Torch Lake Township, like much of the touristed North Country, is obsessed with maintaining Rural Character. I am generally in favor of this, as rural areas are where the food is grown, and we all know how I feel about that. Still, I was surprised when Babs Young told me she had seen a cow in the middle of Torch Lake Drive. By the time she recovered from the surprise the critter was strolling through the underbrush on the other side of the road, but she did manage to get a photo and promised to send it to me. In due course the photo arrived, along with this note: Cow? Bull? Not deer. First he/she was walking on West Torch Lake Drive, then moved to the side and posed for this profile. This was Dec. 10 about 4:45.
Babs, Babs. What that is is a cougar. No bull.
And now, lest I hear from partisans on both sides of the raging controversy, here are some sites you can go to for ammunition. So to speak.
Miss Sadie and the Cowboy are rolling around on the floor guffawing. Miss Puss, on the other hand, is looking thoughtful. She may know something the rest of us do not. She turns her green, green eyes on the Cowboy and glitters at him. Perhaps she is dreaming of the day he will meet a cougar on Neoma Trail. Or at the very least a large cow. Or bull.
Torch Lake Views 
flandrumhill
December 13, 2009
My sister Cookie and her family often visit Cockburn Island at the tip of Manitoulin Island. It’s not far from the Michigan border. She once saw a cougar walk between her and her son while they were out for a walk. It looked right at her and then went on its way. They’re around. They just don’t show themselves too often.
As for cows… I was once a passenger in a car that hit one that was walking with another on the side of a road in an agricultural area. The silly thing just plowed in front. It did considerable damage to the vehicle but the farmer thought the cow was no worse for wear. These creatures are best kept on a leash.
Gerry
December 15, 2009
Someday I must tell you the story of my sister Mary and the goat on a leash.
Jane Louise
December 14, 2009
I think I like this better than the hundreds of deer sightings we see every winter. What a gorgeous piece of beef!
Gerry
December 14, 2009
But, but . . . wouldn’t it be more fun for it to be a cougar? Maybe not.
Babs Young
December 14, 2009
Well at UTLA this evening I heard that this bull cougar belonged to Providence Farm and got loose. They finally had to shoot it, dress it and take it back to the farm for meat. It wandered too far and just would not go home. Weighing about 600 lbs. I was told it was too much to carry alive.
Gerry
December 15, 2009
Now you’ve done it, Babs. We were flying under the radar here in the Township, enjoying our local delicacies in peace. You had to go and alert the DNR to the possibility that we might be butchering 600 pound non-existent but nevertheless protected cougars out of season and without a permit. I expect Grady Service will be here any minute, armed with a warrant. I better go make some coffee.
flandrumhill
December 16, 2009
Wow Babs, that is quite the follow up story. Good grief.
Gerry, the last time I saw a goat on a leash it was in the movie Jurassic Park. I don’t think I’m over the shock yet. I hope your sister’s story doesn’t involve any T-Rexes.
Andrea Romeyn
December 16, 2009
Good grief! I am astonished to read about our poor steer here. I won’t go into all the details, but he left us the first morning of our three day blizzard. Tracks were very hard to find. When we did find tracks, he seemed to be disorientated, walking in circles, poor thing! Ryan and Daugherty tried to entice him with grain and hay. His reserves were spent after a day and a half in the storm, but he would not be tethered. He was a new arrival to our farm, and though he seemed comfortable with April and Snowball, he must’ve thought he was just visiting. He had an easier time travelling on the road it seems, and the sheriff alerted us to the many sightings…and the possible danger he may be to travelers. I am grateful for the beautiful picture. He was a beautiful steer.
Gerry
December 16, 2009
Alas, another perfectly good cougar story debunked. I’m sorry to hear about the misadventures of the poor steer, Andrea. I saw Jane Saul today, and she too commented on what a beautiful photo Babs made. Who can read the mind of another? Perhaps he thought he’d try life as a deer. Or maybe, like all of us at one time or another, he was lost and wanted to find his way home.