(Photo: Wisconsin DNR)
The state Department of Natural Resources has confirmed its first two cougar sightings of 2014.
Agency officials say that trail cameras caught images of a cougar in Lincoln County in July, and in Marinette County on Labor Day. A landowner spotted a cougar image on his trail camera east of Merrill. The Marinette County sighting was near Middle Inlet, and it was reported to the DNR last Tuesday.
Cougars had almost vanished in Wisconsin in 1910, but there have been more of them sighted in recent years. Last year, the DNR got dozens of reports of cougar sightings, but only three were verified. Another eight were confirmed as probable.
The DNR says there is no evidence that cougars are breeding in Wisconsin, and that the big cat pictured is likely a male making his way through the area.