The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service describes the elusive, solitary, feline known as the Eastern Cougar (Felis concolor couguar) as follows:

Ghost cat. Catamount. Puma. Painter. Panther. Mountain lion. Cougar. The many names given the nation's largest cat convey the mystery surrounding this solitary hunter. But the variety of names also demonstrates the cougar's original distribution across the North American continent and from southern Canada to the tip of South America. ...Although generally presumed extinct in the wild, eastern cougars remain protected by the Endangered Species Act. Eastern cougars historically ranged from Michigan, southern Ontario, eastern Canada and Maine south to South Carolina and west across Tennessee. At one time, they lived in every Eastern state
in a variety of habitats including coastal marshes, mountains and forests.

The GLRC's Bob Allen reports:

Researchers say confirmed evidence of cougars in the Midwest has increased considerably over the last fifteen years, and the number of unconfirmed sightings by the public ranges into the hundreds. But so far, scientists say, the big cats have not settled in the region.

Read or listen to COUGARS PAW THEIR WAY EAST

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Michigan Wildlife Convervancy, Living with Cougars in Michigan
Save The Cougar, The Michigan Cougar Awareness Effort

WOOD-TV Meterologist Bill Steffen posted photos taken by his daughter's friend, a pilot, while flying around a thunderstorm, including one of the trademark "anvil" reaching into the blue skies above.

Take a look at these cool photos on Bill's Blog
Also take a peek at these results of keyword search 'cloud' on the Jolli Lodge Photo Blog

FTR relays a story of Salmon fishing from the Indian Bridge on the Pere Marquette River Tuesday. Apparently a father and son believed the bridge was their fishing spot and that it could not be shared with others. Witness the account in this post as written in the Ludington News. They write, in part:

The sheriff's office said it would add extra patrols in the area in an attempt to prevent future incidents from occurring.

That's a great use of taxpayer dollars, don't you think?

Shupac concludes:

Like they say, the runs of big fish bring out the worst in people and bring the worst people out.

Read Combat Fishing by Find The River

Teen artists, photographers and atheletes are featured in these three Michigan blogs.

deatroit arts writes:

cranbrook grads in pontiac. sounds good. they show up. bring their buddies. make pontiac a little classier.

Matt Callow of The Adventures of a Brit Abroad, will exhibit his student's pinhole workshop results at the Ann Arbor District Library in October. He writes:

I ran a pinhole workshop for teens at the Ann Arbor District Library back in August. They made pinhole cameras from paint cans and cookie tins and then ran around outside taking pictures of each other for a couple of hours. It was lots of fun. Well now it's time for the show!

And finally, Leelanau Sports Guy has yet another honor to talk about for former Leland Comet's volleyball star, Alisha Glass. He writes:

More Honors for Alisha Glass. She was voted Most Valuable Player at this weekend's Penn State Classic Tournament.

Take a look at these student creations and read cranbrook @ mia by detroitarts
Also read The Adventures of a Brit Abroad post Untitled with photos
And check out the pinhole workshop post from August entitled Scaring children and other hobbies...
And read Glass named MVP of Penn State's own tourney by Leelanau Sports Guy's World
Finally, read this archive of Penn State Nittany Lions highlighting more of Alisha's accomplishments

AAIO writes:

We were a little put off this one time when Zingerman's mixed up our order and gave us a sandwich with mayonnaise, but it never occurred to us to call Fox News Detroit and The Washington Post. If only we'd taken our cues from Ann Arbor activist Tess Karwoski, whose lawn was mistakenly sprayed with pesticides, the national news media would have been alerted to this travesty. (And if anyone's an anti-mayonnaise activist, we would qualify.)

Read Anti-Pesticide Activist Alerts National Media by Ann Arbor is Overrated

John Greilick writes about these outtakes:

Possibly in honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, which is Tuesday, September 19th, these Notre Dame Marching Band members dressed up as scoundrels of the high seas to cheer the Irish during their game against Michigan last Saturday.

In 2002, Dave Barry wrote an article that was published in the Miami Herald in which he stated:

As the name suggests, this is a day on which everybody would talk like a pirate. Is that a great idea, or what? There are so many practical benefits that I can't even begin to list them all.

Baur and Summers came up with this idea a few years ago. They were playing racquetball, and, as so often happens, they began talking like pirates. And then it struck them: Why not have a day when EVERYBODY talks like a pirate? They decided that the logical day would be Sept. 19, because that -- as you are no doubt aware -- is Summers' ex-wife's birthday.

See the photos and read We Arrgghhh the Irish! by John Greilick, Detroit News PhotoBlog
Click here to read Arrrrr! Talk like a pirate -- or prepare to be boarded by Dave Barry
The Official International Talk Like a Pirate Day website
Have some fun with the Pirate Name Generator

Mike Wendland writes:

My NBC-TV report this week for the affiliate stations around the country is on Answers.com an online Encylodictionalmanacapia. That turns out to be an accurate term for what the site has become. It's a huge information clearing house, all free, and it is doing a pretty darn good job of becoming the Google of information-on-demand.

Read Answers on demand by PC Mike's E-Journal
View the results of a search on 'Michigan' at Answers.com

michpics writes:

The 420' Badger is the largest car ferry ever to sail Lake Michigan. When I was young, there were people who'd just ride back and forth and play cribbage. At today's rates, I'm guessing the recreational rider may be a thing of the past.

Early Morning in Ludington by Michigan in Pictures
Also look at other Michigan in Pictures photos with tag 'lakemichigan'
View Flickr search results for 'lake michigan ferry'
Cruise on over to Absolute Michigan keyword search 'ferry' (type any word into that top right box: food, hiking, boat, etc.)