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Some other links of recent interest to Pasty Cam watchers:
• Ancestors 2007   • New Arrivals 2007
• Visit the Hut Inn Eight years ago on the Pasty Cam: 08/21/99 ^{Printed on Recycled Internet}

Eight years ago we featured a mini-tour of the Still Waters Garden on the Pasty Cam. The flowers are still beautiful today, though un-tended at the present time.

Good morning! Looks like they're having fun!

Good Morning, Everyone, from mid-Michigan, where we finally got a decent amount of rain yesterday (something over 1 inch), which we really needed. Now that we got a good rain, we have a good chance of rain in the forecast everyday through Saturday, though.

Rain makes it tough for the high school band to teach the freshmen how to march and play their instruments at the same time, and then for the band to learn new drills during their all day & evening rehearsals everyday. Oh well, I guess they will have to march without instruments and get wet when it rains. :-) Ah, the wonders of the approaching high school football season and the return to school. The weird thing is that they have 2 football games before school starts!

Top 'o the morning to ya. It would be nice if some volunteers would be able to attend those lovely gardens. Nice project for a small group maybe some retirees? Or a church group? Hope you folks finally get some of this rain we're having all week.Will try to pass it on :>)

Laivoja laivoja;

http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/HollandAmericaLinePCs.html

Rightwinger (on the CamNotes side) said, "The DNR said cougars aren't around there...and don't shoot them."

Ok, that statement does not even make sense! If cougars aren't around there, why on earth would they tell him not to shoot them? What difference does it make? Why would they care? And what does the state want--people to end up getting mauled and killed by cougars, like happens occasionally in southern California? If your life is threatened, you should be able to protect yourself.

I understand that there have been cougars spotted around in northern Lower Michigan, too, from what I've heard. What planet are these DNR people from? It kind of reminds me of the state's claiming that there is no Lyme Disease here in Michigan, yet I know people who have had Lyme Disease. Is this the Emperor's New Clothes, where if the state claims it doesn't happen, then it doesn't happen, by definition?

Marianne: The reason so I have read that the DNR doesn't want to admit that there are Cougars in the state is if they admit that they are there then they would have to be responsible for them. They would have to set rgulations etc. etc. and they don't either have the money to do it or don't want to spend the money .

At our Camp in the Keweenaw when you hear that cougar snarl, there is NO Doubt what is between you and the path to the little room. When the bear is near you can Smell him!

Marianne, Marianne, Marianne, what the DNR really said was, "cougers aren't around there, (wink, wink) and don't shoot them".........

I almost hit a cougar near Wakefield last October...

If Michigan had to start "managing their land" for cougars, it probably would mean closing large areas for other forms of recreation??? Which would complicate our tourist industry and the recreation of those of us that live here. It seems as though the cougars are managing their lives very well with out any help. People see them just often enough to know that they are here and not often enough for them to become a problem. I hope it stays that way.

Good afternoon all! Marianne, your son should be happy its not snow, next month it could be while they are out there marching. That was not fun when I was in the marching band, made for a cold friday night.

Guess I'm not the early bird today! (Smirk).

Cougar's, Panther's, Bobcat's, I met a DNR officer in the woods last Nov. said he has sightings of all of them!

Are there two new very bright streetlights on BridgeCam? The view doesn't seem quite the same.

We have the rare black bear and black panther here is Hillsdale County. There was a cougar that killed a horse in Jackson County last summer. So you do not have to be in the north(an everything is north of Hillsdale County) to see Bears Cougars, Panthers, Coytoes, Bald Eagles,Foxes and Way too many deer, but no moose. The DNR planted Coytoes to try and control the large deer herds but now we have a coytoe problem and have fewer pheasants and rabbits because of the coytoes.
So every where you go in our lovely state you can see wildlife of many kinds.

Just as Lowell & Donagain say, plus what I've heard from a well know MI outdoors columnist is that Cougars are, (or would be in MI) on the federal endangered list so where ever they are found would have to be a protected area, so less area for deer hunters! If someone is to shoot one the possibility of a definite ID sighting is laying right there! People do have cameras!
My son-in-laws family have a place in Alcona county, neighbors have seen Cougars sometimes 2 at a time! He has seen tracks often!
There are numerous reports even down here in SE MI of them! One a police officer had a video from his dash cam and it was blown off as a "large house cat"!!
Hey 30 miles from the Detroit metro area here now (St. Clair county) we have back again Wild Turkeys, Pileated Woodpeckers, Beavers, Coyotes, A bear (in the thumb) & Bobcat now & then,-- so why not a Cougar? What's the difference if some are escaped pets, they will interbreed with wild stock anyway!

We have definite sightings of bears in Midland County, as evidenced by several vehicle-bear accidents in the last few years. When you have a dead or injured bear, it's tough to refute that. Sheriff deputies are involved in those, in addition. At least once, the deputy had to shoot one who was badly injured & out of control. I guess I should mention that people who live or have cottages on Sanford Lake have had bear problems, with things like bird feeders, garbage cans, etc.

Seeing wild turkeys makes me smile. Gee, those are dumb birds. If you are driving by the river, little herds of them (ok, a mama & her babies) will all of a sudden decide to cross the road in front of you. So then, you have to stop, which stops the traffic behind you, and some of those behind you get impatient because they don't understand why the hey you are stopping, holding them up, and then they get mad at you... So it becomes, "Why did the wild turkeys cross the road?". :-)

Uncle Chuck, I thought that cougars, panthers, and bobcats were one and the same animal? Not so?

cougar and panther are the same animal a bobcat is smaller with a stub tail and yes they are out there also

What Steve says is correct. Some though define the black form of the Cougar as Panther. Add to this there are unconfirmed reports of Canada Lynx in the eastern UP. A Lynx is between a Bobcat and a Cougar sizewise, but resembles a Bobcat!

Can't forget in the past few years Great Grey Owls, North Americas biggest Owl have now been confirmed breeding/nesting with young in the Eastern UP! Heretofore only nested way up in Canada, the Rocky Mtns. and NE Minnesotas arrowhead!

Also I forgot down here in SE MI, Bald Eagles, Osprey, and Sandhill Cranes have become quite common! Add to this Wood Ducks have been for some time. For various reasons though Ruffed Grouse are declining in the Lower Peninsula. Sharp-tailed and Spruce Grouse are now only found very seldom in the LP whereas years ago quite common :(

Thank you, Radsrh and Russemmons.

PS If cougar/panthers are so common, which I believe they are, why would they be listed on the endangered species list?

And I'm very glad that they have apparently not attacked people here in Michigan, like they have in southern California.

Marianne: No way are Cougars common or abundant in MI. Therefore why they would be endangered.
The question & issue among people and organizations is if they are really here at all. The many sightings and reports I say speak for themselves. I thought we heard one snarl once way back in a remote area of the NLP while doing bird surveys! Creepy-- made the hair on the back of my neck stand up! So I am and always was a believer!
Cougars are listed as endangered or threatened in many parts of the lower 48. In settlement times they ranged the whole continent coast to coast. They, like many other species are "taking back" much of their original habitat!

My Uncle who lives in Woodside (RCW knows who I mean) recently told me of one the neighbors saw come down the hill near Gooseneck Creek, ran across Woodside down to M26, crossed it and disappeared quickly behind Dollar Bay somewhere!