on how to properly track a cougar, or peep this visual guide.

And if you're hungry for more, this Hillsboro WI story is pretty hair raising.

That's it for this week folks! Now get out der!

Wiscampsin Weekly Poll

Welp, only 17% of you guys got it right. Roughly 90% of the Wisconsin DNR's fish and wildlife budget comes from hunting and fishing license sales. Let's up those numbers, folks!

NEW: Wisconsin Events

Butt glued to the couch? Here are some great Wisconsin events to get you out 'der:

NEST BOX SEMINAR on Saturday, March 4, 2023, 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at Horicon Marsh Education and Visitor Center - Horicon, WI

WEEKEND WILD WALK on Saturday, March 4, 2023, 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at Devil's Lake State Park - Baraboo, WI

TRACE-A-TRACK! on Saturday, March 4, 2023, 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. at Willow River State Park - Hudson, WI

Know a WI Outdoors-related event happening? Reply to this email with the details and we will share the week before the event!

Nuts and Seeds 🌰

🐻 Report bear dens, please!: The Wisconsin DNR is back at it, asking all you good folks to report any bear dens you spot in your area. The Black Bear Litter and Diet Survey will enter its second year in March and helps create bear reproductive models for each of our management zones.

🧀 Not so gouda: Although we won plenty of "Best In Class" awards at the recent 2023 United States Championship Cheese Contest, Wisconsin, the Dairyland state, got beat out for the top prize by ... Connecticut. Connecticut?! They don't even say Ope!

🎣 Spearing summary: The Winnebago sturgeon spearing season is officially closed, and a whopping 1,405 fish were harvested on the entire Winnebago system (155 juvenile females, 599 adult females and 651 males). To compare, 1,519 fish were harvested in 2022 when ice conditions were more ideal. We think Uncle Joe just brought a few too many beers out, couldn't throw his spear straight...

A review from the Trail... You're most welcome neighbor!