I found this information here: Behavior of cougar in Iowa and the Midwest In areas where resident cougar have been studied, the males set up home ranges in good habitat. The core areas of these ranges show little overlap, at least in the San Andreas mountains (Logan and Sweanor 2001). Females have a much smaller home range usually within the territory of a male. Often several related females (matrilines) share adjacent territories. The size of the territory can vary greatly. Anderson (1983) summarizes data from studies from seven states (table 34, p.38). Male territories ranged from 48 square miles in Idaho to 398 square miles in Texas. 2 Most were bigger than 70 square miles. The Black Hills males have some of the largest territories known, at 312 square miles (Kintigh 2003). The female home ranges that Anderson lists ranged from 25 square miles in California to 398 square miles in Texas. 2 Most were in the range of 25 to 50 square miles. The Black Hills again has larger home ranges for females at 70 square miles (Kintigh 2003). Two factors that influence the size of home ranges are prey abundance (they need enough prey in their home range to sustain them) and number of other cougar. Males especially avoid neighboring cougar and may constrict their range when another male cougar comes into the area (Logan and Sweanor 2001; Maehr 1997). In Saskatchewan, where a small population exists along narrow river corridors in the western prairie part of the province no distinct home ranges have been detected (phone conversation of Feb 1, 2005 with Dave Brewster of Saskatchewan's department of Environment).3 Similarly in Minnesota no cougar have been shown to have set up resident populations with fidelity for specific areas for long times, even though a few females have been detected. I am aware of at least two females, a mother and cub that wandered across the northern part of the state and a female that was killed near Bloomington. However, in the later case wildlife officials suspect this cat had been in the area for some time so it may have had at least a temporary home area. It is speculative to assume without studies that actually track the cats, that the social structure of cougar in very low densities is different, but the long term fidelity of cougar to defined home areas that is typical of many studies with healthy cougar populations is not obvious in some of these low density areas.
That Kane county 'cougar' photo is funny. C'mon, there's no way that's a mountain lion. At it's most exotic, it's a bobcat, but by all appearances, it's just a big housecat. (look at the size of the leaves compared to it, it's a small animal.)
I grew up in Washington State, and there are tons of these cats there. In fact i lived in the far NW corner of the state and a coworker had one on his property and the neighbor killed it, 140lb female. HUGE for a female and even big for a cat. The liberals out there hate that they have to close the school playground if there is a sighting within a specified distance, but also hat it is you as permission to trespass to the state land to hunt them. Go figure, the live in a community called Cougar Ridge, and send their kids to Cougar Ridge Elementary School. Dogs and small pets go missing all the time there too.
http://www.prairiestateoutdoors.com/index.php?/scattershooting/article/big_cat_near_farina Farina IL. Thats about 10 miles from where I live. I know the guy who filmed it, so I don't doubt the source.
Quit being a whuss, we all know that you dont ever spend any time in the deer woods... even when it's deer season, therefore you have nothing to worry about. And if that freaks you out, wait til you get down here and you can mess with a whole herd of hogs in the dark while keeping your eyes out for big cats!!! :p
Last yr there was a confirmed cougar sighting here in southern wi. That animal made it all the way down to chicago before it was shot by the CPD. That animal covered some big groung in a just a few days. The DNR thought that it acutally may have made its way from out West. Their sighting is becoming more frequent.
