Spotted on Trail Cam: Rare Cougar Travels Through Minnesota

A trail camera captured a rare visitor to Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park earlier this week, and a local nonprofit shared the footage to social media. A “big kitty”—a cougar—was traveling through the area and passed by a trail cam operated by the Voyageurs Wolf Project.

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“There just was—and still might be—a big kitty in the Voyageurs area!” the Voyageurs Wolf Project wrote on X. “Footage from 4 days ago (Oct 25) in the Marion/Franklin Lake area. Appears to be a male as the kitty’s ‘family jewels’ seem visible. Most cougars traveling through Minnesota and the Great Lakes region are thought to be young dispersing males. This one appears to be a hunk.”

Cougars occasionally travel through the Minnesota area, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, but they’re a rare sight.

See a cougar walk through Minnesota’s Voyageurs National Park here:

There just was—and still might be—a big kitty in the Voyageurs area! Footage from 4 days ago (Oct 25) in the Marion/Franklin Lake area.

Appears to be a male as the kitty's 'family jewels' seem visible. Most cougars traveling through Minnesota and the Great Lakes region are… pic.twitter.com/5mR0abu7A6

— Voyageurs Wolf Project (@VoyaWolfProject) October 29, 2024