Actually I do get it.
In your original post you said "the greenies" voted to do away with hunting cougars with dogs.
Ok
The majority of voters,used their voice,and did away with the practice.
Did it increase the risk to country dwellers?
Don't know,havent looked at the facts yet,have fatal cougar attacks increased?,how long has the ban been in place?
We dont get much cougar activitie here because cougars stay away from populated areas.
I do believe the last fatal attack occured about twenty five miles from here,in Auburn. I guess if it were me,I would take precautions,and move the bus stop.

..but then you would plunge in..? :D

Cougars have no natural fear of humans, so if they are not pursued, there is little to deter them from attacking people. They like to strike from behind, and they go for the neck of the victim, who is usually alone.

Eating your kids is what they were made for, and they don't know any different if they are not shown.

Occasionally we have a similar situation with solitary wolves wandering around taking livestock. Families with children, in those areas, tend to be a little cautious. Of course there have not been any reported attacks of humans for the last 200 years or so, but still..

Sh.t, I walked from my house to my car alone this morning with my neck exposed,good thing I staked my 7 yo out in the back yard before I left. greenfontsmileywavebyebye

:rolleyes:

I find it hard to believe that an apex predator like that could become overpopulated. The animals at the top of the food chain almost always have slow breeding cycles or high rates of mortality in the young.

I would counter that the definition of overpopulation is flawed/biased. People are moving into territory that has for hundreds of years been the cougar's habitat. Cougars need lots of room to roam. If you squeeze them into a tiny space then they become overpopulated in one sense. The cause of that overpopulation is an overpopulation of people. People who feel it is their right to have the land to themselves. Cougars come with the territory. If you don't like cougars then you shouldn't live there. Go to the city. I think there would be more danger in the wrong part of LA than there would be living in a rural area in cougar habitat.

I really hope this does not end up being like the California grizzly bears. The settlers were afraid of them, killed them all, then put the bear on the flag as a symbol of power. I guess their power to destroy nature.

Max
+1

Here it is..City folks knowing more about the problem than those who must directly deal with it. Thanks for educating me, guys...:rolleyes:

My pleasure

You're exactly right! A mountain lion is a child predator many of you needn't worry about.

Why? Because there has never, ever been a confirmed fatality in the state of Oregon due to a mountain lion attack.

There are only about 5,000 cougars in Oregon, but last year they allowed 39,000 mountain lion hunting permits to be sold.

Brave men in Oregon just doing what they can to keep the children safe, I guess....

Pathetic.

Eugene Weekly : 7.19.07

Most people here add a cougar tag to their hunting license simply because the Cougar season is year round...this allows carrying a rifle year round. Without dogs to chase & tree a Cougar, rots a ruck getting one. Very few of these tags are filled.

When I hunted, I always bought a cougar tag...never did bag one.

But that's okay, city dwellers...rural people are well aware that you have to votes, despite your lack of any real world living in the sticks experience.

"Shoot-shovel-shut up" often applies...

So you want to wait until the mountain lions start eating children before the hunt begins again?

How many kids have to be eaten? One, five or seven?

What's ironic here is that in cases of livestock being repeatedly taken, Government pays a government hunter who uses dogs. Yep, the taxpayers fork the bill for what others were willing to do for free.

Be careful out there Paul, you never know what is lurking in the underbrush and they may be attracted to your little philly.

http://i.imgur.com/LlDIm.jpg

Agreed. They're amazing animals. The closest I came was doing an investigation on a telecom site up by Santa Paula - remote facility, unmanned typically off in the woods. There was a funky stench when we got up to the place and the guy I was with said it was definitely mountain lion scent/pee. There was some scat around too but we never saw the animal. I suspect he/she was nearby just watching. We were clearly in its habitat.

We should learn to appreciate nature/animals more and respect the fact that we're as much in THEIR territory as they are in ours. The solution is to live sensibly and look out for ourselves in harmony with them, not to simply blast their brains out at first sight.

There have been six, but the frequency is climbing at a substantial rate with the increase in the big cat population. There have been many documented cases of non-fatal attacks in So cal.

so how many cougars does the Gov. guy tag using dogs each year..

treeing a cat with dogs is not hunting to me..
dog takes all the risk..
hunter stands from afar..
& blast cat out of tree..

they on the other hand..
get up close..smell ya once more..
then they kill ya..
and didn't have too use a dog or anything..
seems fair..

Rika

i spend alot of times in the outdoors. i've caught big cats on my game cams. they are there for sure. we hunt the same areas.

am i scared..no. it isnt legal to take them here in california. the population is not exploding by any means. i see their prints everytime. i know they are there.

i've seen video of dogs treeing the big cats, and a hunter arrows them, or shoots them with a pistol. the best hunter in that groups is the dog.
even if they open up hunting i'll pass. just like black bear. pass

Yep, we have them in Boulder for sure! Had one in the office yard 2 years back.

This was taken by a buddy right after it tangled with his dog, super lucky dog had a bunch of stitches and staples, but will be fine. This is from his house, and about 1 mile from the Mtn Bike trail I use weekly :eek:

I have not yet had an encounter, but like they say, I'm sure I've ridden by one many times and did not even know it...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1321655117.jpg