Michigan Cougar News Flash
NEW MICHIGAN COUGAR Evidence-
Reported to Save the Cougar: 5/30/2006

Well, it sure was an interesting week last week. We had our training on Wednesday night, then Thursday evening, we went out and photographed cougar tracks and collected scat.

Here's some notes:
Exam of the area occurred within 72 hours of first observation.

East end of CR 390 in Van Buren County within 1 mile of the south end of Allegan County. The tracks/scat were located on the far west edge of a recently planted cornfield/far east edge of a wooded area.
Evidence was located along a deer run that follows from north to south along the field/woodline.
Whitetail deer and coyote are known to live in the area.

Neighbor within one mile of the site to the east by Buell Lake (known locally as Clear Lake). He reports having seen a cougar in his back property on three
occasions.

The ground was very soft as it was freshly planted and tracks showed well. The field was plastered with whitetail track. Obvious canine tracks were located along the same trail as the feline prints. Canine tracks clearly showed nail imprints and different heel pad imprints.

TRACKS: Approximately eight feline prints were located. Some were of much better quality than
others. Feline tracks measured 4 1/4" wide by 4
1/2" to 4 3/4" high. A straddle was calculated at 27 1/2" from the back of the first print to the top of the second print. Photos were taken of the best two prints, as well as the straddle.

SCAT: Scat was located in two areas. The first scat contained mostly hair in circular swirls. It was found where Archer reported seeing it and had not been
disturbed by anyone. The second scat was the larger
of the two and contained hair and small bone fragments. Archer found it located on top of a rock in the path of prints. His friend kicked it from the rock to the ground where it was located next to the rock. This scat had strong feline odor. All scat was collected and labeled by D Massey in plastic bag. No human hands touched the scat.

Homeowner mentioned that his friend is a taxidermist in Bloomingdale, Michigan, and during the last deer season, large feline prints had been located going into the dumpster at his house where many carcasses had been discarded.

We're driving the scat and prints up to MWC tomorrow.
Seems kind of weird to have cat poop in the freezer.

Steve and Denise Massey

(*Special thanks to Steve and Denise for reporting this great evidence to www.savethecougar.org!!)

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