YORKVILLE - After another reported big-cat sighting in the county, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources officials think they have what they need to identify whatever is or was lurking outside of Union Grove.

The DNR's Marty Johnson, a wildlife biologist for Racine and Kenosha counties, responded earlier this month to a report of tracks and feces. They were found at a residence a mile or two north of Highway 11 about three miles west of Interstate 94.

The tracks were cat-like, Johnson said, but he was not yet sure what kind of animal left them. "At this point we're not sure. Everything is unconfirmed."

Johnson collected scat there and sent it to Montana for genetic analysis. He hopes to have the results by late this week.

Johnson said he had no idea if that sighting was related to a reported big cat sighting in Caledonia late last month, when a woman reported seeing a cougar by a wooded area near her home on Highway 31.

People have reported seeing big cats in Kenosha County, too.

To date, Wisconsin has had only one confirmed cougar sighting in the last 50 years. A cougar was spotted in both Rock and Walworth counties last year as it traveled from South Dakota to Chicago where it was eventually shot and killed.

There is a healthy population of mountain lions - also known as cougars or pumas - in the western United States.

At one time cougars also roamed Wisconsin. The last documented wild cats in this state disappeared during the early 20th century, Johnson said.

While there have been about six reported sightings in this area in recent months, these are the first tracks and scat that local DNR officials have found locally, Johnson said.

"We're not discrediting anything that people have reported to us," he said. "To help us in our identification we need hard facts to make sure that we're accurate in our identification."

Any possible big-cat sighting can be reported to Marty Johnson at (262) 884-2391 or online at http://www.dnr.wi.gov/org/land/wildlife; the Rare Mammal Obversation Reporting Form is under the Related Sites heading.