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Maps of Mountain Lion Sightings in Wisconsin

John Severson
Ryan Walker

 

These maps have been derived from data collected by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (A. Wydeven and J. Wiedenhoeft) on rare mammal observation cards (Fig 1) gathered throughout the state.  Each observation was assigned one of three probability ratings: probable, possible, or not likely.  Observations with not likely ratings were removed from the sample.  The criteria for the assignment was arbitrary but was based on sign (tracks, scat, visual sighting, etc.), credibility of the observer, and assessment by the DNR. 

Fig 1.  Rare Mammal Observation Card.  Source: http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/wildlife/harvest/Reports/raremamobserv03.pdf.

Methods

  1. We received the Wisconsin 1994-2003 cougar sightings as an Excel spreadsheet from Adrian Wydeven and Jane Wiedenhoeft of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.  We excluded the not likely data as they were probably not cougar sightings.
     

  2. The legal description was converted to Direction Township Range Section (DTRS) code.  The DTRS is a seven-digit number that begins with the direction from a central meridian that divides the state.  West of the meridian is 2, and East is 4.  This is followed by a series of two-digit numbers for township, range, and section.  If a section was not given, the value of 16 was given because this is near the center of the township.  If only the county was given, the Xtools extension of ArcView, was used to determine the center of the county using the convert shapes to centroids function, which was used for the DTRS data.  One observation for Florence County had a township that did not exist in Wisconsin, so that data point was excluded.  We then had 345 observations. 
     

  3. Weighted values were added to the file in another column using 1 for possible sightings, and 5 for the probable sightings.  The Excel file was then saved as a database file (.dbf).
     

  4. We opened the Wisconsin DTRS polygon shapefile, using ArcView 3.3.  This file was obtained from the Oasis Website maintained by the UWSP College of Natural Resources (http://oasis.uwsp.edu/). 
     

  5. We joined the cougar database file to the DTRS database file.  All the section data from the joined file that did not have cougar data were deleted.  This allowed us to get a polygon file with only the sections with sightings.  However, data from sections with more than one sighting were reduced to one sighting, bringing our total to 333 observations. 
     

  6. Using Xtools convert shapes to centroids, we converted the section polygons to points located at the center of the section.  Point shapefiles were created for every combination of five consecutive years (1994-1998, 1995-1999, etc.), as well as the cumulative data for all 10 years.
     

  7. Neighborhood Statistics was used from the Spatial Analyst extension to analyze all the data.  The output grid extent was set at Same as display.  The grid cell size was set at 500 m.  Grid cell size needed to be less than the minimum distance between two points.  The output grid cell size was left As specified below.  The row and column settings were left as default.  The statistic used was sum.  The neighborhood used was circle.  The radius was set at 10,000 m and the units were set to distance. 
     

  8. The Neighborhood Statistics file was converted to a shapefile. 
     

  9. This shapefile was then converted to a Triangulated Irregular Network by using the create TIN from features function.  The height source was set to Gridcode.  Input as soft clip polygons. Value field is Gridcode.
     

  10. Layouts were created using the Neighborhood Statistics, TIN, and Cougar Sightings data.

 

 Maps

Aggregated Mountain Lion Sighting Occurrence in Wisconsin from 1994-2003

 

ALL Mountain Lion Sightings in Wisconsin from 1994-2003 Accumulated Weighted Mountain Lion Sightings in Wisconsin from 1994-2003

 

 
Accumulated Weighted Mountain Lion Sightings in Wisconsin from 1994-1998   Accumulated Weighted Mountain Lion Sightings in Wisconsin from 1995-1999

 

 
Accumulated Weighted Mountain Lion Sightings in Wisconsin from 1996-2000   Accumulated Weighted Mountain Lion Sightings in Wisconsin from 1997-2001

 

 
Accumulated Weighted Mountain Lion Sightings in Wisconsin from 1998-2002   Accumulated Weighted Mountain Lion Sightings in Wisconsin from 1999-2003