July 26, 2015

"The Milwaukee lion saga continued Sunday morning as the 'lion-like' creature apparently slipped through a police dragnet on the north side."

"Police saw the animal in a ravine near N. 31st and W. Cameron Ave. as late as 7:15 Sunday morning but by 9:30 they said they had searched the entire four-block containment area and had come up empty...."
Herbert Ball said he did see the lion last night while looking outside from his home at 31st Street and W. Cameron Ave. Ball said he saw the animal walking down the hill into the ravine and called the police just after 7 p.m. "It was big," Ball said. "I just saw heavy brown fur and a long tail." He said his neighbor saw the lion sitting beneath a bridge on W. Cameron Ave....

"We are not prepared to be beating the bush for a lion in the dark," [Deputy Inspector Steve Basting] said Saturday night....

Ronnika Bynum, who lives in the area, said she talked to a man near N. 32nd St. He told her he saw two lions. "He said it looked like a mother and baby," Bynum said. She said she's not worried. "I'm excited.," Bynum said. "I love lions. You don't get to see stuff like this in Milwaukee."

32 comments:

Wince said...

After the overnight stakeout, officers began sweeping a ravine along 31st Street at 7 a.m. Sunday. Police said at the time that the lion was still in the contained area.

They should try a different type of stakeout, one involving a large piece of meat.

On Tuesday, a resident of W. Burleigh St. shot and wounded a bulldog the man had mistaken for a lion. The dog will need six to eight weeks to fully recover.

This is like that scene in "Jaws" when they put the reward on the shark.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Deer + bullshit rumors= lion. And anyone named Herbert Ball drinks a lot of cheap liquor in the evenings.

Wince said...

Well, I suppose a bulldog and a lion are easily confused.

James Pawlak said...

I thought I saw a puddy cat, I did! I did!

Scott said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rae said...

When I was a kid there was a scare about the "Michigan Panther". Even at seven years old, when I saw the pictures on TV news of the so called "Panther", I could tell it was nothing more than a black house cat.

And there were rumors about the "Michigan Ostrich", a few years back. The same weekend as Hash Bash.

Quaestor said...

Undoubtedly, some of these reports are bogus, either deliberate fabrications or instance of self-delusion. However, the fact that a big cat was document on video by a witness leads me to conclude that the "Milwaukee" lion is real.

Incidents like this are uncommon, but hardly rare. I remember an incident from several years ago that made national headlines. It seems that two young tigers were reported wandering along a suburban road in North Carolina. Not remembering the dates or other particulars lead me on a Google search. My original search terms were "North Carolina"+tigers, which yielded several hits references a sports team. Did you know there's an Australian rules football club called the North Carolina Tigers? I didn't even know there Australian rules football was a sport. Recalling that the story was about young tigers I added "cubs" to my constraints and got the story. It was documented on a site called bornfree.org, which represents an organization opposed to the ownership of exotic animals as pets. The site includes a database of exotic animal incidents nationwide going back to 1990, and claims to have records of numerous human deaths relating to exotics kept as pets or "roadside attractions," 83 deaths to be exact.

The incident I remembered happened on 8 January 2005. Residents reported the two wandering tiger cubs to local animal control officers, who recovered the animals without injury or property damage. The cats were subsequently taken to an accredited rescue agency. The owner of the tiger cubs never came forward or was otherwise identified. This is typical, even in states where such ownership isn't unlawful. Though they might not fear criminal prosecution they do fear civil litigation. Consequently keepers of big cats rarely report escapes.

The counties that contain Milwaukee and its suburbs have no ordinances forbidding big cats, therefore its likely that there's at least a few lions or other cats held in private captivity. Eventually there will be an escape.

Achilles said...

So it is likely a mountain lion. They wont catch it without dogs. It is kinda funny reading about their lion catching tactics. The average redneck reads this and thinks to himself "What a bunch of retards." If you look at that picture you would assume the reporter was trying to make the police department look stupid. That part worked but I doubt that was the intent.

>> She said she's not worried. "I'm excited.," Bynum said. "I love lions. You don't get to see stuff like this in Milwaukee."

Wow. That whole situation looks like it attracted the dumbest people in the area. At least you hope that they are the dumbest people in the area.

Rae said...

I looked at the pictures. Notably, it's a picture of the screen of a camera, and it's been "enhanced".

It's a tawny colored house cat, likely a large Tom.

Bob Boyd said...

Put a couple guys in zebra suit and run them through the ravine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm4Xj_5bslg

Birches said...

How do you mistake a house cat for a cougar???

Fernandinande said...

white pit bull dog was shot in the paw after apparently having been mistaken for the lion

A dog walks into a olde-west bar and says "I'm a-lookin' for the dirty hombre what shot my paw!"

Quaestor said...

So it is likely a mountain lion

Why do you conclude that? Has an actual witness ID'ed the cat as such? None have to my knowledge. Historically Puma concolor inhabited the whole of North and Central Americas far north as Hudson's Bay. However the mountain lion's current range is west of the Great Plains, except for a small colony in South Florida. Reports of mountain lions east of the Mississippi have all been south of Iowa, and those reports have not been given much credence.

While mountain lions have been increasing, and the number encountered near human habitation are also increasing, the absolute number is still considered by wildlife biologists to be low. However, the number of exotic big cats, such tigers and lions, are increasing more rapidly because big cats in captivity eat very well compared to their wild North American cousins.

Fernandinande said...

EDH said...
Well, I suppose a bulldog and a lion are easily confused.


Norfolk 911 calls for 'baby lion' turn up a coiffed dog (crummy picture of it, tho).

rhhardin said...

Dragnets only catch dragons.

Chuck said...

Better call Saul!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll7GSiad0kof

"Remember this key phrase; "That's not my Tiger!" Tigers are still legal in Texas.

David said...

Birches said...
How do you mistake a house cat for a cougar???


Grandiosity.

MayBee said...

The girl who loves lions sounds like one of those people who end up getting dragged from their vehicle on safari in Africa.

Bob Boyd said...

How do you mistake a house cat for a cougar???

I could see how you could mistake a house wife for a cougar.

Hagar said...

The cellphone video clip I have seen is blurry, but looks like an adult African lion.
They do exist, they do get loose, and the owners are reluctant to admit to harboring dangerous and highly illegal pets.

loudogblog said...

"They should try a different type of stakeout, one involving a large piece of meat."

So you're talking about a "steak-out."

Original Mike said...

"I didn't even know there Australian rules football was a sport."

Aussie Rules football was first played in 1859, predating American football by a decade. It is currently football season Down Under and Fox Sports Channel 2 has one or two games per week broadcast live (typically late night or early AM here in the states. My wife and I look forward to our weekly recording of Footy (though we prefer rugby league, which Fox also broadcasts).

Unknown said...

The DNR in my state, MO, (technically DNR employees acting privately in a cya posture, off the clock and unofficially) reintroduced mountain lions to the Ozarks decades ago. About 15 years back sightings started being reported. The DNR (officially this time) answered all inquiries with the same condescension they might have given UFO sightings. In fact it's believed, though deniability has been carefully guarded, that they knew well the number and range of the lion population here for many years before the secret got out. Eventually the official scoffing was repudiated when road kill specimens were produced.

The Natural Resources department here, and very likely everywhere, is full of True Believers who don't just devalue human welfare but value it negatively. Whenever I see a mountain lion story I remember what they did here. Now we, just like we were no better than Californians, live in proximity to the only carnivore ever to inhabit this continent in modern times that will hunt humans for food. The Rocky Mountains are not enough room for fanatics who view their own species as a blight. Our ancestors had better sense.

Maybe you've got a large house cat in Milwaukee. Maybe an exotic pet got loose. But you've surely got a Department of Natural Resources full of fanatics, like they all are. Maybe a mountain lion wandered in and maybe it had help. But never mind. Only humans are inconvenienced in any case.

Pettifogger said...

"The only carnivore to inhabit this continent in modern times that will hunt humans for food."

Yes, but depending on government policies, that is not necessarily a problem. We have mountain lions in Texas, but they are not protected. If you see one, you are free to shoot it. So they are seldom seen.

Quaestor said...

Tiger incident in Racine.

The Godfather said...

@Fern_etc.: A dog walks into a olde-west bar and says "I'm a-lookin' for the dirty hombre what shot my paw!"

You remind me of the repeated line in The Princess Bride: "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father [paw]. Prepare to die." One of the greatest lines in film-dom.

retired said...

IG's be damned, you'll still vote for her.

Carnifex said...

Quaestor--I have to correct you about mountain lion habitat. My father was a Federal Game Warden for years. He, and seceral other game wardens saw, and identified a female mountain lion and a cub here in Kentucky 20 some years ago. They even took plaster casts of its tracks. Yhe secret word came down that it was not to be touched, unless it was killing a person. And that person better be clawed up pretty damned good. The official word was that no mountain lions existed here in Kentucky. Until 10 years ago, when Fish and Wildlife did admit that yes, mountain lions had established themselves here. As little as last year, pictures were appearing in local papers of lions walking down country roads, crossing fields etc.

Is we have them, you have them. And they can easily exist in a city park.

Æthelflæd said...

"Everybody who seen the leprechaun say heeeyyy!"

The Mobile, Alabama leprechaun.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

We had a Bobcat wander through our yard (in New Hampshire) a couple weeks ago. Not really in the same league as a Mountain Lion.

Unknown said...

Chupacabra. there's no other possible explanation.

SJ said...

@Eustace, @Carnifex,

the DNR in Michigan has long said that there were no Mountain Lion in the State. Echoing Federal Game Wardens, they hold that no such predators have a "permanent nest site" west of the Dakotas.

Yet there are rumors of people who've seen them on trail-cam.

Most of the time, the sightings are dismissed as bobcat (a much smaller creature, with a distinctive "bobbed" tail).

I don't know what to make of it.

But if they've been seen in Kentucky, then I suspect that they also exist in Michigan.