Cougars in Southern Illinois? Probably, says retired DNR officer
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Rich Gurka, a resident of White County and is a retired Illinois Department of Natural Resources conservation police officer, is among those who believe there is a distinct possiblity there are cougars in Southern Illinois.
During my 27-year career with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, I used to mock folks who told me that they saw a mountain lion (cougar) in southern Illinois.
We in the IDNR used to think that these people had eyesight problems, smoked illegal leafy plants or got into grandpa's persimmon wine too much. But I do not doubt folks anymore.
On Nov. 16, 2011 the Wisconsin DNR put out a press release warning deer hunters to be aware that there were confirmed cougar sightings in central and northern Wisconsin. That's right: a state issued warning. It's no lie or hoax. You can check on-line yourself. Simply Google wisconsin cougar sightings 2011.
During my career, I was aware of three confirmed cougar deaths in Illinois.
1. On July 15, 2000, a dead young male cougar was found near railroad tracks in Randolph County. I believe that this specimen was taken to SIU Carbondale for forensic analysis.
2. On Dec. 4, 2004, a dead cougar was found by hunters near New Boston in Mercer County. Apparently this cougar had been shot with an arrow and had escaped from the bowhunter before it died. I recall personally speaking via cell phone to the CPO who was on site with the dead animal. I presume that an IDNR biologist took possession of this cougar.
3. On April 4, 2008, a young male cougar was shot and killed by Chicago police when it was observed in a residential neighborhood on the city's north side. Earlier that year, a cougar had been confirmed sighted in southern Wisconsin and in several towns north of Chicago. It is believed that that is the cougar shot by the Chicago cops. It made all the Chicago papers and a few national ones. I don't know who took possession of this animal.
Please note that Nos. 1 and 2 were near the Mississippi River. No. 3 is believed to have traveled some of the "green belt" habitat areas along I-294 and possibly the Des Plaines River watershed. Believe it or not, Cook and Lake counties have a lot of green belt habitat areas.
What's rather odd is that I do not ever recall the IDNR saying one word about these instances. Not any comments or press releases or anything. I guess that if the IDNR keeps quiet about it, the public will just forget and the matter will go away. My personal opinion is that the IDNR fears it will create a public mini-panic and may cause undue public fear if they said anything about these critters. The last thing needed is a group of buffoons out there with their dogs claiming they are going "mountain lion huntin'." I doubt anyone with the IDNR will go on record on this issue.
Over the last few years a small number of cougars have been sighted in Missouri and Iowa; a few have even been killed. Don't believe me? Check for yourself.
We here in Southern Illinois are blessed with large amounts of wildlife habitat. We have the river corridors along the Mississippi, Ohio, Wabash and Little Wabash rivers, along with numerous smaller steams and waterways. And don't forget the Shawnee National Forest.
A mountain lion/cougar is an "alpha predator." One of its primary food sources is deer. We have a few of them around here, too.
A few years ago I remember picking up my first road-killed bobcat in White County. It made the front page of The Carmi Times. Since then I have personally seen four live ones while bow hunting. Many others have also seen bobcats. I wouldn't say that we are "lousy" with bobcats, but there are more than a few around.
So, if you ask me, I believe that one day someone will either kill a cougar or one will be hit on the road somewhere around here in Southern Illinois. It is simply inevitable.
Sadly, it will take a dead specimen to prove that they are around. It won't be an "escaped pet" or a dead one a trucker picked up in South Dakota and dumped out here for a joke. In all likelihood it will be a 100-pound (or more) male wild cougar which is roaming to find new habitat areas.
I personally never saw a live or dead cougar in Illinois during my IDNR career. If I come across a dead cougar around here, I'm going to keep it and get a full body mount of it. I will allow the IDNR to take DNA and hair samples, but they aren't getting the whole thing. I know that a CPO will probably try to bluff me into giving it up, but I know better. They can't legally force me to turn it over to them. Plus, I know that if I did give it up, it would probably simply disappear, just like the three dead ones I mentioned earlier in this article.
Full disclosure: Dr. Lars Gentry says that my eyesight is fine. I will "pee" in a cup to prove that I do not smoke that green leafy material. And I don't drink (too much) of the "homebrew" which Eddie and I make on occasion.