We have an answer to the question we posed in June about whether there are any bears in Door County.
The answer is yes.
We came upon the answer while tracking down reports of possible mountain lion sightings in Brown and Door counties.
Jane Wiedenhoeft, DNR endangered mammal database specialist says tracks discovered August 31 near La Salle County Park in Southern Door have been confirmed to be bear tracks.
As for the mountain lion reports, Wiedenhoeft says they're still checking them all out; she says most have come from Brown County. She says one set of tracks found September 5 in Door County -- in the Clay Banks area -- couldn't be confirmed as those of a big cat.
DNR carnivore specialist Adrian Wydeven says although cougars have been confirmed in many counties in Wisconsin there's no residential population in the state. He says those that are here are males on the prowl for females.
Wydeven says if people have observations they should report them to the DNR.
"We're interested in getting that information," says Wydeven. "There's a site on the DNR website where people can report cougar and other observations. We're especially interested in getting pictures of the animals or their tracks or being able to visit the site soon after an observation so we can look to see if there's any hair or scabs or anything like that left behind that we can get DNA from."
More information: http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/wildlifehabitat/cougar.html
