Mountain lion attack

[FlashUNC]

Cars may be bad, but they don't try to eat me. I'll stick to the roads.

[gdw]

The book Beasts in the Garden by David Baron is worth reading if you want to get a better understanding of the problems that can occur when people and mountain lions share the same territory.
O.P. - We currently have a mountain lion in Boulder that is very comfortable living near people and has raised two litters in town. Ask one of the local wildlife officers about her if you have an opportunity.

[cnighbor1]

"No one asked if it was me! It wasn't, nor Matt Pendergast who also lives here. I haven't heard who it was yet but I saw a Raleigh Portage in the news and I don't know anyone with one of those. We've ridden right by that place where it happened many times. It's about ten miles north of here. We ride all over the woods and trails here, and there could be cougars or bears anywhere. My friend who lives near here caught a cougar on his "animal-cam" one night. Mostly we see deer and elk, and the occasional coyote. They aren't very dangerous. I did have a cougar cross the road right in front of me once, while coming down from Hurricane Ridge in the Olympics. That was exciting. He was moving pretty fast, and so was I. I wonder if he even saw me.

Bob Freeman

Alive and kickin' in
North Bend WA "
''The two cyclists are now identified. I didn't know them. Read about it here




https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...was-emaciated/




Bob Freeman

North Bend WA ''
and a comment from me
A few years back a woman cyclist riding her bicycle on a paved maintained bike path on the south edge of San Jose was killed by a cougar. So while uncommon here in California it does happen.

I had a beer cross the road in front of me while riding fast down hill on the eastern side of the cascades in Washington. Little I could do but keep going To stop and go back up hill at 6 mph didn't seem like a great option

Charles Nighbor

Walnut Creek, California USA

[p nut]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Cars may be bad, but they don't try to eat me. I'll stick to the roads.

But there have been way more auto related fatalities than by wild life.

[Kirk007]

Originally Posted by sitzmark

The cat population is relatively stable in WA. Legal hunting of cats in season to help control population is practiced.

Well I'd disagree on the second point. There is no biological reason for humans "to control" carnivore populations. They are very capable self regulators. Indeed more and more studies are showing it does more harm than good.

These are smart animals. An older tom (male) cougar may well have learned, through human presence, threatened conflict, to avoid farms and killing animals like goats. If the male is killed, a younger Tom will move into the territory (males are very territorial - the cougar wandering through Wisconsin probably originated from the Dakotas and was displaced and moving in search of a mate and territory. The problem for these males moving east is that females tend to stay closer to their region of birth and don't disperse as far so its hard for these males wandering east to find a female). That younger tom may get himself in trouble. Here, we are talking about a relatively young male cougar that was emaciated (second report this morning confirming). He was, if not otherwise diseased, hungry, apparently hungry enough to risk bodily harm in a conflict to feed.

There is a hunting season only because some people like to kill animals for sport. No one eats cougar meat. There is no reasonable use for a cougar pelt (i.e. I don't think rugs or mounted heads count).

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by p nut

But there have been way more auto related fatalities than by wild life.

True, but I'd consider being eaten by something else the worst way to die.

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

True, but I'd consider being eaten by something else the worst way to die.

Not me

[Kirk007]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

True, but I'd consider being eaten by something else the worst way to die.

and with a cougar you probably wouldn't know what hit you (again situ under discussion very unusual) typical cougar hunt is ambush, broken neck, done). Know a bear - ugh and ugh but I'm with Houston - worse ways to go.

[ptourkin]

Originally Posted by joosttx

Not me

Agree. It would be an honor to be eaten by one of the few big beautiful things we haven't destroyed as opposed to being crushed by by a commuter with poor impulse control on a cellphone which is the more likely outcome for 100% of us.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by ptourkin

Agree. It would be an honor to be eaten by one of the few big beautiful things we haven't destroyed as opposed to being crushed by by a commuter with poor impulse control on a cellphone which is the more likely outcome for 100% of us.

I'm sure the last thought of someone being eaten is "man, I'm so lucky to be part of this majestic creature's experience."

Sounds like a really pleasant experience: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeands...wed-by-a-hippo

[p nut]

I don't know if there is any dignity either way. You're either taken out by a teen bopper snapchatting, or end up as cat poop. But I'll take my chances in the woods, if it comes down to one or the other.

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by ptourkin

Agree. It would be an honor to be eaten by one of the few big beautiful things we haven't destroyed as opposed to being crushed by by a commuter with poor impulse control on a cellphone which is the more likely outcome for 100% of us.

not what I was saying

[Mark McM]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

True, but I'd consider being eaten by something else the worst way to die.

Well, you typically don't die by being eaten, if a predator attacks they'll kill you first, then eat you. I'm sure there are worse ways to go than being attacked by a predator. Either way, unless you're cryogenically suspended, you'll get eaten by something after you die. If it isn't a big cat, it'll be microbes or worms.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by Mark McM

Well, you typically don't die by being eaten, if a predator attacks they'll kill you first, then eat you. I'm sure there are worse ways to go than being attacked by a predator. Either way, unless you're cryogenically suspended, you'll get eaten by something after you die. If it isn't a big cat, it'll be microbes or worms.

Just what this needed, some pedantry.

[Climb01742]

Might there have been another way?

Could the mountain lion have been tranquilized and then tested to see, as they are now when it's dead, if it is the same cat that attacked?

If it wasn't, could the cat be relocated farther from a population center? Wolves are relocated. Could a mountain lion?

If it was the same cat that attacked, it could be put to sleep humanely or also relocated very far from people, possibly.

Kill first and ask questions/exlpore options later seems like the worst, knee-jerk response.

The animal deserved better. There's a human tragedy here. Compounding it by being too-quick-to-kill makes it worse. It isn't wrong to value all the lives involved in this. But kill first, ask questions later seems to be how we roll too often these days.