Are Big Cats Back? On the Track of the Panther

By Jane Greiner
Nature Correspondent

A big cat was seen crossing the fairway on the Dunes Golf Course off highway 72, according to a customer at Cherry Republic this spring. He said that he knew that what he saw was “no ordinary cat.” It was big and brown and “had a very long tail.”
His description tallies with the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mammals which says the Mountain Lion, also known as Cougar, Puma, or Catamount, is yellowish to tawny above, white or buff below, and unspotted. It has a long tail with a black tip. Their body length is 59-108 inches; tails are 21-36 inches, weight 75-275 pounds.
The man’s sighting reminded me of stories we had been hearing of panther sightings near Cranberry Lake in the Adirondacks. On each visit for the last five years we have heard exciting stories of a Panther in the area.
We visit the Adirondacks annually to visit Lyn’s parents at their “camp.” (Camp is regional for what we would call a cottage.) The Adirondack Park is a huge area of northern New York state where everything within the imaginary blue line (park border) will be from now on “Forever Wild.” They take that idea very seriously. There are few roads, few villages, and vast tracts of rough wilderness accessible only on foot or by boat.
Most of the terrain is tree-covered mountains and boulder strewn woods and hills. There are numerous lakes and fast moving rivers and streams. Bears are so common that many hikers wear bear bells when they take to the woods.
That same rough terrain which is good habitat for bears makes excellent panther range. Indeed in the old days there were plenty of panthers in the Adirondacks and all areas east of the Mississippi, including Michigan.
The little town of Cranberry Lake, where the camp is, sits at the northern tip of the 11
square mile Cranberry Lake with 55 miles of shoreline, most of which is state-owned and wild. There seems to be a mountain lion living there.
Several years ago friends reported that one morning a man had found very large cat tracks in the sand in the back of his pickup truck. Something had jumped in, walked across, and jumped out again. He believed it was a panther because no other animal could have left such large cat tracks.
The following year our friends reported that a panther had now been spotted. A New York State Trooper who lived up Columbian Road (a road which ran alongside Cranberry Lake) had seen a large cat cross the road in his headlights as he was leaving for work early one morning. It was crossing the road near a bridge at the inlet to the Oswegatchie River at the foot of Cranberry Lake.
The next year Lyn’s folks reported that a number of cats and dogs had been lost along Columbia Road where their camp is. They were nervous about their toy poodles. This year the big cat had been confirmed. Lyn’s art mentor, Jeannie Reynolds, 77, lifetime resident of Cranberry Lake, told us that a local man had recently seen the big cat in his headlights crossing the road near the river. Art Ploof, 63, real estate salesman of Cranberry Lake and long time resident, had told her the cat was big, had a very long tail, and seemed to be carrying something in its mouth. Ploof was reluctant to tell the story to anyone else for fear of being teased about it.
Reynolds and Ploof decided to go back to where he thought the cat had come from andsee if they could find its tracks. Luckily they were able to find some tracks in the sand and gravel of the riverbank.
Reynolds “took off in her car” searching for some Plaster of Paris to make a cast of the print. She tried several places and finally with unbelievable good luck she found the last box on a shelf in a small hardware store in Star Lake, 8 miles to the west.
Reynolds and Ploof returned to the site and were able to take a cast of the paw print. The cast is rough due to the stone and pebble in the riverbank, but it distinctly shows a round cat-like print, about the size of a woman’s hand. It measured about 5″ from heel pad to toe and there are four toes. The cast appears to match the prints shown in mammal books.
Art Ploof’s wife Jan works in the community center in Cranberry Lake. Reynolds suggested that she might be able to give us more details. She also mentioned another eyewitness who had actually seen the panther, Susan McDonald, who lived up the street.
We were on the track of the cat.
McDonald was not at home but we did find Jan Ploof, Fine County Clerk, in her office.
She was happy to talk to us about her husband’s experience. He had been hesitant to mention it to anyone for fear of being ridiculed because “they say” there are no panthers anymore in the Adirondacks. But she had encouraged him to tell people about it. Otherwise, she said, anybody else that saw one would be just as shy to speak up and the myth that there are no panthers would continue.
Jan Ploof confirmed that Art had seen the panther in his headlights at night as he turned off Route 3 onto Columbian Road. It was coming up onto the shoulder of the road and he thought it was carrying something. He had said it was by the guardrail. “It was very large,” (she emphasized “large”) and “very sleek” with a “longish tail.”
Jan Ploof was willing to credit Art’s story not only because he is her husband, but also because years ago she had seen a panther herself. About 15 years ago she and Art were hunting up at the far end of the lake. (It should be noted that the far end of the lake is untarnished wilderness, accessible only by boat or plane) She said she was sitting there watching the deer go by when she saw a black panther. It was there and gone again so fast she couldn’t believe her eyes. But she “swears it was a panther.”
We were able to catch up with the other eyewitness, Susan McDonald, by phone.
McDonald is also a longtime Cranberry Lake resident who lives with her husband on the west side of town. Her story was important because she saw the panther in broad daylight.
Around June 12, 2001, Susan was riding her bike at 5:15 one afternoon. She was heading east out of the village towards Star Lake. She saw a large black cat cross the road in front of her, about 30 feet away. Sue said the cat must have disturbed some crows because there was a crow chasing it and dive-bombing it. The cat “was so busy looking over its shoulder” at the crow that it seemed not to notice her at all.
“It was quite obvious what it was,” Sue said. “I couldn’t believe my eyes.”
“It was beautiful,” Sue said. It was smaller than she expected. But later she saw a wildlife show on TV which talked about the big cats out west. She learned that mountain lions there run between 50 and 150 pounds. This one, Sue estimated, “was just under 100 pounds.”
It was “much more sleek” than she had expected, and “so graceful.”
“When he moved, it was like a wave,” she said, “He just seemed to glide across the road.” Although she said, “he,” Sue said she really didn’t know if it was a male or female. The cat Sue saw was “totally black” and seemed to be about “two feet tall at the shoulder and about three feet long” of body, “plus the long tail.”
“They say it’s a once in a lifetime experience,” Sue said, “I think I’m lucky. Of course they also say there aren’t any panthers around here anymore,” Sue said that it was not long after her sighting that Jeannie and Art got the footprint.
McDougal said, “despite what ‘they say,'” the panthers are here.” She said hers is not the only sighting. Besides Art’s sighting, Sue mentioned that a big cat walked through the village of Wanakena about five years ago. Wanakena is a small village further up the lake on the edge of the wilderness. It is about seven miles from Cranberry Lake.
A panther had also been seen near the about ten miles south of Cranberry Lake on Tooley Pond Road near Windfall.
After taking photographs of the panther track and the area where it was found, Lyn and I left the Adirondacks excited to know that the big cats really are making a comeback in the Adirondacks and feeling encouraged that sightings in our own Leelanau area could just as well be real.
Although not nearly as large as the Adirondack Park, The Sleeping Bear Lakeshore is similar in some ways to it. It is a region with lots of state and national park around it with thousands of acres of wilderness nearby. We know that some large mammals such as bears, coyotes, deer, and beaver are here. Like the Adirondack residents, the people of the Leelanau area tend to love the wildlife around them. We treasure the undeveloped land and try to protect as much of it as possible from being spoiled by man. It is part o f the reason so many of us choose to live here.
Back in Glen Arbor, I continued to follow the track of the panther. I needed more information on the big cats. The Audubon book said, “The most widely distributed cat in the Americas, the mountain lion is a solitary, strongly territorial hunting species that requires isolated or undisturbed game-rich wilderness; it has therefore declined or become extinct in much of the habitat where it once thrived. Usually silent, it has many kinds of calls, including screams, hisses and growls. It also utters a shrill, piercing whistle, evidently an alarm. The bloodcurdling mating call has been likened to a woman’s scream.”
I was unable to track down the man who saw a big cat at the golf course. But I got several leads on other area eyewitnesses.
Paula Bowmaster, 42, of Cedar, confirmed that they had seen a wild cat. Theirs however, turned out to be a Jaguarundi, a smaller, spotted wild cat native to South America. It was believed to have been brought into the area as a pet.
Paula referred me to Nancy Keilty, 46 also of Cedar. Keilty had indeed had a good look at a mountain lion about eight years ago. Keilty said she and five others were looking at their cattle when someone spotted a mountain lion “bounding across the neighbor’s field.”
Keilty said that her parents had a ranch out west so she had seen mountain lions out there and knows what they look like. They were common enough out there to have a bounty on them in the old days. She said this lion “bounded” through the tall grass with its long tail characteristically “all curled up.” It was more like the color of a deer, she said, “not the Cedar Black Panther that people keep talking about.”
She said she was glad there were so many people with her who also saw the big cat.
There were plenty of witnesses, so she didn’t feel embarrassed to talk about it. “It was
a treat,” she said, to see one.
The Philip Hart Visitor Center referred me to Bill Herd, 55, Park Ranger-Naturalist.
Herd said that for the last ten years people have been coming in with sightings of a mountain lion. He guessed he had heard or seen 75-100 reported sightings in that time. “We get so many reports,” he said, “some people have measured tracks, and folks who seemed knowledgeable of wildlife have seen it.” In his mind there isn’t any doubt there is a mountain lion out there.
Herd said most of the sightings occur near Platt Lake. He himself saw a big cat on two occasions last winter while driving home from work. It was dark and he saw it in his headlights crossing M22 south of the Platte River. He said it was gray and had a long tail. He described it as “long, scrawny, and sinewy.” He said it was definitely not a bobcat because it had a long tail. He said it was “a little bigger than a collie, but skinny and lanky.”
He said there have also been good sightings farther north. A few years ago a cook at Innisfree (now Camp Kohana) watched a big cat for half an hour around 5:30 a.m. one morning. She had seen mountain lions before and thus was certain of what she saw.
Herd confirmed that the range of the big cats is huge. One living near the Platte River could easily range as far north as Port Oneida.
Herd did not offer an opinion as to the color of the cats. His sighting was gray, sort of deer-like, he said. Whether or not a black panther is around is unknown. His reference book described the big cats as beige or gray, often darker on top and lighter below.
Ranger Tom Huntington, also of the Visitor Center, said, “all I know is people have been seeing a large cat and the description fits a cougar.” He said someone saw one at the Platte River picnic area about 8:00 a.m. and described it as “bigger than his golden retriever and with a long tail and tan in color,” which Huntington called “a classic description” of a mountain lion. Huntington said the cat has been seen frequently, especially between Lake Michigan Road and Bookeloo Road.
The ranger referred me to the DNR to find out whether the panthers are protected. Mike Borkovich, DNR Conservation Officer based in Traverse City, told me that the cougars, if they exist, are protected because “there is no hunting season for them so you can’t go out and shoot one.” Borkovich however does not believe that there are any cougars in this area. He said that he “tracks people for a living” and has been on many hunts out west and knows what cougars look like and the signs of their presence such as their tracks, their scat, and their screams. He believes that if any were in our area, someone would have better evidence of it. He said he has tracked down so many mistaken claims that he feels certain the big cats are not making a come back. Mostly he says, it’s a dog, a coyote, or a bobcat that people catch a glimpse of and mistake for a panther.
If you print the stories of sightings, he said, people will panic and they will have another “hundred phone calls to the office a day.” People are scared of wolves, bears and mountain lions, he said, mountain lions most of all. And with some reason. Two women joggers were killed recently in Banff Park (in the Canadian Rockies) by mountain lions, according to Borkovich. Mountain lions do kill deer and are “capable of taking down” a person.
Borkovich said that if people want to see a real cougar, the Traverse City zoo has two on display. A Leelanau resident had them as pets but they became too dangerous for his kids. There is big “alpha male” and a smaller female, he said. The officer sometimes takes deer carcasses in for them as deer is their primary food. A cougar needs about one deer a week, he estimated.
If someone can document a mountain lion, he said, we would be happy to go out and confirm it and manage it. Right now, “since there are no panthers here, we do not manage them.” Furthermore, Borkovich said, if there was one wandering out there, it must be one someone has let go. It would probably be de-clawed, like the two in the zoo.
I took Borkovich’s advice and visited Clinch Park Zoo to see the mountain lions. There is a big female and an even bigger “alpha male.” I watched them for about twenty minutes and took pictures. The female paced silently all over the enclosure, climbing up and down the rocks, never settling down. Her movement, despite a sore front foot, flowed like water in a stream.
The male stayed in a cave most of the time but occasionally came out, paced around, growled and yowled. His growl sounded like a metal brush scraping over Venetian blinds. It was low and ratchety. The yowl, one big “Rowww,” was louder and frightening. At one point he stood on his hind legs and reached up the enclosure. He seemed to be at eye level with me and could reach way up above my head. The mountain lions were impressive animals. It was painful to think that these marvelous creatures are nearly extinct in the eastern United States.
I checked the Internet for information on panthers, particularly regarding the possibility of them making a comeback. In an article called, “Cat of God” Lisa Hutchins says the mountain lion is known by as many as 50 other names including cougar, puma, panther, wild cat, catamount, painter, devil cat, screamer, ghost cat etc. She says the cats ranged all over this country before European settlement. “But the fear the animal inspired, and its occasional predation of livestock, made the mountain lion an early target for extermination in settled areas. Massive habitat destruction and decimation of the deer population also doomed the big cat. By the end of the nineteenth century, the mountain lion was virtually wiped out east of the Mississippi except for a tiny population of Florida subspecies in the Everglades.”
Hutchins says “Today the mountain lion is found only in the western United States and Canada. The eastern species is listed in absentia on the Endangered Species List. The highly endangered Florida panther, with only 50 animals left, is hopelessly inbred and teetering on the brink of extinction.”
In “The Return of the Wild,” by John Jahoda, an article from December 1999 Bridgewater Review, Jahoda says, “There is evidence, much of it unsupported and circumstantial, that suggests that the two animals that were historically the top carnivores in the Northern Forest may be staging a comeback. There are rumors, which have become more frequent and more reliable in recent years, that both the wolf and the mountain lion may be back.” Jahoda believes that the return of the deer population plus changes in logging practices and many farms being abandoned have improved the habitat for moose which are definitely making a comeback, as well as for wolves and mountain lions.
Chris Bolgiano, in “Mountain Lion, An Unnatural History of Pumas and People,” said that the mountain lion is regarded by the Hopis as the “strongest and most fearless animal and the greatest of hunters.” The Navaho’s ceremonial name for it translates to, “Walking Silently among the Rocks.”
In “Panther Pandemonium” by Ron Schaffner, the author listed alleged sightings of big cats in the eastern United States from 1984-1987. These include sightings in Manchester, Michigan (near Detroit) of a black panther. There were also sightings in 1984 near Wixom, Michigan. In one case a man loading a truck saw a large cat roaming through the property, run across a driveway, and make an “easy leap over an eight-foot fence.” On the following night, a Police Sergeant saw a five-foot long cat. Schaffner attempts to reconcile the many sightings with official views. “Wildlife authorities are no different from cryptozoologists ˆ They constantly disagree over theories, origins, and methodology. This is just the case when it comes to trying to explain the “phantom feline” enigma. Not one agency seems to agree on anything, except, perhaps the escaped pet theory.” He says, “Considering all the above mentioned theories still leaves us with some unanswered questions. How come these animals are hardly ever captured? Why do the reports come in waves? Why are there separate incidents in different states over the same time frame? It would seem improbable that there is an on-going conspiracy to release pet panthers in the U.S.”
Combining all the witnesses, accounts, and authorities, it makes sense to me that the big cats are slowly making a comeback where conditions are good for them. At least one panther lives near Cranberry Lake, New York. According to a good daylight sighting, that one appears to be black. And at least one of the traditional tawny lion color seems to live in the Platte Lake area. It is reasonable that they would return as the deer population, their chief food source, grows. Our deer have so few natural predators here that the population would be overwhelming its range were it not kept in check by hunting.
The return of the big cat is exciting news for any wildlife refuge area. It seems to indicate a slowing or reversal of the trend toward extinction of so many of the formerly plentiful wildlife. In “A Walk in the Woods,” a book about hiking the Appalachian trail, the author Bill Bryson noted that so much of the wildlife along the trail is gone now that the “woods are a very silent place.” It was a chilling reminder to me of how badly the environment has been damaged by man.
I hope that our woods here in the Lakeshore National Park will never be silent and that one day we can proudly say that our Park has provided a protected environment in which all of the wild creatures, including the panther, can again live free.
If anyone has seen a panther in this area, write me care of the Glen Arbor Sun or emailme at JJJane@chartermi.net.