Panther

[the funny farm6]

a few years ago i saw what i still belive to be a wolf. when we contacted the dnr they said first that wolves cant live here cause the winters are too harsh. BS. they said it was a VERY large coyote.

this is what i saw. now you must know we went to where it was standing and i had my daughter stand there for a comparison pic for its size, and it would have had to have been @ 2 1/2-3 ft tall at its back.

we found out over a year later that the dnr turned loose a small pack of "all male" wolves 40 miles north of us 6 months before this sighting.

 

[the funny farm6]

we saw him and a couple neighbors said they thought they saw a wolf also. we have never seen it again.

i belive it was a lone wolf from that pack looking for a female. or possably a wolf mix dog that someone dumped.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

The wild dogs we have locally do have wolf mixed in them. At one time I saw a coyote....it was strange to see that little prance it did crossing the road, but that was years ago. Have no idea if what we have now is part coyote, but people still calling them that. They are too big and have lost their prance. The packs mustn't be too big. Most sightings are lone hunters or maybe 2 together.
I agree that there is something pretty about any cat. I am not really a cat person, but I have to admit that much. Big cats are fascinating to watch and all, but to tell the truth, I don't like the thought of my children being looked at as possible prey.
I think I prefer the idea of the wolves showing up at night over the panther. Less dangerous parts, I think.....providing they aren't in a pack.

 

[Joel_BC]

Big cats are fascinating to watch and all, but to tell the truth, I don't like the thought of my children being looked at as possible prey.

I feel the same way - about that little concentration of stores and houses I described above (where our gas station, cafe and all are). Not that I have any little kids playing or hanging out there, but other families do. The semi-wilderness and wilderness areas in my region are vast, and I like the fact that we have wildlife, including the big omnivores and predators, living in the hills and mountains around here. But when the cougars get close enough that people are seeing them within 15 yards, well that's another thing.

 

[ninny]

the funny farm6 - we must live near each other because I can tell you even more about the wonderful group they released. There has been a ton of sightings near my mom shes just over the river in Illinois. Frist her ponies brake out of their pasture and were running around the house neighing pushing up against the back door. They had never done that before. She made some calls that morning and found out a cougar has been seen a mile passed her house. To get there it had to go through my mom's place. So we are assuming the ponies broke out to get away from it. My good friend had one run out in front of her car scared the snot out of her. A farmer starting losing sheep and goats so he bought two lamas thinking it was dogs. Lama got killed. Next day a neighbor SAW a lion eating the last lama. The lion wiped this farmer out. So next week mom has a a DNR chopper hovering over house. We are assuming they were trying to track the lion before it killed more stock.

My mom swears she heard a wolf one night. So I would like to hear more of what you know about the wolves. Also a friend thinks she saw a black bear. I'm not sure why they are thinking a river will stop them.

 

[CheerioLounge]

FF6 - I have seen a lot of coyotes in my area and the animal in that picture is definitely a wolf! Coyotes are all ears!! I have seen them come to within 10 ft of my chicken coops. I don't know if they have been any closer when I haven't seen them... Every night we hear their yips and howls and have seen groups as large as 10 wandering through the back of the property.

We also have large cats in the very rocky hills and mountains surrounding our basin. Mountain lions are very rarely seen; but believe me, they are there! We also have bobcats that come down now and then. I personally have not seen a large cat around here, but a friend closer to the base of the mountains has.

 

[the funny farm6]

ninny- we are close! i am down between keokuk and montrose. all i real know is that they released a small pack of wolves up at the army amunition plant property up by burlington. i also heard conflicting reports that they were either all males or all fixed, but that is what people were told about the mt lions after they were being seen too much on game cams- that dnr released NUTERED MALE lions so they could bring down the deer population. (untill and amish farmer shot a LACTATING female- nutered my butt!!!!) but i also know that a lot of the fencing is not the best in spots up there, so how are they keeping them in?? and someone leaked out that info, so how many other packs have they turned loose that we dont know about? i dont live far from shimic forest- a LARGE state forest. but i belive what i saw was a lone male. it was just 1. i swear i heard it howl the next morning, and a neighbor thought he heard a wolf howl as well that day. and another funny thing- for about 3 days before and 5 days after there was NO sign of the coyotes that are normaly across the road every night. i heard that coyotes want stay close to where there is a wolf.

the oddest things yet:
1) we were told by our dnr officer when we showed him the pics that a wolf cant survive our winters.??? WHAT? they live in canada and alaska for goodness sake!
2) he got a bit upset when i refused to leave the pictures.
3) when he said it was a large coyote,this is how the conversation went:
my dh asked "ok, it is open season on coyote right?"
he said "yes"
dh said "so i can shoot THAT coyote"
dnr-"well, you can shoot a coyote yes"
dh "i can shoot THAT coyote" and so on but never did the words come out of his mouth that we could shoot THAT coyote.

ninny- what have you heard about the wolves?
we are thinking they might have released some feral pigs also, there were 2 hit on the highway just north of us. and while they have been coming north, there havent been any seen this far north. also there have been a lot of bear sightings in the north east mo area lately just above st louis.

and the mo and il dnr was getting upset about hunters killing deer that had been taged in the other states, and acused the hunters of out of state poching. they finaly video taped several deer crossing a bridge from il to mo! not to mention i have seen them pretty far out on the ice on the river before!!
dnr are stupid.

 

[IW]

I uploaded this photo of our wolves for others to compare to the coyote. The darker colored one is 50/50 with German Shepherd.

 

[the funny farm6]

yah, we have coyotes here. they are long legged, big eared, skinny-gangley things. this was big, stocky, and dark. there are some veriances in color among our coyotes, but this was dark, very dark. and i dont think i have hardly ever seen a lone coyote.

 

[so lucky]

Funnyfarm, perhaps some hunters who hunt feral hogs down south released some up your way, hoping they would reproduce and create some fun hunting. Since feral hogs are such a destructive nuisance in the south, it is hard to believe that the DNR or dept of conservation would release some in a new area. Talk about irresponsible! (But maybe not unlikely)
We are having numerous sightings of cougar and bears in SE Missouri now. At least the Dept of Conservation acknowledges that bears and cougars exist here. No wolves that I have heard about.