INSTANT SURVEY VOTE ON – POLL s534:

Should cougars remain
protected in Wisconsin?

Background:

DNA analysis confirms four cougars in state within last two years

MADISON — A few drops of blood, preserved by an alert warden, proves that while one male cougar was tracking through St. Croix and Dunn counties this past December, another male cougar was moving near the Flambeau River, 125 miles to the north.

This cougar, crossing a road, was spotted by a female bus driver east of Park Falls.  Warden Dan Michels responded and followed the animal’s racks into a cedar swamp where he spotted tiny blood drops behind the cougar’s tracks. He collected them in a test tube, froze the contents and submitted them for DNA analysis.

No other sightings of a cougar in that vicinity were reported, and no more evidence was found. Still, the science is irrefutable. The bus driver had seen a wild North American cougar, a male.

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YES 60% | NO 20%   |  MAYBE 0%  |  UNDECIDED 20%  |  OTHER 0%
IMPRESSIONS: 141 |   RESPONSES: 5 |   COMMENTS: 0

Background: Background: First week of deer observation survey brings in more than 800 reports

MADISON – The first week of Operation Deer Watch, a program that asks citizens to report deer observations during the months of August and September, produced 818 observation reports, filed by 420 individuals, according to Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologists monitoring the program.

“This is a great response for the first week of a new program,” said Tom Hauge, director of the DNR Bureau of Wildlife Management. “We welcome the extra eyes in the woods and appreciate the intense interest folks have in their natural resources and especially in the wildlife around them.”

Reports have come in from all corners of the state,” said Brian Dhuey, DNR research scientist, “we’ve received reports from 111 of our 139 DMUs (deer management units).  DMU 77M Milwaukee, and parts of Ozaukee, Washington, Waukesha, Sheboygan, Racine, Kenosha and Manitowoc counties) has the most reports at 45, followed by DMU 64 (parts of Manitowoc, Calumet, Brown and Outagamie counties) with 29 reports.”

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