HOUGHTON - A cougar has been spotted in Houghton County, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has confirmed.
The cougar was caught on a trail camera in northern Houghton County on Saturday. DNR staff verified the finding on Monday. The specific location is not being released as the land owner wanted anonymity.
It is believed to be the same cougar caught by a trail camera in Ontonagon on Sept. 8.
"In all likelihood, it's gone to another location now," said DNR spokesperson Debbie Munson Badini in Marquette.
The DNR is still working with state wildlife agencies out west to find the cougar's origin. Efforts are being made to match the radio signal on the cougar's collar to known signals. The nearest known breeding populations are in the Dakotas.
"Either we don't have the right signal keyed in, or the collar might not be functioning anymore," Munson Badini said.
Michigan's native cougar population was exterminated more than a century ago. Prior to the Ontonagon sighting, the most recent confirmed cougar was seen in Newberry in 1906.
If anyone encounters a cougar in the wild, Munson Badini said not to approach it; as with cats, she said, they are drawn to the chase, so running is inadvisable.
But the chance of a run-in with a cougar is minimal, Munson Badini said.
"Cougars are elusive animals, and are shy," she said. "Most of the pictures we're getting are at night, and not in day where people are running into them in person."
If possible, Munson Badini said, people should try to preserve any possible cougar tracks or scat for evidence.
Physical evidence can be reported to the DNR Baraga office at 353-6651. After business hours, contact the DNR Report All Poaching hotline at 800-292-7800.
Sightings can also be reported at michigan.gov/dnr under Wildlife and Habitat-Wildlife Observations.
