wolves and cougars coming back...

[Leadeye]

Have a group of these things hanging around here in the forest, larger than a coyote but not as big as a wolf.

 

[windellmc]

I don't know if there is a large cougar pop in Indiana but I know they are here. My parents neighbor (vanderburgh county) has pics from his game camera. 20 years ago there were no bobcats or turkey to speak of near Evansville. Now there are quite a few.

 

[Zoub]

P.s.
Maybe i would just prefer cougars over wolves

Doubtful. If I had to choose, it would be Wolves but since we have both I don't think that way. I am no wolf lover either but the damn cats are spooky and climb trees and buildings whereas the wolves don't. When you see tracks in the snow and then you don't, you look up real quick.

You don't really want either in Indiana, there is not enough wild places, they would be all over the farms. Just be content with the growing coyote population.

 

[phylodog]

I'd much rather deal with one cougar than a pack of wolves. I've wrestled with an adult cougar many times (friends had one when I was a teenager-declawed and defanged) and while I'd certainly be worse for wear I believe I would be more likely to survive a cougar attack.

 

[Zoub]

A wild Cougar is going to try to separate your vertebrae at the neck. A Wolf can't kill quick like that so right there, that gives you a better chance. A lone Cougar coming at you from a rocky ledge or tree is worse than a lone wolf or even a pack on the ground. The Cougar will bite you, grip you with front claws and rip you with back claws. You will spot the wolf more often the cougar. You won't likely bump a pack unless you go wandering into a den area in summer. The forest is so dense here that one can be just yards from you and you won't know it. In a dense thicket the wolf will be on the ground, the cougar makes you consider things more in a three-dimensional way. You don't spend time worrying about it, but you look. There have been a few times on trails where my dogs will stop and I can barely even see them from just 10-15 yard away. The cougar is more of an ambush hunter. In the past 100 years Cougars have attacked humans more than wolves.

Cougars are cats and cats are psychopaths! When we were kids we didn't get to wrestle cougars.

 

[Michigan Slim]

I wrestled with a cougar when I was a teenager. She was an older cat but she still had it!

 

[phylodog]

A wild Cougar is going to try to separate your vertebrae at the neck. A Wolf can't kill quick like that so right there, that gives you a better chance. A lone Cougar coming at you from a rocky ledge or tree is worse than a lone wolf or even a pack on the ground. The Cougar will bite you, grip you with front claws and rip you with back claws. You will spot the wolf more often the cougar. You won't likely bump a pack unless you go wandering into a den area in summer. The forest is so dense here that one can be just yards from you and you won't know it. In a dense thicket the wolf will be on the ground, the cougar makes you consider things more in a three-dimensional way. You don't spend time worrying about it, but you look. There have been a few times on trails where my dogs will stop and I can barely even see them from just 10-15 yard away. The cougar is more of an ambush hunter. In the past 100 years Cougars have attacked humans more than wolves.

Cougars are cats and cats are psychopaths! When we were kids we didn't get to wrestle cougars.

Appreciated but I'd still rather take on one animal than three or more. I've seen how wolves gang up on their prey and once they've decided to attack, your odds are extremely slim. I'd still feel much more comfortable in a one on one with a cougar but I'd prefer not to face either.

 

[churchmouse]

I wrestled with a cougar when I was a teenager. She was an older cat but she still had it!

IKR......

Friends in Michigan swear they have seen wolves.

 

[Bfish]

Cougars scare the crap out me only by the way they kill humans ripping their throat first after they sneak up on you.. But while we could see some in Indiana in the future, I don't know of many areas around me at least that would hold too many. There is so much agriculture or open fields with wooded areas spaced spastically between. I am not saying we won't have them, but even if we do it won't be like up north.

 

[Zoub]

My point is you never see a pack, you see a lone wolf.

The Cougars you never see. Someone else sees it and tells you about it. When we moved in we were told there had been a cougar hanging around the house for 2 years. Two years since, we never see it.

Like maybe somebody across the river fishing who happens to be able to see down your lane. Then you circle around to where the Cougar crossed and your dog acts up. When you work your way back to other end of the property, the guys fishing tell you they just saw a Cougar cross the lane behind the detached garage. Oh, that's why my dog went nuts over there.

Six of one half dozen of another, there are a lot more wolf stories and a guy who use to live on our road and works with my wife has some that even scare him. You go prepared for all of them. I have told a story in here before how the wolves drove a huge demand here last summer for carry weapons and people getting the permits.

Once you know you have a cougar hanging around, it changes things a bit. I never saw the Moose just up stream either but I spot everything else. Go figure