A cougar recently confirmed in Washington County could make its way to Kenosha and Racine counties.
It also has some locals saying, “I told you so.”
Wildlife biologist Dianne Robinson said a large cat in Washington County has been verified by Department of Natural Resources biologists from submitted video footage. It was recorded on a security camera during the early morning of Feb. 7 as the cat crossed a walkway in front of a residence.
“It is likely that the cougar recently confirmed in Washington County is passing through the area,” Robinson said. “We don’t know where this animal is moving to. There is a chance it could wander through Racine and Kenosha counties.”
The news was enough for Larry Zamba to go out and turn on the trail camera he installed on his property in Brighton after finding what he believed to be cougar tracks in January 2016. The photo he submitted was of an 8-inch wide paw from an animal with a 43-inch stride.
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“I think that’s pretty exciting,” Zamba said of the verification. “I saw tracks all over today — big ones.”
Local sightings
Robinson said there have been four reports of possible cougar sightings from Kenosha County over the past several months. In one case, it was determined the tracks were coyote tracks on top of one another.
Zamba and several others who reported seeing a cougar in Kenosha County over the years said the proof a cougar was that close provides some vindication. The DNR could not confirm the local reports because there was no conclusive evidence in the form of photos or video of the cat or cougar scat.
In June 2016, the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department warned western Kenosha County residents to be wary after a possible cougar sighting on a farm in Wheatland.
The department sent out automated calls to residents within a 3-mile radius of the animal’s sighting in the 35500 block of 52nd Street in Wheatland.
Two Wheatland women reported they saw the cougar come out of the woods after a turkey. In the days before the sighting, one woman lost 10 chickens to an unknown predator.
While there is no evidence of a breeding population in Wisconsin, individual cougars do move through Wisconsin periodically, according to Scott Walter, a large carnivore specialist with the DNR.
“A cougar’s ability to cover ground is very impressive,” Walter said. “As an example of their range, DNR staff collected genetic samples from a cougar in Oconto County in 2010, and this cat was subsequently killed by a vehicle in Connecticut, roughly 70 miles from New York City, after traveling over 1,100 miles.”
Most recent reports
A cougar was confirmed Jan. 8 on a trail camera photo taken in Fond du Lac County. Four photos taken in Lincoln and Langlade counties in mid-December were also clear evidence of a cougar.
Walter said, without genetic samples, it is impossible to determine if it is the same animal confirmed in Washington County. Dispersing cougars are known to travel significant distances, and it is possible the confirmed photos recorded a single cougar, he said.
The nearest established cougar population is in the Black Hills area of South Dakota and animals dispersing through Wisconsin are believed to originate from that population.
Anyone with an unusual sighting or a trail camera photo should fill out a large mammal observation form to help biologists identify the animal. The form, a current list of confirmed cougar sightings, identification tips and more can be found at dnr.wi.gov, keyword “cougar.”