Sometimes cryptids are captured.

Credit for video capture (no pun intended) from KSTP-TV.

The recent sightings of a mystery cat in a Willmar, Minnesota neighborhood have resulted in the capture of a mountain lion, yesterday, on the first of February 2006. Surprise, surprise. It is a real animal. It was not a phantom or a figment of people’s imagination.

The female mountain lion, puma, cougar, or whatever American moniker you want to use, officials say, weighs about 80 pounds and is believed to be 12 to 18 months old.

But more importantly, the government line is reflected in the day after media accounts. As television station KSTP reported: "It isn’t known if the animal is a pet or if it roamed into Minnesota from another state. The DNR says the nearest wild cougar population is in the Black Hills of South Dakota."

Yeah, right.