Is the DNR 'planting cougars' in this area?

Last week we had a story about some Preston area horse owners who believe a cougar or cougars attacked their horses, and then we had a story (and pics) from a rural Lanesboro guy who believes his auto-camera captured images of a cougar afoot in that area.

Those cougar reports prompted this e-mail from a reader, making quite an allegation:

Thanks for your articles this week in the paper about cougars in the area.  I personally believe you are on the tip of a hidden agenda from the MN DNR.  There have been several sightings of cougars in the Mazeppa area.  About 18 months ago Dave Liffrig of Mazeppa took photos of a cougar that was treed in his yard east of Mazeppa.  Recently a cougar was hit by a car in Bemidji.  This is a long ways from SE MN, but also just as controversial because it’s not in the lion’s current range and the DNR again is taking a questionable stance.  Also very strange about the Bemidji animal was that it was a female.  Male cougars will migrate to find their ‘territory’ but females stay put.  In the past the DNR has theorized that the sightings were males who had migrated from western South Dakota in search of ‘territory’. 
 
The DNR continually scoffs and bluffs about cougars in SE MN in spite of sound evidence.  A cougar will kill about 1 deer per week for it’s diet.  They typically don’t kill for fun (unlike coyotes and wolves).  Many outdoor enthusiasts believe the DNR is planting cougars in the area to control the deer population, but admitting this practice could impose liability concerns for medical bills related to attacks on livestock.  If the DNR admits to local residents that they intend to release a cougar in the area there is no doubt the residents would react negatively.  They would oppose it first, and if it was still released you can bet people would be on the lookout for the cougar, which would most likely force the cougar to move to another area or possibly end up being shot by a local resident.  Minnesota actually is very good mountain lion habitat.  They were killed off decades ago because of their threat to agriculture. 

Keep investigating, you are on to something here and with your resources and skills I believe you can find the DNR is controlling deer by releasing cougars.  

We'll check it out, I guess, but it's one of the wilder conspiracy theories I've heard in a while.

 
 

Comments

[pinecone]

I heard the same thing from people in Cass Lake and Bemidji. They're pissed because they believe the DNR is reintroducing cougars to the area and lying about...

[Keith]

I think this guy works for the DNR and is planting this theory in our minds so we think it is so whacko that it can't be true, yet it really is true.