Buffalo County Cougar

This mountain lion covered 1,600 miles

I remember seeing this all over Facebook when the cat was in Wisconsin. Gets hit by a car outside of New York City. So it’s (edit) established fact this particular cat crossed several states and Canadian provinces.

Good article with more details.

The cougar killed Nov. 11 by a bowhunter in Buffalo County was a healthy young male, according to a DNR examination. https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/outdoors/2023/12/03/wisconsin-bowhexam-shows-cougar-killed-in-wisconsin-was-healthy-bowhunter-feared-animal-would-attack/71772190007/

“Male mountain lion dispersal”

There I saved you some time….

So the males roam across 2 states in search of females that don’t leave the home …yup makes perfect sense to me…thanks for clarifying that for me🤣

That’s exactly what happens. Glad I could be of help. A quick google of male mountain lion dispersal will reveal a mountain of information on the subject, if you chose to actually read/believe it. 

I disagree with the distinction of a bobcat in th pics . Have never witnessed a cougar in the wild but have seen a bobcat or two , either harvested or in the wild. Looking at the pics it is tough to distinguish between the two but I don’t believe the face or the ears resemble a bobcat , and if there are spots I do believe young cougars have spots also . It’s irrelevant to the pics but I do know of a cougar sighting in southern Marinette county by a landowner/ farmer . 🦌
 

Let me guess…you probably believe the dnr on how many wolves are in the state as well??

So the males roam across 2 states in search of females that don’t leave the home …yup makes perfect sense to me…thanks for clarifying that for me🤣

Wjbk it’s not a theory, every confirmed cougar by which a dna sample could be gathered (scat, hair, carcass) has revealed them to be young males from the black hills region of north and South Dakota. In most large cat species, males establish and defend territories and they breed all females contained within said territory. Should another male challenge and defeat the dominant male, he will kill all offspring sired by the precious male to bring the females into heat. The black hills cougar population is one that can be considered saturated, or all available habitat is occupied by cougars. Female do not disperse far from where they were born, they don’t need to. Young males aren’t capable of establishing and defending territories so their only option is to disperse to unoccupied territories. Since females don’t typically disperse very far, females typically aren’t where cougars aren’t already are. That’s not to say it couldn’t eventually happen, it’s just very unlikely. 

I'm not arguing with SM.Bobcat.

I think “fudd” is a reference to “Elmer Fudd”?

Then I will add this, that I did not mention before (cause I didn't want to get too technical).  When I take the known size of the leaf species on the ground and scale it up to the cat, the cat is nowhere near the size of a cougar.  Bobcat.

And not being critical of anyone that sees cougar.  I thought that initially with a cursory look at the pic, until I looked at it much closer.  Then the facts said something else.

Don’t forget this is a pic from an inexpensive trail camera, those “spots” look very similar to the ground that is to the right of the back leg.  And when I show it to people I don’t tell the my thoughts first, everyone at work and also at the gun club this morning said immediately that is a cougar 

Wjbk95,
Those that say bobcat is definitely not a "seeing what you want to see."  To be honest, when I first saw your pic I thought it looked like a mountain lion, until I actually blew up the picture and saw the spotting on the inside of the legs.  Hands down, 100%, not even a question about it, that is a bobcat.  

That's cuz friends/acquaintances don't want to disagree with u face-to-face?

Genetics testing has found the dispersers to be males.

The spotting on the legs is a dead giveaway that it's a bobcat.

Think it’s interesting that everyone I’ve showed that picture to this week said it was a cougar and everyone here says bobcat, kinda shows you see what you want to see.
I’m not saying the dnr planted cougars in Wisconsin but they sure do underestimate their numbers just like all predators in the state.  Also I think the theory of these are males from the Dakota’s looking for new territories is bs…if they were males looking for females and we didn’t have any in the state they wouldn’t be here looking for them.