OZ/WASH

Call it the Memorial Day mountain lion in Mequon

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Mequon resident reported spotting a mountain lion Monday evening near his property in the 600 block of W. Bonniwell Road.

The National Park Service, using a remote camera, captured this image of a female mountain lion in February 2015 in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area near the Los Angeles and Ventura county line.

Soon afterward, Ald. Mark Gierl sent out an email to around 6,500 residents advising them to be cautious when walking near the area.

"I know mountain lions have a very large territory, 50 square miles or so, so if you see them one time you might not see them again," Gierl said.

There have been other reports of mountain lions — also known as cougars — in southeastern Wisconsin.

On Tuesday morning, Mequon police said there have been no other reports of sightings in the community. The Department of Natural Resources also said Tuesday that the department has not received a recent confirmed report of a mountain lion in the state.

According to the DNR, genetic testing of blood and other evidence has shown at least six individual male cougars have been in Wisconsin since 2008. Biologists with the agency say they believe that cougars traveling in the state are dispersing from the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Currently, the only wild cat known to breed in Wisconsin is the bobcat.

On Monday night, Dennis Bersch said he had driven an electric golf cart to visit a friend living in the forest along railroad tracks near Interstate 43. When he drove home around 6 p.m., his cart hit a patch of gravel, which startled an animal about 30 to 40 feet away.

Bersch said the creature was a mountain lion that weighed 55 to 60 pounds.

"It was facing away from me when all of a sudden it leaped up and looked back at me," he said. "But it ran in the other direction."

Bersch called the Mequon Police Department, which sent two officers to the scene. Bersch said the mountain lion didn't leave behind paw prints, but police could see where a creature had traveled through the wet grass.

"I know people are going to laugh, but to me, it's a helluva lot more important to report it," Bersch said. "I'd feel bad if somebody got hurt and I didn't say anything."