Big cats in the Midwest?

Sightings of big cats, including mountain lions and even some black panthers, have increased slightly in recent years. There have been 12 big cat sightings in Kansas alone in the past 9 months. State biologists have periodically confirmed cougars wandering Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri, and Kansas.

So why are these cats moving to the heart of America? This blog will cover a few interesting big cat sightings and the reasons they are traveling.

Black Panther in Missouri?

A Missouri woman captured video of a black panther attacking her house just moments before a deputy shot and killed the animal.

Vicki Sanders, of rural Newton County, Mo, said she had lived for years around wild animals like deer, but she had never seen anything like a black panther come near her house.

Sanders was outside her home one morning when she spotted the panther running towards her. She took off for her house and made it back safely, thanks to her dogs, which slowed down the cat. She then got out a camera and got a video of the panther trying to get through the door.

“We called 911, and I told one dispatcher that there was a black panther in my backyard. And she said, ‘A black panther?’ – like she didn’t believe me. And I said, ‘Yes, madam,’ and I described where I was at. And when the police officer got here, he had the pleasure of watching the cat trying to get into my son’s window in his bedroom,” Sanders said.

A sheriff’s deputy showed up and put the 3-foot, 60-pound cat down with shotgun blasts and handgun fire. Officials said that the cat was declawed, which indicated that it might have been owned as a pet.

Another Panther sighting comes from the Lake of the Ozarks. Douglas McLin said he saw a black panther on his property on January 18th at about 4 pm. The big dark black cat walked across a 10-foot wide lane for ATVs he had cut behind his house. It was “as clear as a blacktop,” McLin said.

Mclin was just working on his lawnmower when he discovered the battery was dead. He then brought his four-wheeler around the house, saw his black dog underneath his truck, and pulled around to the back of the lawnmower. He saw a dark figure move through the trees and eased over to where he could see the cleared travel lane, killed the four-wheeler’s engine, and waited.

“Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted something black. I couldn’t tell what kind of animal it was at first, but I knew it wasn’t my dog,” Mclin said. “I waited to see what it was, and I saw it was a big cat as it crossed the lane. It walked across and never picked its head up or anything. The cat didn’t look at me. I knew it was a panther.”

Panthers in the U.S. usually reside in Florida, Texas, and other states more southeast, according to an article by “The Daily Leader,” so it is very unusual to have two cases of panthers wandering as far north as Missouri.

Mountain Lions in Wichita?

Back in May of 2021, a Wichita woman said she put security cameras around her house to scare off thieves. Little did she know she would catch a cougar strolling through her Riverside backyard.

Cristin Boyle has six cameras watching and rolling on whatever might happen around and near her house. But something caught on camera around 4 a.m. Monday surprised her.

Boyle quickly got on the phone and contacted animal control along with the Kansas Department of Wildlife. She said a game warden confirmed it was, in fact, a mountain lion in the middle of Wichita.

Just eight days after Boyle’s confirmed sighting, another mountain lion was spotted on a ring doorbell one night in southeast Wichita. Wichita homeowner Scott Logan said he usually gets a notification around the same time every night because the neighbor’s cat walks by and sets it off.

“This time, it was a much bigger cat. We have two small children. So my first thought was a good thing it was 11 o’clock at night”, Logan said.

Kansas went 103 years, from 1904 to 2007, without any confirmed sightings of mountain lions. But since then, we have seen 36, including 12 last year and 3 this year, according to KDWPT, who protect and manage Kansas’ natural resources.

Why the increase in Big Cats?

The reason for seeing a population increase in the number of Big cats in the midwest could be one of many. Over the years, humans have fallen in love with expanding west and building more and more homes in wildlife areas such as in the mountains and in wooded areas. Because of this, animals such as deer, moose, rabbits, and even bears have migrated west in search of less populated areas and more open space. Of course, cougars will follow their food, but this doesn’t explain why some have been popping up in areas like Kansas and Missouri.

Mountain lions will kill the yearling males in lightly hunted populations that are near carrying capacity, so this means the youngest must leave or be killed. This is what started the movement of mountain lions to the midwest and is the reason a bunch of midwest states that hadn’t had them for 100 years are starting to get a few.

While it is not technically legal to hunt cougars in Kansas unless they are a threat, Jon, Austin, and Tex-77 really enjoyed eating them on an episode of our Meatgistics Podcast. So, if you can get your hands on some Mountain Lion meat, give it a try!