I'd like to dedicate this column about the fierce, wild critters among us to the memory of Irv Clark.
Some of you might recall a column I wrote about Irv six years ago, after I returned from a cattle roundup in Wyoming. Irv, one of several ranchers whose cattle were being gathered that October, loved to tell stories about mountain 
lions, grizzly bears, eagles and other meat-loving members of the animal kingdom that call Wyoming home.
The day I met Irv, he regaled my brother and me with a story about how grizzly bears had been seen not far from our cattle camp, in the foothills of the Big Horn Mountains.
"They found one just over here a piece," he said in his plainspoken western lilt. "Now, how do you figure he got all the way from Cody over them mountains and down here? I tell ya somethin' I heard -- they say them bears take to perfume and deodorant. Can smell it for miles. Hope you're not wearin' any."
Irv, who was a great guy with a heart as big as the Powder River basin, loved to yank my city-guy chain when it came to bloodthirsty creatures. He only let up one morning while I was eating my eggs and bacon. It was 6 a.m. and I've never been a morning person, so I wasn't in much of a mood for gory tales.
"A guy I know said he saw an eagle carry away a lamb," Irv said. "That eagle just swooped down and ..." I didn't let him finish.
"Doggone it Irv," I said. "Could you lay off the wild predator stories? At least until I'm done with my breakfast."
Lost friend
Irv lost a long battle with cancer, which included several trips to Mayo Clinic, here in Rochester, in 2007. He was only 48.
I thought of Irv again this week after reading two stories in the P-B. One was about severe wounds to some horses near Preston that some folks are speculating were inflicted by a cougar. Later in the week, we carried a story about a Lanesboro area man who caught on his trail camera a large cat some believe is a cougar.
These stories come on the heels of an article in our paper late last month about evidence near Frontenac State Park that something big -- perhaps wild pigs -- had been rooting around in the woods, according to a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources wildlife manager.
Landowners in the area reported to the DNR that there had been damage to their property that was much more severe than your average gopher or badger is capable of doing.
As I told Irv, I won't believe any of this until I see it.
Conversation pieces
I realize I might be in the minority, but I don't believe wild cougars are roaming southeastern Minnesota. There have been occasional reports of big cats captured in the state during the last few decades, but they've all been overweight escapees from private game farms or zoos.
There is no need to carry a shotgun, or even pepper spray, while biking or hiking the Root River Trail, although the Irvs of the world would tell you that even that wouldn't keep a ferocious cougar from gobbling up your liver and leaving the rest of you to the coyotes.
Feral pigs at Frontenac? Why hasn't anyone seen these bulldozers on legs?
The "cougar" near Lanesboro? More likely a well-fed bobcat.
The horse wounds? If it were a cougar looking for a meal, wouldn't you think he'd pick just one victim? I've been around horses my whole life, and I've seen some pretty gruesome wounds. Most of them were caused by fences.
We want to believe there are fierce creatures out there, don't we? It gives us something to talk about, especially in Minnesota, where the most vicious mammals among us are house pets their owners can't control.
I know I'm going to get lots of "They are, too, here, you numbskull" mail from readers, but that's all right. I'll know I'm wrong when someone snaps a photo of the Lake Pepin serpent snatching a swimming cougar with a wild pig in its jaws.
Greg Sellnow's true tales appear Tuesdays and Saturdays in the print edition. He invites feedback at (507) 285-7703. Next, he answers a young reader's questions about his job.
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