DISCOVERING | Cougars in the U.P. | Arctic Grayling Stocked in U.P. Waters 

My father in law (now deceased)says that he saw a cougar at less than 20 yards along the Au Sable River in the late 1950s.

All those years the DNR said they were not there,

In 1998, while working at MBP Power house 5 tradesmen and I watched a Cougar cross a fence line behind their Trustee area. It was a large beautiful creature and I thanked our maker for such a beautiful experience ! I’ve seen a lot of amazing things fishing the small streams in da UP!

One of the best shows yet.

Cougars I've seen pictures from back in 2007 near Indian lake off rt.2 Wolves too crossing the road. Best living ever

A friend has 125 acres near Republic, and has gotten a few trail cam pics of a Large Cat stalking his woods! Some Moose pics too! Love The Channel! 💜☮️🧤

Yes, great photo and video. They are truly beautiful and powerful animals. I am near Amasa/Crystal Falls MI. I have photos of big cat tracks in the snow. We have an old, vacant barn on the property in which a large animal dragged a deer carcass into it. I felt a cougar had done this. Great program!

You can see the power of that cat a killing machine. It changes the way a person feels about the Northwoods when alone and the shadows start dancing in your mind.

I deer hunted at Wilderness State park in 2005 for 7 days (west of Mackinaw)… I saw cougar tracks & scat in several places along the beaches & shoreline. They’ve been in the L.P. for a while.

We have been seeing cougars in lower Michigan for a couple of decades.

Appreciate you sharing this amazing content!

Sylvania (Watersmeet) was a favorite stomping ground late 90’s to early 2000’s. I talked to several USFS personnel who had seen them crossing frozen lakes. I’ve spent plenty of time looking for tracks.

I have news for you, there are plenty of cougars in Remus, Michigan! Two cougars jumped across the road in front of me!

From someone who lives in Southeast Michigan I truly enjoyed your video thank you.

Seen a cougar in crystal falls Michigan in 1974 when I was 10 years old

My wife had a cougar cross on US 2 back in 1998 on her way from Manistique where we lived and she was headed west towards Esky. A nice couple we were close to from Church lived across from 😅Indian Lake outside of Manistique and they saw and had them run up from the woods and take chickens off their neighbors back porch and that too was on the 1990’s. If you can get your hands on a 1996 or maybe 1997 hunting guide, that was the first year they added cougars to the can not shoot/kill listing and it was very low key. Asked the 2 local wardens for the state in the earlier 90’s and they would argue that there were no cougars in the UP but I had several National Forest Workers for friends from the Manistique and Esky offices and several said they weee aware of some cougars and found tracks but the DNR didn’t want to say they were there because of how much trouble it would Cause them because they would Be a protected species and the recreational use of public/state/national forest areas.

I lived in the UP in 1990 91 92 Locals saw Cougars when out and about back then - seems like the DNR was the only one who didnt acknowledge their presence

Time fer a Mountain Lion Season, oh yea, by the way, another WOLF SEASON!

I was deer hunting by the Ford river on paper company land back in the mid 1990's. There was an all tan super huge cat coming towards me. I thought for sure it was a cougar. When it got close I noticed it had a bobbed tail. It must have been a monstrous Lynx. It was the same size and color as a cougar.

So excited for this episode!

This has been an absolute frustrating issue with the DNR here in Michigan for decades. We as local residents have been reporting sitting, tracks and even attacks on horses And livestock. But they refused to believe it or denied it. I grew up in Southern Michigan and in the early 2000s we reported a sighting, and found tracks in the mud to DNR and they said it wasn't a cougar. A few days later a horse was attacked and had claw marks but they again denied it.

Born and raised Newberry I can tell you I have had couple times where I've seen them lucky enough I was in the car other time I was on top of a roof stay safe

Another COOL video, thank you, and Keep up the good work!

News flash cougar been spotted in Canton Mi back around 2008 also been livestock attacks recorded in southern mi

I have been to john mellons cougar camp. Cougars are mysteriously beautiful.

Should've covered the kitty wandering around the soo the oast few years. Ontario has a mountain lion population and its a stones throw from michigan .

I was x-country sking SBNP in the early 2000s, and as I was packing up an NP Ranger pulled up, and we talked quite a while. I asked him if he'd ever seen a couger, he replied "Absolutely " I asked if the DNR had seen any, he said "Heck yeah" I asked why they deny it and he said both the NP and DNR didn't have funding to start a public awareness program. And since couger numbers were so low, they weren't very concerned.

When I was in high school I developed, just for fun, a scream that I thought sounded like a cougar scream and one night went out to a parking spot where there were several cars parked with the windows all steamed up. I let out a couple screams and yep, on came the lights and away they went. Lots of talk about cougars the next few days.

I'm waiting in anticipation for the episode to start here on the RU-vid!

I believe I saw one in lower Michigan about 15 years ago. It was dark and it was a big cat with a big tail.

Grew up in the cadillac area.There were many locals saw them going back to the early 70s..DNR said no way for years.Now live in SW mich and been several sightings and trail cam picks in the last 5 years or so.

I saw one while driving from KI Sawyer AFB to Marquette one evening back in 1989. I was with three others, and we all saw it. They have been in the U.P. for a long time.

I saw a similar sized print 25 years ago in the snow in the woods I hiked. I wish I called DNR then.

Was told they reintroduced them in 1991 by a guy that worked for the state. Not sure how true that was but it makes sense they’ve been lying about it for years. That’s not even close to the total cougar sightings. Most people aren’t turning them in. I’ve seen quite a few the last few years. They’re getting pretty ballsy too. Coming right up to peoples houses, etc.

We came across cougar tracks while hiking pictured rocks last year. J & C

Thank you for sharing! Michael Mancini, Rochester Hills NMU 81’ BS MUCC life member

They are in southern Michigan to glad they finally are admitting they are here for years they said they weren't here even after all the pictures

I am glad the young man is not letting this stop him or slow him down. Young men like him in the West grow up with mt. lions in the woods around them every time they go to the woods. It’s just part of everyday life. It’s Always fun to see the tracks.

Me and a buddy almost hit one just outside of Moran about 35 yrs ago. We were about 20 foot from it when it jumped across 123. My dad didn’t believe us but there was no mistaking it.

Cougar sat down 20 ft from our house and stared at us. This was Genesee county 2022

The thing about cougars is that they are so quiet the first warning about what is about to happen is the human feels a breath of warm air on the back of his or her neck.

This was stunning. Wow....Just imagine....and yes...how many times did the cat watch him, and think SNACK? Holy wha....amazing!

We spotted them here as well in Northeastern Ontario Canada

I found one about 10 years ago , we dated for a few years .

The Otter River is in Houghton County.

In 1987 a friend and myself was driving to work from Escanaba to Hermansville and a cougar ran across the highway in front of us between Hyde and Bark River in Delta county.

Been seeing a cougar on the beach 5 miles north of Agate Beach.. Same one I bet.

I remember app. 15 years ago the DNR being quoted as saying the cougars are just " passing" through Michigan, from the West. Hell, they have been seen here in West Lower Michigan for at least 20 years.

I have a pic on my trail cam on my camp driveway last Feb.27th 2023in south east Chippewa co. near De Tour Village.

This is old news in my family, and were in the upper lower. They love to post up on bait piles, beware!

I saw cougar tracks in Engadine back in the 70's. Just moved back to Barry county recently after a out 40 some years. Ive seen 2 cougars in Macon County Tn Tennessee. They have always been in Michigan and in Tennessee. They are normally pretty nocturnal and avoid people. Since trail cams there have been more sightings all over the Eastern part of the country.

Shit,i saw one by the bridge in Benton Harbor driving home one night .I didnt believe it myself,but i watched that thing make its way down from the highway to the riverbank.They are a big cat that can survive cold weather,its crazier to think they wouldnt be all over the place in Michigan.

Seen one in the early 80's on hwy 35 heading back to K.I Saywer after bow hunting

In 1967 i saw one in saginaw lived on hosptil and mc arty rd back then there was a sand pit near there which is now a park

We saw one in the early 2000s in Clare county right in front of our car out in the boonies where I grew up. Deer in the road acting weird we were creeping towards it then it ran off and the cat jumped down in the road stopped sniffed around then ran into the woods the way the Deer went. DNR said it was confirmed cougar tracks but as of right now at that time they weren't openly admitting there were cougars in Mi.

Once trail cameras became cheaper in price I guess people finally have to admit to what people have been saying since the 70s but according to the dnr they say 2008 .I'm Gaylord area and the state land I but up to 7yrs ago i heard one and its a voice in the night you will never forget

A big shout out for the cougars yeaaaaa go cougar s😊

There was a cougar about 1 mile east of Haslett MI three years ago. Farming territory. Courtesy of Half Vast Flying

Not seen any in the UP, but have seen one in Northern Wisconsin between Tipler and Florence mid -1990's

I had a co worker who took pictures of cougars in the mid 90s south of Gwinn, the DNR wouldn't acknowledge the cougers back then even with photgraphic evidence, the deer population between crystal falls and Covington this year is non existent, I'm giving up on deer hunting in the upper peninsula due to the wolves and cougars

very cool video! Several years back there was a cougar hit on a highway in Connecticut. I read this article in a conservation magazine. But you can go online and check it out for yourself if you don't believe me. They trace the DNA of the cat from DNA from mountain lions in South Dakota. he was a long way from home! it sucks for the deer hunters, I read that mountain lions can eat up to 40 deer a year. In an area where there's not many deer to begin with that can really devastate a population!

The canyons north of Chatham is prime cougar range. And hundreds of wolves.

Saw a full grown Cougar in 2003 near Sceney

What is that beautiful song at the start of this video? I am a michigan native and wow that speaks to my heart.

Both of my sister have seen Cougars in their area, one by Orangeville (near Wayland MI) and one in Scotts Mi (near Galesburg MI) this was several years ago. Believe or not it's up to you. I believe it

Mother-in-law seen one in her backyard 1995 ish Clare mi .

I flew into Kalispell, MT to hike the Bob Marshall Wilderness. 1995? The locals told me to carry a gun. I said I wasn't too concerned about the grizzlies. They said the gun wasn't for the grizzlies; it was for the mountain lions! Well, I survived. Doesn't hurt to be careful... with a sidearm if necessary.

Cool videos....I only bow hunt and always have a gun on me. I hope I never run into one of these in the dark :)

I read in the 1990s a government binder titled,feasibility study of the reintroduction of cougar in the Island lake area off of hwy 13 ...

The big cats have been in the sceney swamp since I was a kid and I am79 now. So it is not a new thing.

Been face to face with one in SE MN bow hunting I think we both were freaked out 😳😐

Saw one dead on the side of I-93 in central NH on July 4, 2022. I should have stopped and taken pictures of it. I talked to a local game warden who insisted they don’t exist in New Hampshire. We’ll I know the truth.

we have seen cougar on game cameras in Maine

They are well established in the lower peninsular as well since about 98 when the DNR stocked them.

My fav kitty.

A few years ago I took a picture of a track, sent it to the dnr , they said no cougars

While touring the upper peninsula in 1979 near the Porcupine Mountains a Cougar crossed the road in front of me and my friend. Later relating this to a DNR agent .he said no way.

Cougars have been in northern lower michigan for a long long time.

Like I said they're in lower Michigan too

Awesome young man I believe you I hunt and I saw a grizzly but I don’t tell anyone you have pictures.

Please, my family has over 100 acres in Algers, Michigan (LP) and we have teail cam footage of cougars

Cougars are further north than that I've 3 in the last 10yrs in Ontario! Even tho the mnr has said there is none

In early 2000's I watched a black panther cross a dirt road 5 miles north west of Channing in Dickerson county

Go Michigan!

The main takeaway , the last, habitat loss, unregulated, over fishing. We have a wonderful balance of woods and water in the U.P , be slow to judge the predators. Be quick to strive to strike the balance needed to allow all that walk our woods and swim our water to flourish.

Cougar s are everywhere

These cats are across the border here in lambton county ont. Canada .

Wondering if the bear hunters dogs ever tree any cougars in the U.P. ? Maybe bear dogs wouldn't run cats , not sure.

Scary nothing worse than a big cat that has got its eyes on you.

at least 40 years ago the state released grayling in michigan. it didn't take hold.

With the cougars, wolfs,bigfoots and dogman in Michigan the deer population may be in trouble?

Darren lower Michigan two people my neighbors got them caught on his camera in Lyons Michigan independency in several different parts of lower Michigan and don't like a DNR full you they're the ones that put them here in Michigan

In February of 2018 I saw cougar tracks in the Eastern UP. I went the local MDNR office and they told me to keep my mouth shut as to not startle the public. That instantly told me that cougars were definitely in the UP.

That's so awesome on the cougars in the U.P. Down here in the county I live in, on the Indiana and Ohio state line, we have big Lynx that are bigger than the cougars. I just about hit one once and there giants. I don't think they bother the deer to much, its the coyote eating the fawns thats hurting the deer population. So cool on the cougars in Michigan

Think of how many you DONT see. Creepy. Keep an eye out for them cats.

Lots of sightings in Ontario as well. But as far as I know MNR isn’t acknowledging the sightings, just brushes them off.

I'm sure there in Ohio. There all around us!

The DNR has been releasing cougars throughout the Midwest for years.

There's another channel that uses this intro song.

In the 1990s I was getting bear bait in michigan , I visited a mtn.lion farm in mich the guy was crossing them with lions a hybred cat...I'm sure some mtn lions/ cats escaped or let loose...