A real lion Story from back east

[Machias]

Click on the link for photos of the cat.  http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/79313477.html


Wild Mountain Lion Killed in Iowa County
By Mark Geary, Reporter
By Becky Ogann

Story Created: Dec 15, 2009 at 10:32 AM CST

Story Updated: Dec 16, 2009 at 11:11 AM CST

IOWA COUNTY – Iowa DNR officials are investigating how the wild animal ended up in the Hawkeye state. A hunter killed the lion just outside of Marengo Monday evening.

The agency says it often hears lots of rumors and reports of mountain lions, but most get proven false.

Anyone who ever questioned Dean Kinzenbaw's tales of mountain lions prowling around his backyard must eat crow.

"They got teeth that are just ferocious. Their eyes look like wolf's eyes or a werewolf's eyes. They've got the killer instinct,” Kinzenbaw said.

Locals suspected there was a mountain lion in the area for years, but never had any real proof except for a few unexplained deer carcasses in the woods."

"You tell someone you saw one running across the road or around the pond or chasing a deer, but most people wouldn't believe you,” Kinzenbaw said.

No one doubts Dean anymore.

Ray Goebel shot the four-foot long, 125 pound lion while he was hunting deer on Dean's farm with a group of friends.

"It was just sitting up there in a branch content. There were shots going off all around it. Other people were hunting around it and it never even flinched,” Goebel said.

He's hunted off and on for years, but still considers himself a beginner.

"I've missed a few bucks,” he said.

The beast sports a thirty-inch tail, razor sharp claws and paws bigger that a can of pop.

DNR officials say only three other mountain lions have been shot and killed in Iowa since the agency started keeping statistics decades ago.

"It's very rare to have one. We have debunked a lot of the sightings,” Iowa DNR official Joe Wilkinson said.

Goebel plans to stuff the big cat and put him on display. That way, he'll always have proof if anyone ever has any doubts.

"It's once in a lifetime, by accident. Dumb luck," he said.

The DNR will analyze the stomach contents, tissue and blood of the animal for research purposes. Although mountain lions are rare in Iowa, it is legal to hunt them in this state.

[NWBREW]

That's cool..............That never happens to me. 

[sisu]

DNR in Michigan's Yooperland finally admitted this fall that there is "a" cougar in the U.P.

[jackelope]

i heard for a long time there was "a" cougar back in upstate NY where i grew up too.
 

[quadrafire]

Growing up and hunting in Northern Missouri I saw tracks and there were rumors. There have recently been some trail cam sightings. So this doesn't surprise me. So many deer and likely a lot less work for them than the wide open western states.

[WDFW-SUX]

I herd the was "a" alligator in lake washington.

[WAcoyotehunter]

That's a pretty big cat.  When I was in college there (iowa) farmers were always raising hell with the DNR accusing them of planting cougars and bobcats...hysteria about cats there is unreal!!!

Of course they weren't (re)introduced.  The DNR would make it illegal to kill them if they were!