Large mysterious paw prints appear at church

Long Grove, Iowa’s St. Ann’s Parish maintenance manager, Dwight Gittings, was taking out the garbage when he noticed unusually large paw prints tracked through recently planted grass seed. Dwight told KWQC TV 6 News, “I noticed the huge claws, the big pads.” It was so alarming to the worker that he decided to take a plaster cast of one of the prints to preserve the evidence and get a closer look. He said, “The more I looked at it I thought maybe a cougar because there have been spotting, or sightings of cougars in the area.” Dwight called the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) who has not yet been out to the church grounds but explained to Dwight, “That the claws would be retracted if it was a cougar or a mountain lion.” DNR officials say that they get hundreds of reports of cougars and mountain lions every day and they can’t respond to every one right away. Some, including the DNR, think the prints could be credited to a dog but the maintenance manager doesn’t agree and says, “If it is, it’s a big dog.” Dwight will continue investigating the mystery and plans to set up cameras in the area saying, “I'm sure we’ll have parish members concerned for their kids, their kids safety so, we'll see where we go from here.”

More information: KWQC