Mountain Lion!!

[svandamme]

Originally posted by Moses


They sued the state of California for a lion attack?

did they get countersued by the Lion for trespassing on his land?

[Mr_Wizard]

I wish there were some of these cats crawling around in my backyard

[RPKESQ]

What, blind faith and prayer doesn't solve real problems? Unheard of!
Your fears are unfounded. Look at the probability of lion attack and then the probability of slipping and injury in your bathroom. We loose more people per year in bathroom accidents than gunfire, lion attacks, snake bite, and lightning strikes combined in CA. Get a new worry.

[Mr_Wizard]

Originally posted by Mr_Wizard
I wish there were some of these cats crawling around in my backyard

Damn pic upload!!!!

[Moses]

I trained my house cat to defend me against mountain lion attacks.

Any lion approaches, he get kung-foo'd.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Ohhhhh catwoman. . . you slay me. . .

[M.D. Holloway]

Originally posted by trekkor
...I've been here in the same place for 15 years and now I can't stop thinking about cougar attack.

What should I do?


KT

Pray More or Convert - Lions don't like the taste of Jews (they think the meat is cheap!)

(sorry to any Hebros out there! Couldn't resist!)

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally posted by Moses
[B]They sued the state of California for a lion attack?

Sounds absolutely absurd. At first, anyway. Consider the following, however. The state of California has suffered a demonstrable increase in cougar attacks in recent years. While I believe urban encroachment is the single biggest contributing factor, there are others, for which the state must assume at least some responsibility.

First, California has severely restricted the methods which can be employed in the hunting of cougar. There are, for all practical purposes, no effective methods outside of hounds or baiting. Both have been illegal in California for years. There has been an increase in their population that some studies directly attribute to these hunting restrictions. This increase in population was also a stated goal of the law that banned these methods.

Second, California remains one of the more difficult states in which to arm yourself for your own protection. I'm talking carry permits, and open carry for self defense when in the wilderness. While restricting its citizens rights in this area, the state has offered no viable substitute to fill the void.

Third, states treat wildlife as state property for the purpose of managing that wildlife. You must obtain permission from the state to hunt, trap, transport, etc. any wildlife within the state. They have assumed defacto ownership through a tangled web of wildlife management laws and responsibilities they have assigned to themselves.

So, with an increasing population (orchestrated by the state) of a dangerous animal that is managed by the state , attacking a citizen whose ability to defend himself has been removed by that state, why would that state not be responsible?

[pwd72s]

What's happened in Oregon is that the "greens" got an initiative on the ballot, passed by the liberal Portland set, that bans hunting Cougars with the use of dogs. Now, Cougars ARE a problem. So much so that the Game Regulations now allow Bow hunters to carry sidearms for protection.

[Moses]

Originally posted by Jeff Higgins
... why would that state not be responsible?

A kid goes fishing in a river recently stocked with trout by the state of California. He falls in and is drowned. Do his parents sue the state for creating "an attractive nuisance"?

See? The madness has to stop somewhere. Do you want safety rails installed at rivers edge? Maybe mandatory flotation devices for fishermen? Hell, lets just eliminate all public access to state parks. It's dangerous out there.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally posted by Moses
A kid goes fishing in a river recently stocked with trout by the state of California. He falls in and is drowned. Do his parents sue the state for creating "an attractive nuisance"?

See? The madness has to stop somewhere. Do you want safety rails installed at rivers edge? Maybe mandatory flotation devices for fishermen? Hell, lets just eliminate all public access to state parks. It's dangerous out there.

Oh, don't me wrong, I absolutely agree with you. As the state takes on more and more responsibility to govern areas of our lives that it should not govern, these questions have come up. The madness should have stopped a long, long time ago. Don't think for a minute that states have not been sued as you describe. And yes, I have seen safety rails, installed by the state at river's edge, just for this reason. And all manner of rediculous warning signs. They have long since stepped down this slippery slope of regulation and the the responsibility that goes with it. As absurd as it is, I bet these folks might even win this cougar case.

[scottmandue]

I am convinced you guys could turn anything into a political/religious debate.


"I like diet Coke"
"Well that's because you stupid religious fanatics all like artificially flavored drinks"
"My political party that is far Superior to yours only drinks Pepsi because only a fool would drink Coke"

[scottmandue]

I like to go hiking along the central coast of Calif. and every trail has mountain lion warnings posted at the trail head.

I have never seen one and convinced myself the warnings were posted to limit the states liability. I also know that lions are nocturnal so I wasn't too worried anyway... then one day I was hiking and right off the side of the trail was a giant cat turd.
Made me a little uneasy.

[cmccuist]

I'm thinking it's a coin flip as to which is more dangerous!

[svandamme]

Originally posted by cmccuist
I'm thinking it's a coin flip as to which is more dangerous!

i'll take the right one anyday...it's cheaper... just get a decent medical insurance...the left one on the other hand...remember Eddy Murphy in his standup : HALF !

[cmccuist]

Originally posted by svandamme
i'll take the right one anyday...it's cheaper... just get a decent medical insurance...the left one on the other hand...remember Eddy Murphy in his standup : HALF !

It's so true. Remember the old saying, they have complete control of half the money and all of the *******.

[jluetjen]

Originally posted by trekkor
How many people have cougars within sight of their front door?

Heck -- I live 40 miles from Boston and had an (unverified) Mountain Lion spotted on the corner of my property, not even 100 yards from my house. There were a number of (unverified) sitings in my town and the town south of us. I'm pretty sure that my wife and I heard it one night. As we were sitting in bed reading, we heard a lot of the neighborhood dogs barking, and what what sounded like one angry house-cat. Only later did we learn that mountain lions don't roar -- they are actually relatives of the house cat and can only purr and meow.

I don't know about any attacks in the area, but I can tell you that most people in the area that summer did not let their children play outside around sunset.

PS: We've also got cayotes around here too, I passed a family of them once in broad day light, during afternoon rush hour as they were calmly walking along the edge of Mitre's property in Burlington as if they owned the place.

[Moses]

Originally posted by jluetjen
... and can only purr and meow.

Purr?

http://www.acoustics.org/press/143rd/sound001.wav

[svandamme]

Originally posted by Moses
Purr?

http://www.acoustics.org/press/143rd/sound001.wav

i just played that wav file, speakers at full blast

it scared the bejezus out of my cat


it actually sounds a bit like a Siamese, they have a weird sound as well

[Moses]

Here's the classic! This is the sound you DON'T want to hear. (Tell me how the cats like it!) Turn up your speakers.

http://www.brandens.net/files/Sounds/FX/Animals/10_18C.WAV