A trail camera captured a video of a cougar roaming Duane Clausen’s property near County Highway 577 in southern Menominee County about a month ago.

By BETSY BLOOM

Daily News

MENOMINEE — A cougar recently turned up in southern Menominee County, according to the Eagle-Herald newspaper in neighboring Marinette, Wis.

A trail camera on Duane Clausen’s property near Birch Creek Road and County Highway 577 captured a video of the big cat in mid-September, staff writer Erin Noha reported in the Eagle-Herald’s Monday edition.

Clausen posted video of the cougar on his Facebook page, commenting that if his measurements are correct compared with what it passed — a tree stand they’re building for hunting season — the cat’s hips are about 28 to 29 inches high.

Reached at his home Friday, Clausen said it’s the first cougar he’s recorded on his 10-acre property — but not the first he thinks he’s seen in the area. Late last year, he spotted a large cat with a long tail while on his way to church but by the time he turned around it had melted into the woods. He was able to take photos of the pawprints, though, which he said were definitely larger than any housecat.

“It’s pretty exciting to have one,” Clausen said.

(Betsy Bloom/Daily News photo) A male wood duck navigates Six Mile Lake in northern Dickinson County.

But the thought of such a large predator in his neighborhood also has him planning to pack a sidearm, though he knows the chances of any kind of attack are remote. This cougar looked to be well fed and in good shape, so Clausen is confident it wouldn’t be inclined to consider him as prey.

He does have a “healthy concern” about his dogs, though — a Gordon setter, German-Australian shepherd cross and a mini-goldendoodle, none of which likely could match up with a mountain lion. But they already live in an area that has bear, coyotes and wolves, so they know the risks to pets.

“I think it’s a privilege,” Clausen said, “to have (a cougar) on a trail camera.”

This isn’t the first cougar documented in the Upper Peninsula this year. Another trail camera had footage of a cougar May 14 in Luce County. Cody Norton, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ bear, furbearer and small game specialist who previously handled large carnivores, said that was the third sighting in 2023, with the first two coming in Chippewa and Menominee counties. No information was available Friday on whether any others had been reported between Clausen’s cat and the one in Luce County.

Cougars once roamed northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula but were considered extirpated by the early 1900s, with the last legal wild cougar kill recorded in 1906 in Newberry.

But they have regularly turned up again in the region since about 2008, though not in large numbers. It’s thought all of these cats have been young males, wandering from South or North Dakota in search of territory and mates, an action known as “dispersing.” To date, the region does not have a known breeding population of cougars, as no females appear to be making the same movement east, according to the DNR.

Birds have also been on the move

Waterfowl, some of the latest of the seasonal migrants, appear to be turning up in the region as the fall migration progresses.

Friday’s north winds brought ring-necked and wood ducks to Six Mile Lake, where they were feeding and napping among the fading lily pads. They’re the first non-mallard ducks I’ve seen on the lake in roughly a month. I’m hopeful more will touch down within the next week.

As noted with the native geese species, much of what we can see in terms of ducks are spring and fall transients, bound for points beyond. Only mallards, blue-winged teal, wood ducks and hooded mergansers are thought to nest in significant numbers in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula. But migration time can offer the chance of the other dabbling and diving ducks and mergansers touching down for a break. Grebes, too, can turn up at this time of year, though many species will be in the drab winter plumage of dark gray above, pale below, as are loons.

Sparrows and juncos are back in force right now. Robins are flocking and taking advantage of the abundant fruit crop this year. So if not already putting out food, it’s again worth making the effort to lure them in with black oil sunflower and niger seed.

Next week I’ll detail what might be in store for winter finches this coming season.