This should stop all cougar arguments

[Gilroy]

The science has already been done with DNA and available on the net.

[MikePal]

Im of the mind its an escapee/released pet as well. I dont think this ends any arguments.

Anytime one is sighted in and around civilization I lean towards an escapee..a wild cat would not be that close to a populated area, it would have had some exposure to humans to walk amongst us..my opinion.

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[blasted_saber]

Anytime one is sighted in and around civilization I lean towards an escapee..a wild cat would not be that close to a populated area, it would have had some exposure to humans to walk amongst us..my opinion.

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I agree.

As an aside, theres been rumours of sightings for the past couple years in the general area of these ones (besides the one that escaped and ate the guys dog a couple years ago) . I live out of town, but still officially in the Town of Huntsville. Im well versed in the local rumours lol

[MikePal]

show me a pic caught on a trail came 20 miles from town back in the bush,,..I'll accept it's a 'wild' one......show me pic of one laying by a brick wall in a parking lot...and I'm thinking 'petting zoo'...

[Salmonid]

today on the news they reported a sighting in a filed near Waterloo.

[stilchen67]

I know an older gentleman near Kincardine/Wingham area, told me he has seen a cougar twice. Once about 45years ago and then one three years ago. This person has hunted and fished his entire life, never reported it. My cousin hunted his
whole life in Alberta and BC, saw one cougar in all those years, in his backyard going through his garbage can at 2 in the morning.

[johny]

Show me a picture.
NOT blurry
NOT with redwood cedar or lodge pole pines in the background.


I'll say it again:
There are bazillions of trail cams all over Ontario.
They are almost all positioned to find deer.
Deer are the preferred food of the cougar.
So why has NO ONE brought forward a single CLEARLY FOCUSED pic of a cougar with trees that GROW in Ontario in the background?
Because there are NO wild cougars in Ontario!!!

[Splaker]

Show me a picture.
NOT blurry
NOT with redwood cedar or lodge pole pines in the background.


I'll say it again:
There are bazillions of trail cams all over Ontario.
They are almost all positioned to find deer.
Deer are the preferred food of the cougar.
So why has NO ONE brought forward a single CLEARLY FOCUSED pic of a cougar with trees that GROW in Ontario in the background?
Because there are NO wild cougars in Ontario!!!

I agree... but some escapees are out there for sure... just a few weeks ago (JULY?) there was one out near Coboug that was caught.. it was lounging on a deck.. sad. Why are people allowed to keep these things as pets?

[GW11]

I would start to believe in "wild" cougars if there was any evidence of a breeding population. Reliable pictures of juveniles for example. Until then, I will remain a skeptic.

Oh, I've seen a cougar too by the way. Jumped it while deer hunting just north of Bobcaygeon. I almost got laughed out of deer camp for telling the guys the story when I got back in. Still don't believe it was part of a wild, breeding population though.

MNR let some mating pairs go years back to control the deer population.Kept denying it even when cougar cages were pointed out in thier budget statement...I used to date someone who was in the group back then.

The MNR released cougars to control the deer population? Don't think so. If you were trying to hide a "conspiracy", would you actually refer to a cage as a "cougar cage"? Wouldn't it be smarter to just budget for a "mid-sized cage"? I heard they've also released rattlesnakes to reduce the number of turkey eggs...

[JBen]

Show me a picture.
NOT blurry
NOT with redwood cedar or lodge pole pines in the background.


I'll say it again:
There are bazillions of trail cams all over Ontario.
They are almost all positioned to find deer.
Deer are the preferred food of the cougar.
So why has NO ONE brought forward a single CLEARLY FOCUSED pic of a cougar with trees that GROW in Ontario in the background?
Because there are NO wild cougars in Ontario!!!

Do the math.
Ontario is roughly 12 million people. So 1/4 of those would be men, how many of them are hunters, how many of them have property for game camera's. How many deer tags sold each year (100,000?), and how many of those to people with cams. If we take the GTA out of the equation Ontario has a population of roughly 6million.

Ontario is also 1,000,000 square KMs (415,000 sq miles).
Ontario has a population of 12million so that a pop density of 12 per sq km or 30 people per sq mile.
Of we take the GTA out of the equation thats roughly a density of 6 per sq mile.

Even "if" there were 415,000 game cams out there (highly doubt), thats still just 1 gam cam every sq mile. Good luck. Realistically, the Game Cams that are out there (what ever number) they are highly concentrated in area's where wild cougars wouldnt hang around.

Cougars also have huge ranges, are extremely elusive and aren't social, they are solitary. Are so hard to find, even in area's where there are lots, they are hunted with dogs to track and tree them.

1 wild cougar could be in an area the size of Algonquin Park and it would be like finding a needle in a very large haystack.

By comparison
Montanna is 150,000 sq miles,
Montanna has 1mm people.
Pop Density of 6/sq mile (very close to Ontarios if we exclude the GTA)

One quarter the size of Ontario and while the pop density is lower (the vast majority of Ontarians live in the south, so its possible, that once north of say APP, Ontario has a lower pop density)

Montanna has an estimated population of 1,000 cougars. Way more hunters/outdoors people, way more better wildlife management (DNR vs MNR) and budgets for researchers and more, and probably more game cams.

While pics and proof are "fairly" common, it aint easy and not as common as vanilla ice cream. 1000 Cougars in an area 1/4 the size of Ontario and its not every day one is caught on camera.

Ontario is HUGE and most of it is uninhabited. The are stupid huge amounts of land that would be very attractive indeed to cougars and no people.……Lets just play a little what if. What if there are wild cougars ( I believe there are).

say 100 of them (and I might be generous).
100 Cougars in a haystack the size of Ontario or 1 Cougar per 4,200 sq mile (415,000 / 100)
1,0000 Cougars in a haystack the size of Montanna or 1 Cougar per 150 sq mile ( 150,000 / 1,000)

If there are 50 Cougars in Ontario thats 1 cougar somewhere within 8500 sq miles.
Good luck.

Yeah there are tons of people in the south. And stupid amounts of deer hunters. That aint where wild cougars would roam. How many wolves or Lynx are there in Ontario (lots!!!!), how often are they caught on Camera? There have been escapees "caught" in areas where theres a lot of people. Have they been caught on camera?

There are Cougars pretty much everywhere around us (W,E and S). Does Ontario which has great habitat and climate for them and plenty of game. Unlike Montanna which is open range, Ontario is deep bush. Is huge and sparesly populated ( Cougars don't like people) have some kind of poison in the air, or walls up?