Well, a power loss caused me to lose the post I was typing detailing the recent lions in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Oklahoma. Anyone can read cougarnet.org to get the background behind them and the current situation. The difficulty around making official statements about cats being here can be shown by looking at the one best-known confirmation here in Oklahoma. It was a tagged cat that was born in the Black Hills of S. Dakota and managed to travel here in a few months time looking for its own territory (young male). It was killed by a train in northern Oklahoma after it's location had been recently pinpointed in North Dakota. What are authorities supposed to say to accurately provide information to Oklahomans and Kansans after that. The official statement is that we have occasional ones pass through but no resident ones except some possibly starting to make permanent homes in the far NW. There have been a few confirmation in other parts of the state that were not reported but they were more likely to be from the exotic pet trade than native, wild ones based on the evidence, so the wildlife people do not publicize them. The guy that killed the one in Kansas last year did so illegally, but got in almost no trouble because he cooperated and provided the remains to the wildlife people who were so eager to confirm the first one proven there in many years that they didn't press the issue. In Oklahoma btw you can kill any lion that is posing a danger to you or any livestock you own. It is perfectly legal. In fact, if you call the game warden in my local area to say you have one posing a danger to you or your animals, you will be told to kill it if needed and then call them back after you have. I'm sure there are many sightings in Oklahoma that are accurate and not mistaken identity, but the vast majority are incorrect. This is obvious by the fact that more black ones are reported than any other color, and there is no large black cat that exists anywhere near here except for the ones (not cougars) imported to this country as part of the exotic pet trade. That is absolute FACT. Even these are now heavily regulated so they are almost non-existent. Sorry, I have been out of town and didn't get a chance to read this thread the last few days. No hard feelings from this end. I just want people to know the facts of the situation. There is a big difference between being mistaken and lying. I am mistaken a lot, but I don't lie. Nobody is saying that most people who say they have seen cougars are liars, it is just mistaken identity. The truth should not offend anyone, and eventually when we start seeing evidence of resident populations, I will as happy as anyone. I think it is starting, but I think our population density combined with their needed size of home range will make it almost impossible for them to increase in population very much in most of Oklahoma. After all, between 20% and 30% of all the highly studied cougars in the remote Black Hills area were killed by autos over a three year period. BTW, I killed another pygmy rattlesnake last week!

It is a proximity thing with us too. We have 14.4 acres and the snakes can roam freely on about 12 or 13 of those acres. However, if there are venomous snakes in the yard, the garden, the driveway, the chicken coops and chicken runs, on the patio or near the detached garage, greenhouse and potting shed, those suckers are dead. We have a persistent problem with tons of rattlesnakes, particularly timber rattlers, copperheads and water moccasins, and don't tolerate them in areas occupied frequently by humans and pets. Any snake in our chicken house pretty much gets killed. We used to try to tolerate them but after repeatedly finding black rat snakes devouring even half-grown chickens and guinea keets, we started killing every single one that makes it into the chicken coop. We need the snakes and would be overrun with rodents without them, but we will not tolerate venomous snakes in the part of the property we use. Twice our next door neighbors have had someone on their property (and I mean up near the house, not out in the back 40) bitten by a venomous snake, and I don't want for that to happen here. Non-venomous snakes mostly are tolerated as long as they stay out of the chicken coops and chicken runs, but they'd better stay out of my potting shed. That's one place I won't tolerate any snake.

Jo, any time you catch and release a critter, you can pretty well plan on it coming back. It's fine to be a humanitarian about it, just as long as you know that's what they're going to do. I think that some of them can beat you back to the property, and dumping them where they'll be a problem for someone else is not a very good plan either. I hate to have to shoot things, but there are times when it's really the only thing to do. Dawn, I know what you mean abut every day being an adventure. When I went out to check the tomatoes earlier, I found a small turtle that was feasting on a small fruit I had tossed aside. Not a terrapin. An actual turtle. I just left him alone. One of the more exciting things that happened is that I have a big bank of windows in front of my computer and around to the side, so I get a really good view of most of the pasture. One day during the heavy snow, in the middle of the afternoon, I saw something swoop down and grab a small prey and then fly up to the top of one of the sheds. I figured it was a hawk. Naturally, I got out the big binocs, because I wanted a closer look. Imagine my amazement when he turned his head and looked at me and I realized it was not a hawk at all. It was a huge owl, out hunting in mid-day! As far as those black snakes, we tried the artificial eggs, and I tried jamming the holes full of bird netting, and we shot a bunch of them. I was horrified to learn that they can kill a full-grown hen. My neighbor who raises chickens as a business is the one who told me what the problem was, after I had him come and look at a dead bird. What seemed to finally cut the population way down was when I put out that Snake Stopper powder. I've only done it once, and probably need to renew it pretty soon, but we haven't found a snake in the chickenhouse since then. Not that they can't come in and steal eggs and leave again. I just haven't seen any of them this summer. I scattered the powder when I figured snake season was about to begin, as soon as it really warmed up, and it seems to be working.. Pat

Let me think... Green Treefrog Gray Treefrog Spring Peeper Blanchards Cricket Frog Western Chorus Frog Bullfrog Green frog Bronze Frog Northern Leopard Frog (heard) Southern Leopard Frog American Toad Dwarf American Toad Fowlers Toad Blue Spotted Salamander Tiger Salamander Spotted Salamander Smallmouth Salamander Marbled Salamander Mole Salamander Longtail Salamander Cave Salamander Eastern Zigzag Salamander Southern Redback Salamander Northern Slimy Salamander Western Slimy Salamander Common Snapping Turtle Midland Painted Turtle Southern Painted Turtle Common Map Turtle Red Eared Slider Blanding's Turtle Eastern Collered Lizard Northern Fence Lizard Southern Coal Skink Five Lined Skink Broad-headed Skink Ground Skink Western Worm Snake Midwest Worm Snake Southern Black Racer Northern Ringneck Snake Mississippi Ringneck Snake Prairie Ringneck Snake Black Ratsnake Western Fox Snake Eastern Hognose Snake Speckled Kingsnake Black Kingsnake Yellowbelly Watern Snake Midland Water Snake Northern Water Snake Broad Banded Water Snake Queen Snake Midland Brown Snake Northern Redbelly Snake Eastern Garter Snake Chicago Garter Snake Lined Snake Western Cottonmouth Timber Rattlesnake Scott