KIRKSVILLE, MO -- What may have started off as a joke is causing a bit of an uproar in Northeast Missouri.
You may have seen this picture in your inbox recently, saying that mountain lions were spotted south of Edina. The Missouri Department of Conservation has been flooded with calls from people concerned about the supposed sighting.
Conservation agents tell KTVO the e-mail is a hoax, and the pictures were taken in South Dakota.
“They've circulated across the Midwest. They've been in Wisconsin, they've been in Minnesota, they've been in Kansas. They're all attached to an email that says “This was taken by my trail camera south of”, and then someone adds whatever town they want to add to it. But it's kind of a big email scam going on right now,” said Conservation Agent Marsha Jones.
Jones says only 10 mountain lions have been documented in Missouri since 1994.