Cougars

[Lallans]

Do they get that big there?!
(I'm picturing an old Sci-Fi B-movie )

{snip}

I should have put a smiley face after that but upon reflection decided it was more true without.

I know full well what a minority I am here on X Marks. Perhaps all the more reason for me to voice my opinion from within the fray. Two quotes immediately sprang to mind while reading through this thread, both from the gadfly and defender of the American West, Edward Abbey.

"The rancher strings barbed wire across the range, drills wells and bulldozes stock ponds everywhere, drives off the elk and antelope and bighorn sheep, poisons coyotes and prairie dogs, shoots eagle and bear and cougar on sight, supplants the native bluestem and grama grass with tumbleweed, cow ****, cheat grass, snakeweed, anthills, poverty weed, mud and dust and flies--and then leans back and smiles broadly at the Tee Vee cameras and tells us how much he loves the West."

"We need coyotes more than we need, let us say, more people, of whom we already have an extravagant surplus, or more domesticated dogs, which in all fairness could and should be ground up into hamburger and used as emergency coyote food, to raise their spirits and perhaps improve the tenor of their predawn howling."

Perhaps the same could and should be said of cougars...

Hey, I'm a Buddhist and on highest principle am against killing anything- but I'm also a country boy and am even more against things killing and eating my fellow humans. This "let's leave the countryside to the animals" idea perhaps looks well and even beautiful from inside city limits but it might be a good idea to, as the saying goes, consider where your food comes from. And there is no reason people and predators can't co-exist in the same area, but I've decided that the sad truth of the matter is that if they go unmenaced, the predators that once learned to avoid humans start exploring the idea of eating us, and eventually do so. There was no such animal problem as is seen at present when I was a kid and anything considered dangerous was shot on sight by a part of the population... the woman whose daughter was too good to fight back and was killed by coyotes in Nova Scotia asked that the same coyotes just be left alone to continue their "normal behaviour" (as she thought) but if her wishes were put into practice she was a greater danger to humanity than 1000 coyotes. Nature has rules, and standing still to get eaten is not one of them- not even the Buddha would have said that.

[wildrover]

This "let's leave the countryside to the animals" idea perhaps looks well and even beautiful from inside city limits

I've always felt that the city should administer only the city, and the country likewise...the two mindsets and lifestyles are more often at odds than in agreement.

And there is no reason people and predators can't co-exist in the same area, but I've decided that the sad truth of the matter is that if they go unmenaced, the predators that once learned to avoid humans start exploring the idea of eating us, and eventually do so.

Quite right. Posted in my neighborhood are signs instructing the general public to be aggressive toward curious coyotes and foxes, as both will hunt cats, small dogs, small children, and in some cases adults. Being crazier (aggressive and proactive) than the animal is sometimes just as necessary as being smarter (avoidance) or better prepared (reactive).

the woman whose daughter was too good to fight back and was killed by coyotes in Nova Scotia asked that the same coyotes just be left alone to continue their "normal behaviour" (as she thought) but if her wishes were put into practice she was a greater danger to humanity than 1000 coyotes.

Yeah, we have those people here, too. At least it's a confirmation that we're all human, I suppose. Boulder is overflowing with "bubble people" who hold romantically idealized notions of The Outdoors.

Nature has rules, and standing still to get eaten is not one of them- not even the Buddha would have said that.

Quite right.

[Vegan Scot]

I don't romanticize nature, I'm just a borderline misanthropist

[Hellequin]

We had a huge Puma problem in Arizona (Sedona area, Lake Montezuma) back in the early 90's when I lived there. Granted it was very rual but every morning there would be large tracks on the deck around my house and once I had one right outside the patio door scream at me when I drew back the curtains! The only thing one could do was to pay attention, arm yourself for defence against an attack, and try not to make yourself a target. We would make a ton of noise when leaving the house or out on a hike. I'd say they were curious of human activity but with all the ranches around they were more interested in the calves and smaller animals. Long story long, I've always prided myself in being an active participant in the food chain but this was the first time that I wasn't always necessarily at the top!

[Lallans]

The postings seen here from people who have co-existed with cougars generally seem to confirm my vague idea that if cougars do attack, it's from behind (?) This is creepier than I'm used to, but I'm sure I will adapt if they do become common- which experience tells me they will because the recent recogition also means they're now a super-protected species and there's lots & lots of food for them. (I refer to deer, not children )

[wildrover]

The postings seen here from people who have co-existed with cougars generally seem to confirm my vague idea that if cougars do attack, it's from behind (?) This is creepier than I'm used to, but I'm sure I will adapt if they do become common- which experience tells me they will because the recent recogition also means they're now a super-protected species and there's lots & lots of food for them. (I refer to deer, not children )

And little rat-dogs, and stray cats, and ground rats and other varmints...

...Though I will admit, all the cougars I've come in contact with seem to attack from the top.