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Frozen Cougar carcass found in Ontario
Topic Started: Mar 28 2017, 07:07 AM (626 Views)
DinosaurMichael
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Quote:
 
A startling discovery made this weekend north west of Thunder Bay may have answered a decades-old question about whether cougars prowl northwestern Ontario.

On Saturday Mandi Weist, her boyfriend, and some buddies were exploring a sand pit area near the Boreal Road when they came upon a van that was pulled over.

They asked the people in the van if they were OK, and they answered, "yes, but we are just looking at the mountain lion."

Weist said the group then parked their jeep to have a look.

They could see it was indeed a cougar, partially frozen into a snowbank, she said.

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Weist said they were shocked to see the huge cat.

"Honestly, we had driven by this spot before and had seen something laying there. We just figured it was a deer, based on the colour," she said.

Knowing it was an extremely rare find, the group loaded the dead cougar onto the vehicle and brought it into Thunder Bay.

Weist said they knew they had to contact the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (OMNRF) about their find.

She said they also talked to taxidermist Dan Cavicchiolo and decided to bring the cat to Boreal Tales Taxidermy on Hwy 61, south west of Thunder Bay.

Cavicchiolo confirmed to the CBC that the animal brought in was indeed a mountain lion.

"It definitely is a cougar, full grown male cougar, " he said. "I'm hoping to be able to do some kind of a mount here … it's been dead for a bit."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/cougar-carcass-found-frozen-in-snow-northwest-of-thunder-bay-may-answer-mountain-lion-mystery-1.4041876


This is definitely enough proof that the rumors of people claiming to see them here is true. Amazing and this was outside my city! Either hunters missed a few or they likely migrated from the west similar to Jaguar's making a comeback in the southern United States. That's nature for you, fixing itself at its best. ;)
Edited by DinosaurMichael, Mar 28 2017, 07:08 AM.
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Grazier
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I never would have dreamed they WEREN'T in Ontario to he honest, didn't think Canadians had it in them to affect wildlife populations, except maybe baby seals.
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Taipan
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Good find, apparently there were historical sightings of Cougars in Alaska. There was also an actual trapping (sadly) of a male Cougar on an Alaskan Island in 1998:

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A Petersburg trapper caught this mountain lion in a wolf snare on Kupreanof Island in December 1998. The male cat weighed about 160 pounds and measured seven and a half feet long.
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=26

Male Cougar wanderings must lead them to some to nontypical range areas on occassion!
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