No doubt about it: There are mountain lions in state

RIGHT: For real: A motion-sensitive camera in Greene County caught this image of a mountain lion early on May 1. - Indiana Department of Natural Resources photo

Posted: May 16, 2010

Until the early morning hours of May 1, Indiana Department of Natural Resources officials had treated reported mountain lion sightings in the state as either inconclusive or an Internet hoax.

Since March 1, there had been 19 unconfirmed reports of a mountain lion, cougar, puma, panther or catamount -- whatever you want to call it -- seen prowling Indiana landscapes.

There were even rumors that the DNR had secretly released cougars across Indiana to combat the overpopulation of white-tailed deer.

Claralene Schlehuser, Plainfield, had heard those rumors. She gave them credibility when her son Bruce Schlehuser, 54, Putnamville, told her in April that he saw a cougar casually walking across a field about 50 to 75 yards west of Ind. 243 in Putnam County.

She relayed the information to me. I told her that I didn't doubt that her son had seen what he believed to be a cougar, but that the DNR was not releasing cougars to kill deer.

No, she insisted, her son, an avid hunter, tracker, angler and outdoorsman for 48 years, did not see what he believed to be a cougar. He saw a cougar. Not Bigfoot. Not the Loch Ness Monster. Not a UFO. A cougar.

I told her I'd check it out, and I did. There were no confirmed cougar sightings in Putnam County and the DNR was not releasing cougars.

Then at 2:30 a.m. on May 1, a motion-sensitive camera on a Greene County rural trail east of Bloomfield began clicking images.

Click. Mountain lion. Click. Mountain lion. Click. Mountain lion. There were multiple images.

The DNR posted two of the photos on its website. To view the photos, go to dnr.in.gov/images/co-dnr-lion1.jpg or dnr.in.gov/images/co-dnr-lion2.jpg.

The camera was placed in an area where there was evidence of a mountain lion's behavior, including a gutted deer carcass buried beneath leaves.

So the DNR had what it needed to confirm that at least one mountain lion, or cougar, is on the loose in Indiana. Most certainly there are others, as people from White County all the way south to Greene County and in between have seen them.

Bruce Schlehuser didn't have to see the photos to confirm the presence of cougars in Indiana. He stopped his vehicle, and he and a friend stood and watched what they knew was a cougar.

"It was walking across a stubble field and there was nothing to impair what I was seeing. It was out in the open. There was other traffic, and about six other people stopped and watched it for about five minutes," he said.

The cougar seemed to have no fear of the people who watched it from less than the length of a football field away.

Schlehuser said people at a service station near I-70 and Ind. 243 also reported watching it for a half-hour.

A former U.S. Army Ranger, Schlehuser said he was not surprised to see the cougar. When hunting in the winter, he said he had seen large paw prints in the snow, those of a cat in the 100- to 200-pound range. Where he hunts in Putnam County is perfect habitat for a cougar or mountain lion, he said.

According to DNR spokesman Gary Langell, mountain lions, a protected species in Indiana, do not normally stalk their prey. Instead, they lie in wait, usually along an active game trail, for their favorite meal -- deer.

Although rare, cougars have been known to stalk, attack and wound or kill humans. Most vulnerable are people who hike or bike alone on trails.

Wildlife experts say to never approach a mountain lion; give it a way to escape; never run, but stand upright, face the animal, make eye contact, raise your arms slowly, open your jacket or shirt to appear larger, speak firmly in a loud voice, keep children or pets near you, and if attacked, fight back.

The average adult cougar is a plain yellowish to red-brown color, five to six feet long with a two- or three-foot tail, and weighs from 75 to 180 pounds.

http://www.indystar.com/article/20100516/SPORTS/5160347/1004/SPORTS/No-doubt-about-it-There-are-mountain-lions-in-state
(Submitted by Chad Arment)