Looks like you've solved your mystery animal question.
I was wondering if that was a fat tail and not a rear leg in your first photo. That's probably his ear showing in front of the forward skinny tree. Big kitty.
If you are better off than you were 4 years ago....................you are probably an ILLEGAL INVADER.
DNR would definitely be interested in hearing about your cougar/puma/whatever you want to call it sighting - especially that far south in Berrien county.
They are now listed as an endangered species in Michigan and have only been spotted on 76 occasions since 2008.
That number doesn’t necessarily mean there are 76 cougars in Michigan - a single animal may be included in more than one confirmed report and it's more likely there are roughly less than 2 dozen individuals.
As far as I know there has only been one (1) confirmed sighting in the lower peninsula since 2008.
https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/...wer-peninsula/
https://www2.dnr.state.mi.us/ORS/Survey/2
Last edited by MCPO_SOCM_RET; 12-07-2022 at 11:54 AM.
Now that I'm looking at Google images of a cougar, I see the leg shape of the first image really matches up well.
Last edited by SuedePflow; 12-07-2022 at 12:27 PM.
Cougar, mountain lion, puma, all the same thing. And almost 100% what’s in your photos. Southern michigan has had a population for years even though the DNR has denied it. Even here, in 2017, there was a discussion about southern peninsula sightings https://www.migunowners.org/forum/sh...ghlight=Cougar
Anyone think it could be a disproportionate picture of a house cat? That's got me stumped too I'm also very curious to know
When I lived close to traverse city mich. Me and a friend took pictures of tracks in the sand close to a small river , our boss told us to keep it to ourselves because if word got out , a couple of locals with dogs would go after it. We did just that AND we started to carry pistols with us . They are beautiful animals.