Possible Mountain Lion Attack in Owen County

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  • K_W

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    Camera photos show a Coyote and Bobcat... EFRC did lose a cougar a few years ago though. It's not impossibly far for the cougar to have migrated.
     

    DoggyDaddy

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    Camera photos show a Coyote and Bobcat... EFRC did lose a cougar a few years ago though. It's not impossibly far for the cougar to have migrated.

    That's what I thought about the pics of the cats, but I can't see a bobcat doing that much damage to a 1300 pound animal.
     

    w_ADAM_d88

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    Guy from work spoke of this today, said this attack happened within 5 miles from his house/farm. He mentioned hearing strange growls/screeches after dark, but never thought he'd hear of a mountain lion/cougar in Indiana.

    I still find it hard to believe, but at the same time think it would be odd for a bobcat or coyote to attack a full grown horse to that severity.
     

    Thor

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    Could be anywhere
    They showed pictures 'from the area' not the incident. The vet said they are not native to the area...just north and south of us...:dunno: not common anymore maybe. Keep your eyes on the trees folks.
     

    churchmouse

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    They showed pictures 'from the area' not the incident. The vet said they are not native to the area...just north and south of us...:dunno: not common anymore maybe. Keep your eyes on the trees folks.

    I remember some reports of trail cam pics of large cats in southern Indiana.
     

    edwea

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    Guy I used to work with lived within a few miles of this place. He came out one morning to find a mountain lion attacking his pigs. They are around here, no doubt about it! Just one more reason to be armed whilst out and about in the woods. Not all predators around here walk on two legs.
     

    Mongo59

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    What the DNR does in southern Indiana will boggle the mind almost as much as what they deny doing. Strange things like salting Hoosier National Forest with Timber Rattlers. First they said it was to decrease the turkey population, then they said they didn't do it but no one had better be caught killing any of them...

    Then we magically had a Bobcat population. They deny any knowledge of it until a local shoots one with an Indiana DNR tracking collar on it. Their response? They want to bury the local under the jail.

    I am not pointing a finger at any individual but at a prevailing mentality, a mentality along the lines of "if you tell a lie more than three times it becomes true..."
     
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    On a hill in Perry C
    Didn't one get hit on the road up north of Washington a couple years ago? Did a quick search but didn't come up with anything. I've heard of several reports of them just south of the river in the Ft. Knox area. Since Ky sent us a bear I'd think they'd be happy to share a big cat of two.
     

    indyjohn

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    In the trees
    Guy I used to work with lived within a few miles of this place. He came out one morning to find a mountain lion attacking his pigs. They are around here, no doubt about it! Just one more reason to be armed whilst out and about in the woods. Not all predators around here walk on two legs.

    QFT.

    We are not far from there, well within the range of an animal that size. Every family member has a sidearm when outside.
     

    Leadeye

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    Feral dog/coy dogs are what I see here in the GSF. Never have seen a big cat or hog on the camera although we do hear stories about them.
     

    cosermann

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    ... The vet said they are not native to the area...

    That comment caught my attention too - because our area IS part of the historical range of the Cougar (as well as a number of other species that aren't really around here anymore), but her comment made it sound like they're an invasive non-native species or something, which they aren't.
     

    Thor

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    Yup, lots of things used to be native to the area that aren't common anymore. Buffalo trace anyone? Bear, Elk, Cougar...they are no strangers to IN historically speaking.
     

    Brad69

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    Jul 16, 2016
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    Perry county
    • Feline predators usually attempt to cover their kills with litter. Bobcats reach out 12 to 14 inches in scratching litter, compared to a 35-inch reach of a mountain lion .
    • Canine teeth marks will also help distinguish a lion kill from that of a bobcat—1 1/2 inches (3.8 cm) for a lion versus 3/4 to 1 inch for a bobcat.Livestock Predation Identification
    Did some googling looks like in areas that have both they have the info to tell the difference. We have Bobcats in Perry County I have not got a Mountain Lion on trailcam yet. I have been searching for one I talk to the “hill people” often they usually know about unusual animals before the DNR.
     

    AGarbers

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    A couple of years ago there was an IDNR documented cougar in Owen County seen on a trail camera. I have not seen anymore about it. Please bear in mind some folks have undocumented exotic pets and if they can’t feed them anymore or if they get loose obviously they don’t tell the authorities.
    There also has been a photo here on INGO of a dead cougar lying along side the road that allegedly came from Indiana but the same photo was from an article about a Florida cougar that had been struck by a car. The photo here on INGO obviously was a copy of the Florida article from. A few years earlier, and if I remember even has a Florida LEO car in the background.
    I don’t doubt that there are a few cougars in this state. But they are rare. There’s no way one could exist unnoticed in most of the state. They eat one deer or deer-sized animal per week. That’s a lot of kills going on and they won’t care if it’s a cow, horse, goat, or deer. The point is there would be a lot more documented evidence if there were as many cougars as some would have us believe, and as noted in Colorado and California, they also eat people. No one has been attacked here and our population density is much higher than any western state. If there were as many cougars as some like to say, there would be a much greater documentation rate, especially with everyone using cell phone cameras.
     

    4651feeder

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    They've had some escapes from the feline rescue center in clay co. Where they have lots of big cats.

    Donner back in 2006 IIRC, never to be seen again. Had a pilot friend from Nappanee airport tell me he startled one prior to the Donner escape while gliding in over the threshold of rwy 27, claimed when he reported it, the conservation officer told him they were aware of it already. This guy never gave me any other reason to doubt his statements. Virtually all of the articles I've seen on the topic of midwest cougar sightings in the last two decades always claim probably escaped pet without any further evidence. Yet anyone familiar with NW Indiana will have recent memory of the black bear ranging into Michigan City from further north. Why wouldn't it be likely cougars could also?
     

    DSmith78

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    still dont believe there are mountain lions around here other then a possible escaped animal or pet. everyone has phones anymore yet nobody can get a pic of one? trail cams everywhere, still no real proven pics? as much as people want to say they see them i just dont believe it. i think people mistake bobcats for mountain lions.
     
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