Footage of backyard big cat reignites 'Milwaukee Lion' rumors

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Grand Master

Hum

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MILWAUKEE, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- A Wisconsin resident's outdoor security camera captured some mysterious feline footage that has reignited rumors about a so-called "Milwaukee Lion."

 

Isaiah Hair said he received an alert on his phone early Jan. 1 alerting him to movement detected by the security camera in his back yard, leading him to check the footage.

 

The video revealed what appears to be a large feline strolling across Hair's yard.

 

"People gonna say it's like a regular house cat," Hair told WISN-TV. "I've seen house cats on my camera before, and they didn't seem that long, that tall."

 

The footage reignited rumors that stemmed from a July 2015 video that showed what looks like a mountain lion wandering Milwaukee's Brewer's Hill neighborhood. Police and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources investigated the sighting, but no animal was ever located or positively identified.

 

source & video

Grand Master

DocM

Posted
Posted (edited)

Except that there are mountain lions/cougars in Wisconsin and Michigan. Minnesota's DNR seems too be in semi-denial. So was Michigan's DNR, in spite of many hunter sightings, until a big puddy tat walked out of the woods 30 feet from a DNR administrator. Oopsie!

 

This Michigan mountain lion was seen near Marquette, about 70 miles from Wisconsin.

 

Marquette-Michigan-Cougar-c.jpg

 

 

Edited by DocM
Grand Master

DConnell Member

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28 minutes ago, DocM said:

Except that there are mountain lions/cougars in Wisconsin and Michigan. Minnesota's DNR seems too be in semi-denial. So was Michigan's DNR, in spite of a many hunter sightings, until a big puddy tat walked out of the woods 30 feet from a DNR administrator. Oopsie!

 

This Michigan mountain lion was seen near Marquette, about 70 miles from Wisconsin.

 

Marquette-Michigan-Cougar-c.jpg

 

 

Kitty! :laugh:

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Grand Master

Astra.Xtreme

Posted
Posted

Here we go again. :rolleyes:

Personally I think this is just a trick of perspective and it's just a slightly bulky house cat.  That pathway is really narrow, so it's definitely nowhere near as big as a mountain lion.

 

Plus, in the densely populated city like Milwaukee, a lot of people would surely see the thing.  Little dogs and cats would get eaten and there would be numerous traces of it.  It would have to eat and live somewhere, and a city isn't an area an animal like that would choose.

Grand Master

BinaryData

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Astra.Xtreme said:

Here we go again. :rolleyes:

Personally I think this is just a trick of perspective and it's just a slightly bulky house cat.  That pathway is really narrow, so it's definitely nowhere near as big as a mountain lion.

 

Plus, in the densely populated city like Milwaukee, a lot of people would surely see the thing.  Little dogs and cats would get eaten and there would be numerous traces of it.  It would have to eat and live somewhere, and a city isn't an area an animal like that would choose.

I live in the city, and several years ago, we had a cougar within city limits hunting dogs/cats. A Mountain Lion is about the height of a German Shepherd, if not a little higher, and bout as long as a small horse. So, I can see how this is valid points for the source.

Grand Master

DocM

Posted
Posted (edited)
8 hours ago, Astra.Xtreme said:

Here we go again. :rolleyes:

Personally I think this is just a trick of perspective and it's just a slightly bulky house cat.  That pathway is really narrow, so it's definitely nowhere near as big as a mountain lion.

50-150 lbs is typical with females being the smaller and up to 220 lbs being quite atypical, so a medium to large dog. They are not wide-bodied, more lightly built than a jaguar.

 

Quote

Plus, in the densely populated city like Milwaukee, a lot of people would surely see the thing.  

Hence the increasing reports. This parallels our experience in Michigan. As to being near a city, they follow their primary prey: whitetail deer, and deer are most certainly in northern US  cities - even Detroit & Chicago. Hunter's here are convinced mountain lions are in the Detroit exurbs, we've seen them, while the state DNR still says the Upper Peninsula only. They're wrong, again. 

 

Quote

Little dogs and cats would get eaten and there would be numerous traces of it.  It would have to eat and live somewhere, and a city isn't an area an animal like that would choose.

Their natural prey consists mainly of deer and other ungulates, which are plentiful region wide. Not to mention other mammals like rabbits, feral hogs, coyotes, geese and other larger fowl etc. I'm sure they eat dogs and cats too, but given the predation of dogs and cats by feral dog packs, a problem due to dog/puppy dumping, how would you tell the difference? 98% of people wouldn't know one track from another.

Grand Master

FloatingFatMan

Posted
Posted
On 1/5/2017 at 5:46 PM, DocM said:

Except that there are mountain lions/cougars in Wisconsin and Michigan. Minnesota's DNR seems too be in semi-denial. So was Michigan's DNR, in spite of many hunter sightings, until a big puddy tat walked out of the woods 30 feet from a DNR administrator. Oopsie!

 

This Michigan mountain lion was seen near Marquette, about 70 miles from Wisconsin.

 

Marquette-Michigan-Cougar-c.jpg

 

 

Kitty! I shall hug him and pet him and call him George!

 

Grand Master

+Raze Subscriber²

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18 minutes ago, sidroc said:

This is fitting!

 

 

https://youtu.be/z1tih6dsjCg

From the comments -

 

"I had a close encounter with a cougar once outside L.A. . I was forced to flee with my life. Because her Husband came home."

 

lol

Grand Master

DocM

Posted
Posted (edited)

That video is highly unusual, as noted in the end credits. A wild cougar is anything but a gentle puddy tat, and they have attacked humans.

 

There are only a few fatal attacks a decade, but injuries and very rattled nerves are more common. Many times they attack a dog out for a walk, then the owner gets bit trying to save their pet.

 

Don't run, it stimulates them to pursue. You look like a deer or other game animal.

 

Don't just stand there, it makes you look like an easy meal. Back away slowly, keeping eye contact.

 

Stare them in the eyes, raise your arms, spread your jacket open to look larger, make noise and act aggressive. They don't want to get injured getting a meal.

 

Only throw objects if they charge, and make them count. Reserve a rock or heavy item to attack their snout, eyes & head.  If you have a machete or kukri; Merrill, swing away. If you have a firearm shoot between the front legs near the neck - the heart and lungs lay there. Head shots are a low percentage attack except at point blank range.

Edited by DocM
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LittleFroggy

Posted
Posted
On 1/5/2017 at 11:58 AM, BinaryData said:

I live in the city, and several years ago, we had a cougar within city limits hunting dogs/cats. A Mountain Lion is about the height of a German Shepherd, if not a little higher, and bout as long as a small horse. So, I can see how this is valid points for the source.

 

We get tags here all the time in NV. CA. send cougars/Mt. Lions to the border with NV and let them loose. So to protect our families, animals, selves, we hunt them. Some 80% of these cougars are CA replants

Grand Master

BinaryData

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, LittleFroggy said:

We get tags here all the time in NV. CA. send cougars/Mt. Lions to the border with NV and let them loose. So to protect our families, animals, selves, we hunt them. Some 80% of these cougars are CA replants

We shoot them up here because the population is pretty solid, we're looking into wolf tags too. My buddy has lost over $15,000 in cattle to wolves. He lost two heads last night due to thieves. He lives a good way out of town, and it isn't uncommon for cattle thieves. My Grandfather, when he owned property down in Folsom, California, had someone butcher a cow on their property, and left the remains. Ended up attracting predators, and my Uncles had to camp out for a week trying to protect it.

 

People don't seem to understand that replants or reintroductions can cause major damage. The wolf population died up here for a reason, now we've added them back and their breeding like crazy. It's caused a MASSIVE problem.

5 hours ago, DocM said:

2  legged cougars can definitely cause trouble ;)

Very true...

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Grand Master

compl3x

Posted
Posted

Everywhere seems to have these big cat stories. We even have them in basically every state in Australia. People swear they see stuff but the evidence is pretty thin most of the time. Especially strange considering the ubiquity of cell phone cameras.

Grand Master

FloatingFatMan

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, compl3x said:

Everywhere seems to have these big cat stories. We even have them in basically every state in Australia. People swear they see stuff but the evidence is pretty thin most of the time. Especially strange considering the ubiquity of cell phone cameras.

We have a couple in the UK as well...

Grand Master

T3X4S

Posted
Posted (edited)

I live in Flower Mound, which is close to DFW Int'l Airport, and in the Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex, but is still "country" - not as much anymore, but we used to have problems with cougars, and other larger breeds of cats.  A popular jogging trail used to have signs all around telling people to be careful and be mindful of their pets in their backyards (meaning multiple sightings had taken place) - so I agree that many people would probably see it if there was infact a cat roaming.  I believe the domain of a cougar is about a 25 mile radius, (some hunters can correct me if Im wrong) - but.. 1 would think there would be multiple sightings.

Kind of an interesting story, 1 day the security guard @ the main entrance to my parents' neighborhood called my parents' house when I was there to say he spotted a very large animal (not a dog) that walked near the guard's station - they are not armed, so they called my dad since they knew he was a hunter.  We went looking for the cat, but never found it.  The next day, a neighbor was in the backyard with her small dog, and she "fought it off" with a golf club  - we actually thought it was neat to be around nature like that, yet still in an area of 5 million+ people.  Every once in a while we see a deer, and see coyotes all the time - in fact - the country-ish feeling of Flower Mound/Southlake/Westlake is what makes it so desirable to live here... (and the fact Flower Mound has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.)

If this is a large cat, and it looks like it is - I hope it is caught and relocated, and not killed. 

Grand Master

FloatingFatMan

Posted
Posted

Hard to imagine what it's like to live with dangerous wildlife like that around.  In the UK, the most dangerous wildlife we have is Chavs, though there are plenty who'd argue they're far worse than any wild animal!

 

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Grand Master

DocM

Posted
Posted (edited)
8 hours ago, FloatingFatMan said:

Hard to imagine what it's like to live with dangerous wildlife like that around.  In the UK, the most dangerous wildlife we have is Chavs, though there are plenty who'd argue they're far worse than any wild animal!

It's not just predators like big cats, wolves, coywolves etc.

 

People have been seriously injured of killed by deer/elk/moose, mainly run-ins with bucks during the fall rut (mating season) when they get extremely aggressive.

 

When I was a kid an antlered buck in rut wandered into town and was charging every thing/one in sight, eventually jumping through a diner window; making a huge mess and scattering patrons. Cops had to shoot it. They've also gored people, causing deaths, and a friend of mine had over 50 stitches to close a leg wound caused by an antlered doe (yes, there is such a thing.)

 

In short - bucks can be crazy and are territorial. They aren’t afraid of anything, and will attack their own reflection in a window, any window, during the rut. Bambi isn't always so cute. 

 

And then there are very aggressive wild hogs....another big can of worms. Our DNR's position on them is if you have any kind of hunting license or a concealed weapons permit, shoot them on sight.

 

 

Edited by DocM
Grand Master

Mando

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 1/5/2017 at 3:26 PM, DConnell said:

It might just be a very large cat, like a Maine Coon or a Manx.

 

maine-coon-cats-44__605.jpg

 

I used to have a Manx who was 30 pounds, and over 3 feet long when he stretched.

same, my Maine Coon was huuge!

About the same size as an adult spiringer spaniel. Any who think its an optical illusion, it aint, check the other cats headsize. 

 

Lovely friendly breed of ragdolls, id have another in a heartbeat.

 

Dont think my long haired black would appreciate another kitty vying for my attention though, she gets jealous when im working in my aquariums or my mrs tries to cuddle up to me, she leaps up in a second to wedge herself in the way lol.

She also sits and meows to my breeding pair of freshwater angelfish (adult size) who just look at her.

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