When you hear about mountain lions or cougars, you normally don't associate them with Western Wisconsin. In the last few years there have been a growing number of sightings in the area, but are these people really seeing cougars?

NewsCenter 13 talked with a local bow hunter Wednesday and he says he and fellow hunters have seen a cougar just south of Eleva in Trempealeau County. While some people may laugh the sightings off, D.N.R. Warden Bill Schwengel is taking them seriously.

In Wisconsin, hunters are always on the look out for dangerous animals like wolves and bears.
But now a new animal is getting their attention.

Chris Hahn, a local bow hunter, says "I would probably worry about it a little bit but I think that cougars and bears are probably more afraid of humans then humans are of them."

Hahn gets out in the woods just about every weekend to hunt and he says he realizes some animals can be dangerous. D.N.R. wardens agree.

Schwengel say "if a cougar is sighted by a hunter, what I guess I would recommend is that they simply go the other way."

Schwengel says cougars used to be native to Wisconsin.

"They were a native animal in the 1800's and they extricated, hunted and they no longer exist in Wisconsin as a native population" says Schwengel.

Despite that, Schwengel says they're still protected and a few of the elusive cats could be roaming around this area.

Schwengel says "for the most part we feel that the sightings that are out there are animals that have been released from captivity. We don’t have any reason to believe that the cougar that may be roaming in Wisconsin are native or have migrated from the western states."

And he says most reports turn out to be large tomcats or bobcats. But the idea of cougars being in the area and the reports of a man recently attacked by a bear in Ladysmith, have some hunters thinking about personal protection like handguns. One local hunter tells NewsCenter 13 that a Trempealeau County farmer is recommending hunters on his land protect themselves by carrying a handgun.

Schwengel says "handguns can be possessed by anyone over the age of 18 as long as they are not concealed."

Schwengel says shooting a cougar or bear is only legal in a case of self defense. He says anyone who sees a cougar should report it to the D.N.R.