Did a mountain lion visit Monroe County? An Illinois conservation officer investigates

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources is treating the report of a possible mountain lion in Columbia as an “unsubstatiated claim.”

The big cat allegedly was seen May 5 along Gedern Trail in Columbia, but IDNR Conservation Police Officer Don Schachner said no evidence has surfaced to treat this as a credible sighting.

“As far as the possible sighting, it’s one of those things where everybody thinks they’ve seen one, and 99.5% of the time they didn’t and it’s something else,” Schachner said Wednesday afternoon. “Who knows what they saw? I haven’t heard that they have photographs or footprints to take a look at. It’s likely one of those things where they think they saw a mountain lion. We are treating it as an unsubstantiated claim.”

Despite multiple attempts, Schachner has not made contact with the individual who reported the mountain lion. Schachner said he thinks it’s the same individual who reported a mountain lion sighting last September.

“When I tried to contact the individual they never called me back,” said Schachner, who has been with the IDNR more than 22 years. “I’m almost positive the name and number are the same individual. I’ll try calling the same number and see if he’ll talk to me this time around.”

Schachner added, if it was an actual mountain lion, the animal is long gone.

“To be honest, they certainly don’t hang around for any length of time,” he said. “If they saw whatever it was a week ago — if in fact it was one — it would be long gone. They cover ridiculous distances looking for females and if there are not any females there, they do not stick around.

“Again, they are looking for females and territory to call their own. If there are no females around, no matter how good the territory is, they’re not sticking around. They’ll cruise. And by cruise I mean traveling through one county a night.”

The alleged mountain lion sighting elicited memories of last summer’s multiple sightings, first of black bear that was originally spotted in rural Waterloo before trekking east into Clinton County, Franklin County and Washington County.

Then, in August in Madison County, a jogger reported seeing a mountain lion in Bethalto before a “big cat” was spotted in Columbia in September. Claims surfaced of it being a mountain lion, cougar or bobcat, but nothing official was determined in either instance.

Schachner said sightings of these animals likely will become more frequent as time goes on, but doesn’t expect it to become a regular occurrence. Nevertheless, he offered multiple safety tips and do’s and dont’s in these instances.

He cited two scenarios: One of surprise, where a person walks around the corner of their house and spots a bear. In that case, Schachner said people should, “Appear as large as possible. If you have a coat on, unzip it and flare out. Stand your ground. Be loud.”

Scenario No. 2 involves spotting any “unexpected” animal from a distance. In that case, Schachner said, “The best approach, in essence, is to remain quiet, enjoy it from a distance and get pictures if you can. Pictures are marvelous for verification.”

More safety suggestions

He also provided these additional tips, specifically for when encountering bears:

• Don’t leave trash out except on trash day.
• Don’t leave cat feed on the back porch.
• If people have pets, feed them in the garage; don’t leave them out where it attracts raccoons and the “once-in-a-blue moon bear” that’s around.
• Don’t panic.
• Don’t try to shoot it. “They are protected,” Schachner noted.

Do not feed

Not to be forgotten, Schachner said, under no circumstance should people feed the animal. He said a certain percentage of people want to feed wild life, thinking they’re doing the creature a favor when, in fact, it’s just the opposite.

“Feeding them makes them more dependent on people instead of going out to get food naturally in their habitat,” Schachner said. “It can also cause property damage to neighbors. It gets them to associate human beings as a food source. Even raccoons can make a tremendous nuisance of themselves and be dangerous.

“Wild animals are called wild animals for a reason. Even though they may be happy to take a free hand out, they are not cute and cuddly like your pet dog.”

Schachner then offered this final piece of advice if encountering a bear, mountain lion, etc.

“Short of your life being in danger, enjoy it from a distance and try to get a good picture,” Schachner said.