Northland Adventures with Dave Carlson Visits the South Dakota Black Hills to See Cougars Collared 1-23-2010
gengberg January 25th, 2010
This is the email sent to me from Northland Adventures cameraman, Dave Roll. Host Dave Carlson and Roll went to South Dakota to film an episode for Dave’s great TV show that can be seen on WKOW Channel 27 in Madison. Check out the many other stations that the show runs throughout the Midwest. There were DNR personnel there from Wisconsin in case the cougars establish a foot hold here.
Gary,
We followed a team of researchers who were using telemetry to track and re-collar animals that were losing battery power. The new collar pictured isn’t the older VHF model, it’s actually a GPS satellite unit that uploads position 3 times a night and once during the day.
Of the estimated 250 cats in the Black Hills area, around 60 are currently collared. Also, a couple WI DNR biologists were there to learn about the management, trapping and collaring techniques, amongst others, in case an established population of cougars may one day become a reality in our state.
This particular 7 - 8 year old female had eluded them at least twice before so they were delighted to finally catch up to her - especially with our electronic “audience” present.
Dave Roll
