Nature of Wild: Cougar Tracks Investigated in Delta County 

Mike Zuidema, a retired DNR forester, has played a major role in a long-term study by the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy of cougars in our state.  On March 8, Zuidema came across a clear set of cougar tracks in snow on his son’s property near Bark River and the Delta-Menominee county-line.

Zuidema and many others have spotted cougar tracks and found other evidence of the big cats in Michigan over the years, but the March 8 find quickly took on unprecedented significance.  That’s because he used photos of the tracks to convince two DNR biologists, Craig Albright and Bill Rolls, to look at the actual tracks a couple of days later.  By leading them to the 400 or so tracks still visible in the woods, any question about where the photos were taken was put to rest.  On March 13, the DNR issued a press release that stated in part:

“The Michigan Department of Natural Resources today announced that a wildlife track found in Delta County is most likely from a cougar.  We were contacted by a private landowner stating he may have a cougar track on his property.  The landowner covered the track and on Monday morning DNR staff investigated the site, “said Steve Chadwick, acting furbearer specialist for DNR.  “Wildlife staff took photos and measurements of the tracks.  They followed the tracks as far as possible but there was no sighting of a cougar.”

“The photos were sent to the Wildlife Division’s trained staff on cougars and national experts.  It was agreed that the tracks are characteristic of a cougar including overall look, shape, and size.”

“ Michigan DNR wildlife biologists have attended intensive cougar training in New Mexico over the last year and a half,” said Douglas Reeves, Wildlife Division acting chief.  “We feel confident in their abilities and are comfortable with their assessment that these large cat tracks most likely were made by a cougar.”

“The DNR is continuing its field investigation in the area….”

In the weeks following the press release, DNR spokespersons emphasized that the track had not been officially confirmed as that of a cougar, thus continuing the agency’s long position of not recognizing the presence of cougars in Michigan.  This caused Zuidema, who had first seen a cougar in the same general area of the Upper Peninsula in 1981, to comment:  “If the DNR can’t confirm this track as a cougar’s, no evidence other than a dead one laying in the tracks will convince them.”

Dr. Patrick Rusz, the Wildlife Conservancy’s Director of Wildlife Programs who headed an 8-year study that used peer-reviewed DNA analyses to confirm the presence of cougars in eight Michigan counties, also expressed disappointment in the DNR’s treatment of Zuidema’s most recent find.  “The DNR’s press release implied that if the cat is cougar it is probably just a wanderer from the West.  They are not connecting the dots.” 

“In 2002, the Conservancy obtained scat samples from eight miles away that DNA analyses showed were from cougar.  In 2005, the DNR verified by DNA analysis that hair taken from the bumper of a car after a collision with a big cat was that of cougar.  The collision also occurred just a few miles away from Zuidema’s track find.  There have been other pieces of physical evidence that indicate the continued presence of cougars in this area of Michigan for 42 years,” added Dr. Rusz.

The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy has published its findings on cougars in Michigan in many forums including a scientific article that appeared in the American Midland Naturalist in 2006.  For more information on the organization’s findings and for additional facts about cougars visit the Conservancy’s website – www.miwildlife.org. 

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