Wisconsin Forums

[AJE]

By Kathryn Bracho of WBAY
Jan 2005

A few weeks ago, Action 2 News reported on suspicions of a cougar in Berlin. Marge Lind believes a cougar attacked and injured two of her horses. A veterinarian who treated the injuries agreed. But officials with the U.S. Department of Agriculture said the injuries weren't typical of what a cougar would cause.

Now the same kind of sighting is reported in nearby Green Lake. A few people say they have seen the animal but so far no one's been able to capture evidence like a paw print or photograph.

It's not every day police get a call there's a cougar in town. Officer Jason Reysen responded, "I said, 'c'mon'. And he said, no, drive around behind the garage and you'll see it, so I hit the spotlight and I just got a glimpse of it."

That was enough for Green Lake police to call in some bear-tracking hounds, but they didn't have any luck sniffing out the cougar.

"That car right there, and that gutter, right in between there was the cougar," witness Dave Terbilcox pointed out. He is one of a few people who say they've seen a cougar in Green Lake.

But the USDAY says it thinks Terbilcox and even Officer Reysen could have seen a deer. The USDA says it needs more than witness accounts before it can investigate, but once it has some physical evidence it will send in hounds that would be more suited to searching for a cougar.

"They want a track or proof-positive besides us seeing it because we never get a good look at it," Reysen said.

Monday a group of kids was playing just a few feet away from where the cougar was spotted. That's why police officers say it's so important that residents find evidence the cougar has actually been here.

Terbilcox's neighbors set up a motion-sensitive camera.

Terbilcox is sure a cougar has been there, he says it tore up his garbage, but he says he'll let the camera do the tough part.

"I'm not gonna get close enough to the thing to take a picture of it."