People = soft & easy Kittie food

pdxkevin · 01-09-2004, 06:02 AM

Mountain Lion Shot After Fatal Attack
Woman Is Also Attacked

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. -- A mountain lion attacked at least one bicyclist in an Orange County wilderness park, critically injuring a woman and possibly killing a man found nearby.

Authorities shot and killed a 2-year-old male cat hours later near where the man's body was found, and were "pretty confident" it was the animal that attacked, said Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the California Fish and Game Department.

...the rest here

Looks like the kitties are starting to figure out just how easy and soft people really are. Once the fear is gone...

I wonder when they will reivaluate hunting methods again?

[ 01-09-2004, 07:03 AM: Message edited by: pdxkevin ]

STGRule · 01-09-2004, 06:30 AM

Reminds me of a Gary Larson cartoon with the polar bear standing over an igloo with the top broken out. "I just love these things. Crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle."

ORoutdoorsman · 01-09-2004, 12:23 PM

PDX, My Remington will put the fear back into them

But in all seriousness, it is very very unfortunate that people are being attacked. And I wish there was another way to show all the people against hunting with dogs(pretty much only people who do not hunt) that it is necessary to control the cougar populations. Unfortunately, we will have a bunch of "programs" introduced by the state that will cost a whole lot of money to try and remove cougars from urban areas instead of killing them ANd then will have to kill them anyways once they return. So millions of dollars will be spent, and more human injuries before they re-instate sensible laws on cougar control through hunting, if they ever do.

nitroduk · 01-09-2004, 12:45 PM

well i guess this will mean that they will bring in two or three more to replace the one they put down.... maybe it would be better to just release 'em in town so they would get used to people quicker! there is no shortage of cats in the northwest, wolves and grizzlies included, reasonable sensible hunting has to be allowed again soon in some areas to control the populations. there is a good reason why animals in some areas have been all but wiped out, they don't play nice with people, as long as people that don't understand anything about animals keep wanting to re-introduce them into areas where they don't belong there will continue to be problems. :depressed:

GutshotApe · 01-09-2004, 12:46 PM

I think cougars are 100% protected in Calif...no sport hunting, no dogs, no nothing.

There was a fatal cougar attack about 10 years ago in Orange County, possibly in those same mountains. A woman jogging along the trail was jumped by a cougar. She apparently fought it off, took off running but the cat jumped her again and eventually killed her. It then dragged her body down off the trail, ate about half of her, and covered the remains with brush & leaves. After others discovered signs of the struggle and followed the tracks to the body, state wildlife officials staked the site out. The next day the cougar returned and was shot...its stomach contained evidence proving it was the one that killed the woman. Then the wildlife agents found the dead cougar had two kittens...and took them into custody. Coincidentally, the dead woman had two children as well.

The upshot of the event, the truely weird "California" aspect, was that over the next few weeks people sent in a lot of money to set up a fund to care for the two orphans...the cougar orphans, not the human orphans.

ORoutdoorsman · 01-09-2004, 12:59 PM

Well gutshot, what would you expect? Harassing and assaulting a spotted owl will get you more jail time then harassing and assaulting a person!

STGRule · 01-09-2004, 01:17 PM

Good Lord, more people die in their bathrooms than are killed by big cats. While its "sensational", its hardy a common threat. I don't see people up in arms about bathroom deaths. Not any way I'd choose to go but then I don't choose to go right now anyway.

ORoutdoorsman · 01-09-2004, 01:22 PM

Its not that it is currently common, its the fact that due to increasing cougar numbers, and boundary expansion, it is a growing problem. And it is likely that it will become a big problem, or atleast bigger than it needs to be.

glassblower · 01-09-2004, 01:40 PM

Foxes, Coyotes, & Wolves are some of the best rodent killers there are (who needs cats anyway) :grin:

Stratocaster · 01-09-2004, 04:03 PM

I agree with STG that its sensational. Its only the fifth or sixth cougar attack fatality in over 100 years in California. In Washington as ive stated before on this board, more cougar are harvested now than when dogs were legal. The reason being is the 6 month season and the spike in cougar tag purchases(deer and elk hunters bycatch, if you will). Its your neighbors dog you need to worry about :grin: Stats

[ 01-09-2004, 05:06 PM: Message edited by: fisherdan ]

2LEYS · 01-09-2004, 04:36 PM

You are misinterpreting the data. Yes the reports are sensationaliaed. But....

The number of cats killed each year is because there are more of them, to kill. There are a lot more people with tags but that is because they lowered the price of the tag. The quota keeps going up and up every year. They are continuealy not reaching their quotas. They have raised it each and every year for the last several. The DFW wants more killed then we are capable of killing.

[ 01-09-2004, 05:37 PM: Message edited by: 2LEYS ]

Stratocaster · 01-09-2004, 04:45 PM

2leys, im just speaking of Washington state, which has a smaller population of cats, than Calif. other than the north eastern part of the state where almost all kills are are done and the nuisances occur. I can say that western Washington does not suffer from a cougar problem. Also, the season for cougar is six months in Washington, which could account for the rise in harvest rather than an explosion in population. Coug

[ 01-09-2004, 05:51 PM: Message edited by: fisherdan ]

Quasimodo the fish killer · 01-09-2004, 04:51 PM

I could be wrong but didnt the reporter on the news say that it had been 18 years since cali had a reported cougar attack? also they said the other dead guy was only a few days old I didnt realize a cat would kill again that soon I thought they gorged untill it spoiled then went a while before they killed again. oh well I guess when your in the woods with critters that can eat ya its bound to happen sooner or later.

.

Paddlefish · 01-09-2004, 11:25 PM

STG,

With all due respect to those killed and injured, and giving serious consideration to the ongoing debates about big cats, hounds, hunting, and so on . . .

Just what IS the difference between water skiing in Florida and speed trolling for alligators? :grin:

(P.S. You're a Sturgeon fan PLUS a Larson fan? You just moved up another notch in my estimation. :smile: )

WildHawg · 01-12-2004, 06:11 PM

There's a big difference between dying in your bathroom and being mauled to death by a cougar.
I won't elaborate, as I suspect if you think about it for awhile, the differences will come to you.
This has been beaten to death before, and I will never change some of your opinions--I'll just say that even the most vehement anti hunter and cougar protectionist would not object to me whacking that cat if it were on top of them, or someone they love.
I truly enjoy the idea of big cats in our woods--without them, a piece of the wilderness experience is lost (unpopular stance, but I feel the same way about wolves).
I do know however, that we do not live in a pristine world, and re-creating one is not an option. Since many of us have set up housekeeping in prime territory for kitties, we have two choices--control their numbers, or move.
Realistically, I don't think the latter is an option.
Reducing their numbers so that there is less pressure on individual cougar territories (100 sq. miles or more for some dominant males) would open niches in prey rich areas, hopefully away from the majority of humans.
Cougar numbers are expanding at a fast pace. There is just not enough territory for an unlimited number of cougars, given man's propensity for population expansion as well.
Cougar's have their place in our ecosystem--just like wolves should, but in areas with a large population base, they must be controlled judiciously.

Sturgeon · 01-12-2004, 07:38 PM

WildHawg,

[img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

StinkyH · 01-12-2004, 08:21 PM

What do people expect when they move into the cougar's back yard.

Just because we think we're at the top of the food chain does not put us there. :grin:

StinkyH

[ 01-12-2004, 09:21 PM: Message edited by: StinkyH ]

Paddlefish · 01-13-2004, 07:04 AM

Wildhawg:

"Judiciously?"

Where do you get off using a reasonable term like that?

Next thing you know, you're gonna say something really radical like "reasonable."

There's no place on the internet for trash talk like that. :grin:

Only problem is deciding what's jucidious or reasonable: Do we draw a line around the "new urban boundary" and kill any kitty which appears, or do we allow all forms of hounds in certain and/or all areas, or do we just call in "tactical nukes ?"

As usual, the devil's in the details, and finding the appropriate middle ground will be the tough part. :whazzup:

TheCamel · 01-15-2004, 09:22 PM

Wasn't there a case of some cougars mauling ducks in Eugene this past fall?

Oh............wrong post

My BAD!

pdxkevin · 01-16-2004, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Cougar's have their place [on] our...

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">dinner plates. :smile:

I believe we need more interaction with the full life cycle and rely less on scavanging (shopping at the store). The cat's are not evil nor bad. Same goes for wolves and bunnies. We just need to rememeber they are on the food chain. Waste not... Eat the true free range foods.