As far as I understand cougar behaviors, the Female kitten usually inherits her mothers range, whereas male offspring will usually be sent packing as an adolescent. Mother Cougar will tolerate her female offspring but young males usually go wandering looking to establish a new territory. A young male roadkilled cougar wouldn't neccesrally indicate a local breeding population, but would perhaps suggest that there was a breeding population within say 100 miles or so (young lions are stealthy and can travel far). Cougar number are up all over so there is definately some breeding going on. When I hear of cougar sightings in suburban Massachusetts (as I have been so hearing) where the last official mountain lion was shot in 1899 (and lies stuffed in the Science Museum) I assume the same here. When Massachusetts has a cougar season I hope I can get to use my crossbow....Hmmmm...

Mnt hunter you crack me up, as far as the lions are concerned they should not be worried they tend to keep to themselves, unless they do something like California did then they should worry.

Hey idduckhunter

See my question on the Answers page.

WAM - those cougars aren't breeders.

Can't say that I blame the DNR for denial. If they acknowledge breeding then they have to manage them. That costs money and resources, of which both are dwindling.

MLH

They coulda fooled me ! LOL

I was leaving a public hunting area in Cannon Falls MN sunday evening after bow hunting and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a cougar walking the ditch on the side of the road. My cousin was driving right behind me and he called me right after we passed it and he asked me if I saw the same thing that he did. The cougar was probably 4-5 feet long not including it's tail, so it was a smaller cougar. This would make you believe that this size of a cougar was probably one that was born in Minnesota. It's very creepy to know that there is a cougar roaming the same area that I hunt with a bow. I also own land in Remer MN and I have heard from locals and from my neighbors that there is a cougar roaming our area. In August I was driving up there at night, and I believe I saw it crossing the road. It was a much larger one than what I saw in Cannon Falls, and it was probably 6ft long plus the tail. I'm not completely sure what it was, but I got out of the car and there was definetly some cat like prints on the gravel road. So my opinion on this article is that there is definetly cougars in Minnesota and that the DNR will probably be more honest about them once they become as big of a problem as the timber wolves that they have been releasing into the wild in Minnesota.