COUGAR SPOTTED IN LISTEMAN ARBORETUM
Friday, April 15th, 2005 -- 11:04 AM
A woman, who was walking through Neillsville?s Listeman Arboretum with her two children, says she saw a cougar Monday night. According to a Neillsville Police report, the woman spotted the large cat Monday night at around 7 p.m. She said the animal was larger than her husky and was quickly out of sight. She told authorities she was sure it wasn't a bobcat or coyote.
Cougars, also known as mountain lions, pumas or panthers, are not indigenous to Central Wisconsin, yet every year, there are about a dozen reports of sightings around the area.
Greg Mathson, a DNR wildlife technician from the Black River Falls area, says the animal is elusive. Though there have been numerous sightings, no cougar tracks have ever been found in the area.
Mathson says the animal tries to avoid humans at all costs.
"We've had no confirmed cases in Wisconsin where they come up to a human," Mathson says, "It's not like out in California."
Mathson says people shouldn?t be afraid of using the Arboretum, as there is no risk to humans. In the rare event they spot a cougar, they may want to look for tracks and contact authorities.
These are impressive cats, they are good climbers and can leap more than 20 feet up into a tree from a standstill. They can jump to the ground from as high as 60 feet up a tree. A single male lion may travel 25 miles a night when hunting. There primary diet is deer and they are most active at dawn and dusk, the times when deer are out feeding.
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