by Janet Hansen

Last week’s article, about a possible mountain lion sighting in Lisbon’s Bohlken Addition and the mysterious stripping of bark on a tree in the back yard of a Forest Street residence, resulted in reports of other mountain lion sightings in the area. 

Bess Nelson, who lives in one of the Sunset Village II Apartments, north of the Hovland Veterinary Clinic at the west edge of Lisbon, reported that she has seen a mountain lion in the alfalfa field just to the west of her apartment on three different occasions. 

Nelson keeps a diary, so was able to provide the Gazette with the exact dates on which the sightings occurred. The first time was just over a year ago. On August 24, 2007, Nelson, who lives in the southernmost unit in the apartment complex, happened to be looking out her apartment window at the tree line which runs east and west just to the south of her apartment. Just to the north of the line of trees were some large hay bales. Nelson states that she often looks out her window at the field, since it is not uncommon to see rabbits or pheasants there and she enjoys watching them. On that particular day, she noticed what appeared to be a large animal on top of the bales. As she watched, the animal jumped off the bale and began to run through the field, as if it were playing or chasing something. Nelson called Mary Stahlecker, who lives a couple of doors down in the same apartment complex and Mary watched the animal too. The animal eventually ran off to the west along the tree line and into the bushes to the west.

Stahlecker explains that after jumping gracefully off the big bale, the big cat lumbered off to the west at an easy gait. She commented that it did not appear to be nervous or frightened. 

“It was broad daylight and I could see that it was a large mountain lion,” said Nelson. “I was so entranced by the sight that I didn’t even think of getting my camera. After it disappeared from sight, I called the police, but I don’t know whether or not they investigated the situation. I didn’t see them nor hear from them following my call. I was told that the animal would be long gone by the time they could get up to that area of town and they were probably right.”

Lisbon Chief of Police Jeanette Persons states that she responded to the call by checking out the area in which the animal was reportedly seen. She states that she found nothing but does not discount the fact that the animal could have been there and run away before she was able to get up there. She adds that it would be very unusual for a mountain lion to be that close to a populated area since they are by nature shy animals which try to avoid human contact.  

Nelson states that just over six weeks later, on October 8, 2007 she noticed a smaller mountain lion running through the alfalfa field near the tree line. Its head bounced up over the alfalfa as it ran, but it soon disappeared from sight. Stahlecker comments that she did not see the animal that time because she was not at home at the time.

Stahlecker explains that she used to go for walks in that alfalfa field, but after the mountain lion sightings decided that was probably not a wise thing to do. She began going to the area near the fairgrounds across the highway instead. One day something was going on at the fairgrounds so she walked down to an area farther to the west between the fairgrounds and the track. “It had rained a couple days before that,” she explained. “I noticed a paw print in a muddy area. It looked too big to be either a cat or a dog, but it probably could have been a very large dog. There was just one print. Although I couldn’t tell what had made it, I thought of the big cat and wondered what I was doing walking out there.”

When Nelson heard about Deb Bergstrom seeing what she thought was a mountain lion in her back yard on Sunday, August 24, 2008 she wondered if it was one of the animals she had seen. She wondered if she would ever see them again.

Just over two weeks later, on September 9, 2008, Nelson looked out her window, as she does even more often since she has seen the big cats. She noticed something of a reddish tan color laying in the green alfalfa field. At first she thought it was a paper bag, but, upon taking a closer look she saw a head bobbing back and forth. She again called Stahlecker, who watched the animal with her. “It lay in the field for a long time,” said Nelson. “I told Mary that it was so close that I could go outside on the patio and throw a rock at it, but she didn’t think that was a good idea.”

The ladies noticed Vernon Rufsvold coming home and invited him to come and watch as well. He went home to get his camera. By that time the cat got up and ran off to the south. They said it appeared to be a lot smaller than the mountain lion they’d seen the first time, but it was still considerably bigger than a domestic cat. “It had a long body,” commented Nelson.

Rufsvold explained that he followed the cat to the south, hoping to get a good picture of it. He didn’t see it at first, so he walked down to a path through an opening between the line of trees and the bushes and pasture to the west. After following the path to the south beyond the line of trees he looked off to the east where a few large hay bales lay close to the tree line. He caught a glimpse of the animal which he believed to be a young mountain lion, lying in the field between two bales on the south side of the tree line, but by the time he circled around to get a better view for a picture, the animal was gone. He believes it took cover in the bushes to the west, but, armed only with a camera, he did not think it wise to investigate further.

“It’s interesting living out here at the edge of town,” said Nelson. “One never knows what you may see.” She adds that, two nights after her last mountain lion sighting, she was awakened by a loud screeching noise which sounded kind of like a tom cat, yet more eerie. She does not know what a mountain lion sounds like, but thought that is what it might have been. “I had my window open,” she added. “It is common to hear coyotes during the night, but this was different. I heard it twice that night and then never heard it again.” 

Deane Sampsell, who lives at the west end of Third Avenue, right next to the same alfalfa field, does not often see anything larger than a rabbit or gopher in the field, but did find the remains of a rabbit next to his property a while back. “All that was left,” his wife explained, “was a foot and some fur. That seemed kind of odd, but who knows what might have happened to it.”

Arnie Amundson, who lives on the northwest corner of town, with the river and a wooded area in his backyard says it is not uncommon to see wild turkeys, pheasants, deer, raccoons, or skunks roaming around behind his home. He recalls that on Monday morning, August 25, he was sitting in his recliner reading the paper when he glanced out the window and noticed a neighborhood house cat out on the prowl, heading toward the wooded area near the river. A short time later he noticed a frightened deer running out of the trees as if it was being chased. Amundson stated that he thought, “Wow – that little cat must have a real attitude!” He goes on to explain that the next day he heard that one of his neighbors had seen  a “big cat,” in her yard the evening before and, he said, he began to suspect he “was giving credit to the wrong cat.” 

Angie Qual, rural Lisbon, reports that she and her daughter saw what they believe to have been a mountain lion along a creek bed behind their farm. The sighting was on the opening day of deer season last fall, which would have been November 9. “Amanda, our daughter was looking through the window above our kitchen sink when she noticed something moving down by the creek bed about a quarter mile from our house,” said Angie. “She called me over to look and I said it was probably just a dog. She said she didn’t think so, because it did not appear to be moving like a dog. She got out some binoculars and got a better look. It appeared to be a large cat, like a mountain lion, with a long body and a long tail. It appeared to be a dark color. It moved along the creek bank and then disappeared into some tall weeds. We never saw it again. We thought it was unusual for it to be out moving around during the day, but thought it might have been flushed out by deer hunters.” The Qual farm is located seven miles south and one and a half miles east of Lisbon, just south of the Dead Colt Creek Recreation Area.

  North Dakota Game and Fish officials explain that mountain lions generally prefer a habitat such as that in the badlands in the western part of the state. However, they may travel, especially following rivers. 

They are solitary animals, generally traveling alone. Male lions may have territories ranging in size from 50 to more than 300 square miles. Female lions are not territorial, but generally avoid other females. Female lions tend to stay close to where they were born, so it is generally young males which are apt to wander long distances.

Mountain lions generally avoid people, so it is unusual to see one so close to town. However, Police Chief Persons states that if anyone should happen to see a mountain lion, they are advised to record and report the sighting to area law enforcement and take a picture if they can do so from the safety of their home. They are definitely not to go near the animal to try to take a picture or for any other reason. Mountain lions are wild animals and, even though they generally avoid people, they may attack if provoked.  

North Dakota State Game and Fish officers welcome reports of sightings as well. The state Game and Fish Headquarters Office may be reached at (701) 328-6300.

Mountain lion tracks are 3 to 5 inches wide and generally are wider than they are long. The rear heel pad has three lobes, creating an M-shaped heel pad. Lion tracks are often confused with tracks of large dogs, although dog tracks are generally longer than they are wide and rear heel pads have only two lobes. Anyone suspecting that they have seen a mountain lion track should take a picture of the track and cover it with a can or something else to protect it until it can be investigated by experts.

The Ransom County Gazette and the Lisbon Police Department both have a few brochures available on “Mountain Lions in North Dakota.” The brochures, which are put out by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, are also available on the web, at www.gf.nd.gov.multimedia/pubs/mtn-lion-bro.html.

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)