Fact check: Were hikers ushered off U.P. mountain by DNR after ‘big cat’ sighting?
MARQUETTE, Mich. (WJMN) — Over the weekend, some outdoor enthusiasts around Marquette became concerned over someone’s warning about a “big cat” sighting on Sugarloaf Mountain, saying they heard DNR officers were telling people to get off the trails.
The talk started with a post in a private Facebook group for women in the Upper Peninsula which read, “fiancé was up at Sugar Loaf today and was told to get off the trails due to people telling the DNR that they saw some sort of big cat. He doesn’t know if it was a bobcat or a mountain lion, but that was interesting to hear.”
A screenshot was then posted into another, public Facebook group for people in the Marquette area, with the caption “wow… heads up.”
Screenshot of Facebook post claiming cougar sighting
People in the comments had varied reactions, expressing anything from dismissal, to concern, to one person’s recounting of a previous encounter with what they believed to be a mountain lion.
Matt Manninen commented, “quite a few years back I hiked to the top of Sugarloaf in the Spring. Lots of snow that year so you could luge slide down, lots of fun. I stayed ’til it was dark out and had a headlamp.”
He said about three-quarters of the way down something with glowing green eyes tracked him all the way down, on his right side. “It charged through trees and kept stealth. I made it down and obviously made it out. But I would 100% guarantee it was a mountain lion. Will never forget that.”
Manninen’s only other post to that Facebook group was made earlier this year on March 9. It is a photo of a dark yard at night, with what looks to be a camera flash brightly illuminating a short, white fence, and dimly showing the shadowy figure of what appears to be a kangaroo.
Likely satirical, his caption read, “with this recent very mild winter we just spotted this in our backyard.”
DNR: Four hoaxes already investigated this year
According to the Department of Natural Resources, conservation officers did not warn hikers to get off Sugarloaf Mountain over the weekend.
Biologists with the DNR have already investigated four reports this year in the Upper Peninsula according to John Pepin, deputy public information officer for the organization.
Pepin told us that all four have proven to be hoaxes, “most often with photos posted to social media of cats from other states said to be from Michigan. Similar hoaxes have been revealed with wolf and moose images posted to social media, which remains a challenging and often unreliable information space.”
This too seems to be a false alarm, with Pepin saying, “maybe someone did see a cat of some kind. However, after contacting our Marquette DNR wildlife biologist and DNR Cougar Team member, as well as supervisory DNR law enforcement officials in the area, I can confirm that these circumstances were not reported to us.”
Pepin said he understands why things like this happen.
“Mountain lions, or cougars, understandably hold a great fascination for the public,” said Pepin. “Reports of cougar attacks from western states sometimes fuel concerns about safety here in Michigan. In some cases, these facts have combined with people’s imaginations to generate false or exaggerated reports of cougar dangers or sightings.”
“In this case, I don’t know who may have spoken to the gentleman involved or what their motivation might have been,” said Pepin.
Pepin said cougars are beautiful, wild, and rarely seen in Michigan. Since 2008 there have been 110 confirmed sightings of mountain lions in the Upper Peninsula. The DNR has a list of photos of some of the sightings, and we reported earlier this year about rare trail cam video of a cougar takin down its prey shot in the Keweenaw Peninsula by a college student.
Despite the ferocity of the specimen in the video, Pepin says no attacks have been reported in recent memory, and they have no evidence of a breeding population. According to the DNR, the specimens we do see are young males travelling out from populations in the Dakotas.
For those who do have immediate concerns about cougar threats, please contact the nearest DNR office. The Marquette office can be reached at 906-228-6561.
People who see cougars, wolves, moose or other wildlife can report their sightings at the DNR Eyes in the Field webpage. For those wanting to see information specifically related to cougars, including the U.P. confirmed reports list, visit the cougar section of their site.
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