Missouri's Big Cat Mystery

by Joan McKee

Conditions may be right for mountain lions to return to their former range, but the signs just aren't there . . . or are they?

The 150-pound mountain lion stretches out on the cliff overlooking the valley. Its tan coat with tufts of black on the tip of its tail and ears help it blend into the rocky ledge. Below, three white-tailed deer munch on acorns. Their keen ears alert the does to the slightest noise, but they do not hear the large cat as it silently slips through the trees.

Slowly, the cat creeps forward. Then suddenly, it springs. With a twitch of a muscle, razor-sharp claws emerge from its paws and dig into the deer's back. The lion points its whiskers forward. The sensitive nerve endings of the whiskers help tell the cat where to sink its teeth into the neck of the unsuspecting deer. Strong muscular jaws snap the deer's spinal cord, killing it instantly.

Once the deer is down, the lion uses scissorlike teeth to slice meat away from the bones. Its rough tongue helps the lion strip a bone clean in a few minutes. After eating its fill, the lion carefully covers the remains with leaves and twigs. The deer carcass will provide food for several days.

Where have all the lions gone?

Once many of Missouri's forests were a haven for mountain lions, but that was before European settlers started clearing the land. Fearing for the safety of their livestock, many farmers killed mountain lions whenever they could. According to a territorial law in 1817 and 1818, a scalp of a mountain lion over 6 months old, if taken within 10 miles of a settlement, could be redeemed for a wildcat certificate worth $2.

The settlers also hunted deer, the lion's favorite food. With fewer forests, less food and no laws to protect them, the large cats had nearly vanished from Missouri by 1850. The last reported legal killing of a mountain lion was in 1927. Now Missouri has no more mountain lions, or do we?

Why mountain lions could be back

Conditions have improved for wild mountain lions to live in Missouri. Here's why.

Their favorite food-deer-is plentiful again.
The rocky ridges and forests, where they prefer to live, are still around, especially in the Ozarks.
Listed as endangered in Missouri, lions now are protected.

Why they may not be back

Lions roam large territories, up to 35 miles, and they don't like to be around people. As more people move into the country and build more roads, the sections of unpopulated woods become smaller.
The closest confirmed populations of mountains lions are in Texas and Colorado. Neighboring states do not have populations of mountain lions that could move back into Missouri. If Arkansas has mountain lions, then we would expect them to move into Missouri just as black bears have been doing, but that hasn't been the case with lions. The Arkansas Fish and Game Commission hired expert mountain lion trackers who used trained dogs to comb the state, but they found no evidence of lions.
No one has reported finding a body of a wild mountain lion in Missouri in more than 70 years. Even in states with small numbers of mountain lions, such as Florida with its population of around 50, occasionally one is killed on a highway or a carcass is found in the woods. After all, hunting deer can be dangerous, and lions are sometimes mortally wounded by a deer's large, powerful antlers.

Seeing isn,t always believing

Conservation Department agents and biologists in Missouri investigate many sightings each year, but so far only a few have provided any clues to the big cat mystery.

Because wildlife is usually spotted from a distance, it is often difficult to tell exactly what and how large an animal is. Sometimes Missouri's smaller wild cat, the bobcat, is mistaken for a lion. But the bobcat has a short bobbed tail and is spotted. Other times the mistaken animal is a tan-colored large dog, such as a yellow Labrador retriever or a great Dane.

Some sightings may be escaped pets-not wild cats. More than 50 people have permits to keep captive mountain lions and many others keep them illegally in pens that can't hold a muscular 160-pound pet.

Cat sighting facts

If mountain lions live in Missouri, it most likely would be in the thick woods of the Ozarks. In 1994, a group of four hunters admitted killing a mountain lion in the Mark Twain National Forest in Shannon County. They took a picture of the dead cat and showed it to their friends. But since it is illegal to kill a mountain lion, the hunters got rid of the carcass before biologists could use DNA testing to see if the lion was a native species.

In 1996, Conservation Agent Jerry Elliott videotaped a mountain lion in Reynolds County about 1.5 miles from his home after a neighbor reported a disturbance in a field near his prized horses. Elliott discovered a freshly killed 100-pound deer with large claw marks on the back and belly and some blood on its neck. Later in the light of the moon, he watched a mountain lion return to the carcass and try to move it. When he turned on a spot light, the lion froze, then ran off. Two hours later, Elliott videotaped the hungry lion moving through the woods, trying to get back to its kill. No tracks were found in the rocky, leaf covered soil, and the lion hasn't been seen since.

Because it is unusual to spot these animals that are the masters of stalking, professional trackers rely on physical evidence to count lion populations. Before confirming the presence of mountain lions, wildlife specialists thoroughly investigate the area after a sighting. If mountain lions live nearby, trained trackers will be able to find signs.

On the trail

Tracks are a sure sign, but they are sometimes hard to read-especially if they aren't fresh. To keep them protected from wind and rain, cover the tracks with coffee cans. A permanent mold can be made by pouring plaster of Paris into a fresh track.

Expert trackers look for the following to identify mountain lions:

three lobes at the bottom of the pad. Dogs and coyotes have one indent at the bottom of their pads.
tear-drop shaped toes. Bobcats' and dogs' toes are shaped like an oval.
between 3- and 4.5-inch wide tracks. Bobcat tracks will be much smaller, 1.25 inches wide, which is smaller than the print of a 6-month-old mountain lion kit. You can tell a kit's track from an adult bobcat's because the mother lion's large tracks will be nearby.
no claw marks, except when the lion used them for traction or to suddenly build up speed. Claw marks are usually visible in dog and coyote tracks. Also note: Dogs and coyotes leave blunt, flat claw marks because their claws are worn down. Lion claws are sharp.
clear tracks in a straight line. Usually mountain lions walk instead of run, so they place their feet firmly in the dirt without disturbing it very much. Dogs usually trot in a zigzag path and stir up the dirt as they go.

Lone lions

Unlike African lions, mountain lions are loners, and they like to remain that way. They leave signs that tell other mountain lions to stay away. Trackers also look for these signs of these elusive cats.

Piles of dirt, pine needles or leaves scraped together indicate a mountain lion lives nearby. The lion may urinate or defecate on this scrape station. Also look for claw marks on these piles. Bobcats make scrapes too, but theirs are smaller.
Because a mountain lion will eat one deer over several days, it covers its kill with leaves and sticks to protect it from other animals and returns to it later. The smaller bobcat will do this too, but they usually don't kill large deer. Bobcats prefer smaller game, such as rabbits, but occasionally will kill a fawn or a small deer.
Lions make little noise in the woods. When they do, they often sound like a person whistling or a bird chirping. When they growl, they sound like an overgrown house cat. Kits have a raspy, loud purr. Many people hear shrieks in the night and think they are made by lions, but often these blood-curdling screams are made by barred owls or grey foxes.

Science helps in lion detection

Today scientists can use sophisticated tests to help prove lions are in an area. They can tell if a fresh feces sample was left by a domestic dog, coyote, domestic cat, bobcat or mountain lion. To produce accurate readings, the feces must be dried at room temperature or frozen. If it is frozen, scientists must ship the specimen to the lab on dry ice.

Sometimes farmers suspect that a mountain lion is killing their livestock. Professional trackers usually can tell what animal was responsible because lions leave slash marks on the rear and bite at the head, neck or throat. Dogs, on the other hand, chase their prey and attack wherever they get a hold on the animal, which is most often the hindquarters.

Coyotes, another predator, usually go for the throat, but they will not leave slash marks on the rear of the animal, like a cat. Trackers also look for the distance between the teeth marks left in the animal. Lions' canine teeth are about 2 to 2.25 inches apart, while dogs' are less than 2 inches and coyotes' are 1.5 inches or less.

If none of these physical signs are conclusive, scientists can collect fresh saliva from the carcass with a sterile cotton swab, seal it in a plastic bag and freeze it. Later in a laboratory, a scientist can check the saliva to see what animal was the predator. With these new tests, we have a better chance of proving-or disproving-that lions have returned to Missouri.

What do you do if you see a wild cat?

If these secretive cats are back in our forests, they probably will see you long before you see them. But if you do get close to one, remember that lions don't like to fight. Give them a chance to escape, and they most likely will.

Be sure the lion sees you as a threat and not prey. Lions attack from the rear, so don't turn and run away. Keep facing them, and don't bend down. Stand as tall as possible and raise your hands or jacket above your head to make yourself look bigger. Report new sightings to the Conservation Department if the animal has left behind physical evidence. Maybe you can help solve Missouri's big cat mystery.

What's in a Name?

The largest cat in the United States goes by many names. Its scientific name is Puma concolor. Puma is a Peruvian Indian name for lion and concolor means one color. People throughout the country have given it more colorful names, including: cougar, panther, painter and catamount (cat of the mountain). The Cherokee call it "Klandagi," or lord of the forest. To the Chicksaw Indians, this powerful lion is "Koe-Ihto," which means cat of God.

Which track belongs to the mountain lion?

You are walking in the woods, and you see the following life-sized tracks. Is it a mountain lion or another animal? First read "On the trail" for some clues.

This animal retracts its claws when walking, and sometimes sharpens them on sofas.
This animal's tracks are usually found in a zigzag path. It leaves blunt, flat claw marks in its tracks and likes to be scratched behind the ears. It also can be found fetching balls and sticks. (Tracks may be larger or smaller than show)
This animal has tear-drop shaped toes and retracts its sharp claws when walking.
This animal has oval shaped toes and retracts iit sharp claws when walking.

Answers: 1. domestic house cat, 2. dog, 3. mountain lion, 4. bobcat