SPOONER - On Feb. 1, Large Carnivore Specialist Randy Johnson from the Department of Natural Resources teamed up with the Hunt Hill’s Beasts and Beer program at Alley Cats Coffee to share about large cats in Wisconsin. The event was titled, “Cats and Coffee.”
Johnson grew up enjoying the outdoors in Minnesota with hunting, fishing, and trapping. He went to school at South Dakota State University to study engineering but quickly found out that wasn’t his passion. The school had a very good wildlife and fisheries program which he decided to do instead. He graduated in 2017 with a Master of Wildlife Sciences. After starting out in South Dakota as a wildlife biologist, he came to Rhinelander in the summer of 2020 to work with large carnivores. This is a statewide management and policy job related to black bears, wolves and the occasional cougar. He said he enjoys the job because the large carnivores spark interests among the community which makes it enjoyable for him to provide education about the creatures.
While Johnson typically deals with cougars, he also talked about the bobcat and lynx that are also present in Wisconsin. Lynx are present once every few years. Bobcats are smaller with spots, including a white-spot on the back of the ear and a bobtail. Cougars are larger at 7-8 feet long, fully black backs of the ear and have a long tail. There are usually no claw marks on cat tracks because their claws are retractable, and the back has three lobes, versus two for a dog.
Of the wildcats, the bobcat is the most common. They tend to be secretive, solitary, not commonly seen and they eat rabbits and hares, squirrels, small mammals, birds and deer. Forest edges and wetlands are their preferred habitats, but sometimes are found in an urban area, with a territory of 15-25 square miles, and an average weight of 20-30 pounds. Average life span is 3-6 years, with a maximum of 12. From 1867 to 1964 there were bounties on bobcats. Between 1970 and 2013 there were more regulations on harvesting in the northern half of the state. The first regulated season in the southern zone was in 2014.
The Canada lynx are native to Wisconsin but are uncommon. Medium size is 15-35 pounds. They are a protected species in Wisconsin and prefer dense and mature conifer forests and eating snowshoe hare. A main difference from the bobcat is that the tail is very black with no white and the paws are large and furry.
Cougars are generally of one color, native across the western hemisphere, extirpated in a similar way to the bobcats and populations are rebounding eastward since the mid 1900’s. The first verified sighting was in 2008, which means a picture or track was able to be properly identified, likely indicating more. In 2022, there were a little over 20. Johnson said that there has been a large increase in access to technology and the quality of the technology available to capture images of the creatures. The cat’s main diet is white-tailed deer and they are a protected species. Currently there are no reintroduction efforts planned.
Johnson also encourages the public to send documentation of sightings in through the website at dnr.wi.gov. By searching “cougar” you can see maps, further information, as well as links to report.
Darcy Lilla, the program coordinator for Audubon Hunt Hill Sanctuary, shared that the Beasts and Beer program started back in 2016, and had taken a break during COVID, but now meets regularly at various local restaurants to support local businesses and present on different wildlife topics. Information and online registration can be found at hunthill.org/beasts-and-beer/ or you can call 715-635-6543.
