TheJump.Net News Journal

The cougar recently featured here that passed through Minnesota has apparently continued on his Eastward bound journey and crossed into Dunn County, Wisconsin where its picture was taken. by a trail camera.



It's likely the same animal from Minnesota because since the Minnesota cougar made its appearance its progress Eastward has been tracked by following its tracks in the snow and a string of sightings both with evidence such as tracts and without that have led it to its current location in Wisconsin.

The cougar has moved at a fairly consistent travel rate of 5-7 miles eastward each day. They have even discovered a small buck fawn that it had killed, partially eaten and then covered. The next day it was apparent that the cougar had returned and fed again that night.

A farmer in Spring Valley saw a cougar and found its tracks which have been confirmed. Hair samples from the site were collected for testing. Those results will take a couple of weeks or more to get back from the lab. This will likely confirm that the cougar is from the population of western cougars and not a former captive South American cougar.

Biologist with the Iowa DNR have confirmed cougar has been killed by a deer hunter in the state. The cougar was shot after the hunter spotted the cougar in a tree. Not knowing if it was legal to shoot a cougar he got on his cell phone and talked with the land owner and got permission after confirming that it was legal to take. Raymond Goebel Jr. fired a slug into the cougars side as it lay on the tree limb.

So yet another cougar is confirmed in the east as they exand their current range eastward.

The hunter plans to have a full body mount to remember the cougar by. Certainly a trophy for him to enjoy and remember. Just to bad for the cougar.

Residents of the Twin Cities neighborhood are surprised to hear that a cougar was video taped in the Champlin area. A police dash cam caught the cougar on tape. A Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officer watched the tape and confirmed that the animal is a cougar.

READ MORE HERE in the cougar section and check out the picture!

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan to kill every fish in a 5-mile stretch of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal this December to keep Bighead Carp from getting into the Great Lakes. Once electronic barriers are back in place this type of action will no longer be needed.

Bighead carp a carp from Asia have taken over the Mississippi River and it tributaries where they have caused problems with boaters and threaten to upset the ecological balance as they compete with other species of animals for food.

A poison commonly used to kill fish called Rotenone will be used to kill all fish in the stretch of canal.

Currently there are two electronic barriers that deter the fish from entering the canal. One will be shutdown for maintenance and the other will remain active. It is possible that the single barrier might be enough but once the bighead or silver carp get through there would be no chance of preventing them from multiplying and becoming a permanent nuisance invasive species.

The waterway will be closed beginning Dec. 2 and remain closed until all work and poison applications are complete.