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Post by Marshall on Jan 8, 2024 12:03:28 GMT -5
Close call. She almost stepped on your hat.
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Post by majorminor on Jan 8, 2024 12:23:45 GMT -5
Here's what a big lion track looks like. I can palm a basketball so that's a big glove
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Post by majorminor on Jan 8, 2024 12:27:53 GMT -5
I think lions are cool man. I like these kind of cougars way better than the other ones!
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Post by Village Idiot on Jan 8, 2024 13:45:20 GMT -5
I agree, Steve.
about 20 years ago there was a mountain lion rumored to be roaming around the oxbow/river area across the river from Vinton. Totally believable, as cougars had been spotted moving around Iowa for quite a while. All young males wandering in briefly from west of the Missouri river. I found prints and took a picture, laying a ballpoint pen next to it for scale. The length of the pen was the diameter of the print.
I called a park ranger friend who came over and looked at the pictures, and agreed it was a mountain lion. Not just the size, but the shape of the print, etc, and she suggested I email them to some state-level ranger person to get his thoughts. He emailed back saying there must have been a golden retriever or some other dog running around out there. I didn't respond. Again, the diameter of the prints were the lenght of a ball point pen, and I've never seen a dog with prints that size.
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Dub
Administrator
I'm gettin' so the past is the only thing I can remember.
Posts: 20,311
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Post by Dub on Jan 8, 2024 13:54:48 GMT -5
I agree, Steve. about 20 years ago there was a mountain lion rumored to be roaming around the oxbow/river area across the river from Vinton. Totally believable, as cougars had been spotted moving around Iowa for quite a while. All young males wandering in briefly from west of the Missouri river. I found prints and took a picture, laying a ballpoint pen next to it for scale. The length of the pen was the diameter of the print. I called a park ranger friend who came over and looked at the pictures, and agreed it was a mountain lion. Not just the size, but the shape of the print, etc, and she suggested I email them to some state-level ranger person to get his thoughts. He emailed back saying there must have been a golden retriever or some other dog running around out there. I didn't respond. Again, the diameter of the prints were the lenght of a ball point pen, and I've never seen a dog with prints that size. You are very considerate. I might have responded to the state-level ranger questioning their qualifications. I remember when some a-hole in the Marengo area shot one out of a tree "because he could." He saw it sleeping in a tree. So he went home to get a gun. When he returned, the lion was still asleep in the tree so he killed it. Lions are not protected in Iowa. Neither are people.
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Post by Village Idiot on Jan 8, 2024 14:26:23 GMT -5
I remember that Marengo incident, Dub. It caused quite an uproar, but nothing came out of it.
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Post by epaul on Jan 8, 2024 15:42:14 GMT -5
I hadn't heard anything from the Major for over a month. So, I emailed his wife to see if he was ok. She said she hadn't seen him for weeks, not since he went on a little hike after dinner. All she had to go on was this photo.
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