Lion on the BEach
November/December 2001
By: Dr Pat Rusz, Director of Wildlife Programs
A field crew of the Michigan Wildlife Habitat Foundation recently found physical evidence of at least seven cougars at six sites in Northern Michigan. The evidence included tracks, scat (feces), and cougar-killed deer and strongly supports the idea that cougars never completely vanished from out state in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The findings shed new light on the status of the big cats in the Great Lake area and should encourage more research on cougars in our state.
Review of more than 750 cougar sighting reports in Northern Michigan suggested that areas along the Great Lakes shoreline offered the best opportunities for conducting formal cougar tracking surveys during warm weather months. The foundation picked a section of Lake Michigan shoreline in the Upper Peninsula’s Schoolcraft and Mackinac Counties as the primary study area because it has a record of persistent cougar sightings along with some physical evidence of cougars and considerable bare-ground tracking surfaces. The Traverse City Whitetails Unlimited group supported the field work with a $2,919 donation.
A three-person field crew, consisting of Dr. Patrick J. Rusz, the Habitat Foundation’s Director of Wildlife Programs, and two Central Michigan students, Mark Rusz and Keith Kidder, were trained to identify and document cougar tracks at a private facility in Birch Run in Saginaw County. The facility had two 10-month-old female cougars in an outdoor pen, along with caged bobcats, coyotes, and wolves. The crew spread beach sand in the pens and eventually became proficient at identifying cougar tracks on both wet and dry sand. They also spent considerable time following dogs of different breeds on leashes on the Lake Michigan shoreline to gain skills in distinguishing dog from cougar tracks.
The crew initially searched for cougar tracks in the Seul Choix Point area in Schoolcraft and Mackinac Counties once each week during four weeks (May 5 to June 1). The area surveyed included a 33-mile-long stretch of Lake Michigan beach and sand dunes, along the several segments of inland roads. They found cougar tracks in the eastern half of the study area each week, with most of the tracks confined to a 4-mile-long strip of dunes. Where the tracks were most numerous, the crew found six small spots where deer had been killed and dragged away. In each case, the deer were killed within 40 feet of a dune crest with no sign of a chase. There were faint drag marks and a little hair leading inland into a dense cedar swamp with ridges of mixed woods. Three deer carcasses were found 60 to 80 yards from the kill spots, at the bases of trees under dense overhanging branches. The other three deer were never found despite intensive searching. The intestines and stomach of one of the carcasses, an adult doe, had been removed and placed in a neat pile about 10 feet from the carcass. All three carcasses were entered through one side of the rib cage and the top of the rib cage was neatly sheared off by the predator’s teeth. Numerous photos of the deer kills –one showing an apparent tooth mark and hemorrhaging at the base of the skull –were submitted to nationally-known cougar expert Harley Shaw of New Mexico. He commented that the scenes were consistent with a cougar deer kill in every aspect and detail. At each scene, there was ample evidence that the predator involved was not a wolf, dog, coyote, bear, bobcat, or lynx, species that are often assumed to be the predator when deer kills are found in Northern Michigan.
The field crew found numerous scats (droppings) around the deer carcasses and other areas where most of the tracks were found. At 30 of the scats were consistent with cougar in shape and size. They were composed primarily of deer hair with some bits of bone, and were one to one-and-a-quarter inches in diameter. The lengths of most of the scats were six to eleven inches. Thirteen of the fresher scats were sent to the Wyoming Game and Fish Laboratory in Laramine. DNA analysis subsequently found that eight of the scats submitted as probable cougar were indeed cougar scats. Tests on the other five samples were inconclusive, but the laboratory could not rule out cougar. Wyoming Game and Fish Laboratory personnel noted that the genotype appeared consistent with the cougars they have tested in Wyoming. That is, preliminary analysis indicates that the cougars are of a North American genotype and does not suggest that the cat(s) had an obvious exotic origin. That’s important because many pet cougars have South American bloodlines that can be readily detected by DNA analysis. More DNA analysis of the samples is underway.
In July, the Habitat Foundation learned that an intern and biologist working for the state-funded Michigan Natural Features Inventory found a cougar track on or about June 20 in mud where the Foundation’s crew had found cougar tracks and deer kills. Searching for rare plants, the Natural Features staff found the track on an old logging road that had been underwater in May. The Foundation’s crew returned to the area on July 26 and found cougar tracks that were a full inch larger in diameter than any of the tracks they previously found. They also found three additional cat-killed deer. They therefore concluded that two different cougars, probably an adult female and later an adult male with the larger tracks, had been in the area. However, there was no evidence they had been there at the same time. That’s consistent with the strong tendency of adult cougars to avoid each other except when they are ready to mate.
Encouraged by the findings in the Seul Choix Point area, the Habitat Foundation staff examined several other sites of frequent cougar sightings during the summer. With the assistance of Mike Zuidema of Escanaba and other volunteers, the Stoning Peninsula in Delta County was searched for cougar tracks on three occasions in August and September. Cougar tracks were found in one location (and later verified by Harley Shaw), and during a search on September 30, possible (but old) cougar scats were found several miles away, along with a track that was consistent with, but not completely distinguishable as, cougar. Results of DNA analysis of the scats are not yet available.
On July 25, the field crew made an incidental discovery of a cougar track on the south edge of Naubinway in Mackinac County on land owned by the Hiawatha Sportsmen’s Club. The rack was about 200 yards from the Lake Michigan beach. The finding was consistent with local reports of cougars seen there frequently. Locals speculate that male cougars are attracted to the area by a female cougar kept in a cage. The captive animal, a 14-year old female, is kept (by permit) about 500 yards from where the track was found.
The Foundation received a year-old scat collected by Michigan Technological University student Nancy Gagnon on her property in Houghton County. The Wyoming Laboratory confirmed by DNA analysis that the ten and one-half inch long scat was that of a cougar. Mrs. Gagnon had compiled records of numerous cougar sightings in the area, and personally saw a cougar there once.
The Foundation extended its survey of Michigan cougars into the Lower Peninsula with the help of volunteers. Dale Wiley, who owns a horse ranch just north of Tower in the Black River area of Cheboygan County, reported that he saw a cougar on or about July 3, and found evidence that it killed or dragged off a newborn colt two days later. Because he had no tracking surfaces on his land, he agreed to bulldoze a half-mile long road along the north edge of his 70-acre pasture. In cooperation with the Foundation, he checked it for tracks every other day and found a suspected set on the 14th day. Dr. Rusz visited the site three days later and photographed clear and distinct cougar tracks that were subsequently confirmed as cougar by Harley Shaw. Mr. Wiley continues to monitor the road for tracks.
Dr. Rusz also investigated the scene of three recent cougar sightings near Fife Lake in Wexford and Kalkaska Counties. He found one set of tracks consistent with cougar, but not all diagnostic features could be distinguished. A videotape of a large cat taken by a landowner south of Mesick was determined to be cougar based on a site visit and measurements of trees and other landmarks. A report of that incident and analysis was summarized in the previous issue of The Wildlife Volunteer.
With modest effort, the Foundation confirmed the presence of at least seven cougars and six sites. Experts agree that transient, wandering cougars don’t hang around an area, so the repeated finding of cougar signs indicates that the cougars in the Seul Choix Point and Stonington areas are resident cats. The evidence that the cats found in the other four areas are residents is also very strong.
In the Seul Choix Point area, the field crew found enough evidence to piece together some ideas about how cougars use the habitat. The cougars seem to regularly hunt for deer along the crest of the barrier dune, using it as cover to rush any deer found between the beach the woods upslope. There was no evidence that cougars frequently visit the water’s edge to drink or search for food. However, tracks of a cougar were found on the beach at Stonington, and several home-owners around Seul Choix Point have reported seeing cougars entering Lake Michigan.
The Foundation is pressing forward with additional DNA analyses of the scat samples. This work may shed more light on the origin of the cougars, but the fact that they are being found only in remote areas where they have been sighted for many decades strongly suggests that these animals are, and always have been, part of our natural heritage.
By: Dr Pat Rusz, Director of Wildlife Programs
A field crew of the Michigan Wildlife Habitat Foundation recently found physical evidence of at least seven cougars at six sites in Northern Michigan. The evidence included tracks, scat (feces), and cougar-killed deer and strongly supports the idea that cougars never completely vanished from out state in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The findings shed new light on the status of the big cats in the Great Lake area and should encourage more research on cougars in our state.
Review of more than 750 cougar sighting reports in Northern Michigan suggested that areas along the Great Lakes shoreline offered the best opportunities for conducting formal cougar tracking surveys during warm weather months. The foundation picked a section of Lake Michigan shoreline in the Upper Peninsula’s Schoolcraft and Mackinac Counties as the primary study area because it has a record of persistent cougar sightings along with some physical evidence of cougars and considerable bare-ground tracking surfaces. The Traverse City Whitetails Unlimited group supported the field work with a $2,919 donation.
A three-person field crew, consisting of Dr. Patrick J. Rusz, the Habitat Foundation’s Director of Wildlife Programs, and two Central Michigan students, Mark Rusz and Keith Kidder, were trained to identify and document cougar tracks at a private facility in Birch Run in Saginaw County. The facility had two 10-month-old female cougars in an outdoor pen, along with caged bobcats, coyotes, and wolves. The crew spread beach sand in the pens and eventually became proficient at identifying cougar tracks on both wet and dry sand. They also spent considerable time following dogs of different breeds on leashes on the Lake Michigan shoreline to gain skills in distinguishing dog from cougar tracks.
The crew initially searched for cougar tracks in the Seul Choix Point area in Schoolcraft and Mackinac Counties once each week during four weeks (May 5 to June 1). The area surveyed included a 33-mile-long stretch of Lake Michigan beach and sand dunes, along the several segments of inland roads. They found cougar tracks in the eastern half of the study area each week, with most of the tracks confined to a 4-mile-long strip of dunes. Where the tracks were most numerous, the crew found six small spots where deer had been killed and dragged away. In each case, the deer were killed within 40 feet of a dune crest with no sign of a chase. There were faint drag marks and a little hair leading inland into a dense cedar swamp with ridges of mixed woods. Three deer carcasses were found 60 to 80 yards from the kill spots, at the bases of trees under dense overhanging branches. The other three deer were never found despite intensive searching. The intestines and stomach of one of the carcasses, an adult doe, had been removed and placed in a neat pile about 10 feet from the carcass. All three carcasses were entered through one side of the rib cage and the top of the rib cage was neatly sheared off by the predator’s teeth. Numerous photos of the deer kills –one showing an apparent tooth mark and hemorrhaging at the base of the skull –were submitted to nationally-known cougar expert Harley Shaw of New Mexico. He commented that the scenes were consistent with a cougar deer kill in every aspect and detail. At each scene, there was ample evidence that the predator involved was not a wolf, dog, coyote, bear, bobcat, or lynx, species that are often assumed to be the predator when deer kills are found in Northern Michigan.
The field crew found numerous scats (droppings) around the deer carcasses and other areas where most of the tracks were found. At 30 of the scats were consistent with cougar in shape and size. They were composed primarily of deer hair with some bits of bone, and were one to one-and-a-quarter inches in diameter. The lengths of most of the scats were six to eleven inches. Thirteen of the fresher scats were sent to the Wyoming Game and Fish Laboratory in Laramine. DNA analysis subsequently found that eight of the scats submitted as probable cougar were indeed cougar scats. Tests on the other five samples were inconclusive, but the laboratory could not rule out cougar. Wyoming Game and Fish Laboratory personnel noted that the genotype appeared consistent with the cougars they have tested in Wyoming. That is, preliminary analysis indicates that the cougars are of a North American genotype and does not suggest that the cat(s) had an obvious exotic origin. That’s important because many pet cougars have South American bloodlines that can be readily detected by DNA analysis. More DNA analysis of the samples is underway.
In July, the Habitat Foundation learned that an intern and biologist working for the state-funded Michigan Natural Features Inventory found a cougar track on or about June 20 in mud where the Foundation’s crew had found cougar tracks and deer kills. Searching for rare plants, the Natural Features staff found the track on an old logging road that had been underwater in May. The Foundation’s crew returned to the area on July 26 and found cougar tracks that were a full inch larger in diameter than any of the tracks they previously found. They also found three additional cat-killed deer. They therefore concluded that two different cougars, probably an adult female and later an adult male with the larger tracks, had been in the area. However, there was no evidence they had been there at the same time. That’s consistent with the strong tendency of adult cougars to avoid each other except when they are ready to mate.
Encouraged by the findings in the Seul Choix Point area, the Habitat Foundation staff examined several other sites of frequent cougar sightings during the summer. With the assistance of Mike Zuidema of Escanaba and other volunteers, the Stoning Peninsula in Delta County was searched for cougar tracks on three occasions in August and September. Cougar tracks were found in one location (and later verified by Harley Shaw), and during a search on September 30, possible (but old) cougar scats were found several miles away, along with a track that was consistent with, but not completely distinguishable as, cougar. Results of DNA analysis of the scats are not yet available.
On July 25, the field crew made an incidental discovery of a cougar track on the south edge of Naubinway in Mackinac County on land owned by the Hiawatha Sportsmen’s Club. The rack was about 200 yards from the Lake Michigan beach. The finding was consistent with local reports of cougars seen there frequently. Locals speculate that male cougars are attracted to the area by a female cougar kept in a cage. The captive animal, a 14-year old female, is kept (by permit) about 500 yards from where the track was found.
The Foundation received a year-old scat collected by Michigan Technological University student Nancy Gagnon on her property in Houghton County. The Wyoming Laboratory confirmed by DNA analysis that the ten and one-half inch long scat was that of a cougar. Mrs. Gagnon had compiled records of numerous cougar sightings in the area, and personally saw a cougar there once.
The Foundation extended its survey of Michigan cougars into the Lower Peninsula with the help of volunteers. Dale Wiley, who owns a horse ranch just north of Tower in the Black River area of Cheboygan County, reported that he saw a cougar on or about July 3, and found evidence that it killed or dragged off a newborn colt two days later. Because he had no tracking surfaces on his land, he agreed to bulldoze a half-mile long road along the north edge of his 70-acre pasture. In cooperation with the Foundation, he checked it for tracks every other day and found a suspected set on the 14th day. Dr. Rusz visited the site three days later and photographed clear and distinct cougar tracks that were subsequently confirmed as cougar by Harley Shaw. Mr. Wiley continues to monitor the road for tracks.
Dr. Rusz also investigated the scene of three recent cougar sightings near Fife Lake in Wexford and Kalkaska Counties. He found one set of tracks consistent with cougar, but not all diagnostic features could be distinguished. A videotape of a large cat taken by a landowner south of Mesick was determined to be cougar based on a site visit and measurements of trees and other landmarks. A report of that incident and analysis was summarized in the previous issue of The Wildlife Volunteer.
With modest effort, the Foundation confirmed the presence of at least seven cougars and six sites. Experts agree that transient, wandering cougars don’t hang around an area, so the repeated finding of cougar signs indicates that the cougars in the Seul Choix Point and Stonington areas are resident cats. The evidence that the cats found in the other four areas are residents is also very strong.
In the Seul Choix Point area, the field crew found enough evidence to piece together some ideas about how cougars use the habitat. The cougars seem to regularly hunt for deer along the crest of the barrier dune, using it as cover to rush any deer found between the beach the woods upslope. There was no evidence that cougars frequently visit the water’s edge to drink or search for food. However, tracks of a cougar were found on the beach at Stonington, and several home-owners around Seul Choix Point have reported seeing cougars entering Lake Michigan.
The Foundation is pressing forward with additional DNA analyses of the scat samples. This work may shed more light on the origin of the cougars, but the fact that they are being found only in remote areas where they have been sighted for many decades strongly suggests that these animals are, and always have been, part of our natural heritage.