Mountain lion kills mountain biker in Washington

[3 Horse Ranch]

A mountain lion was killed. Unclear at this point if it was THE mountain lion. I don't understand why we have the need for revenge upon animals who are just doing what is hard-wired in their brains. It's their forest, we are visitors in it.

We are 6 billion+ humans on this earth. Mountain lions number a few thousand and that number falls every year as habitat is logged, subdivided, burned and otherwise destroyed. We might want to rethink the road we are on.

The reasoning as explained by the wildlife agent who shot it is that once any predator sees a human as prey, it will always see a human as prey. To protect other people from predation the animal is killed. Simply catching and relocating doesn't seem to work

 

[Jstpssng]

A single head shot of .22LR into a cougar would kill it deader than a hammer. Several heart lung shots would kill it as well, but it might not be so quick. Cougars do not strike me as particularly hard to kill. But I have zero experience with them. I don't know why some people thing a .22LR isn't a deadly round. It is. It might not be the best or first choice or my choice, but it is a choice.

Wow, and everyone knows that a .22LR isn't worth a hoot for self defense

A .22 is a lot less forgiving than a larger caliber; especially when the adrenaline is pumping and you're scared. Furthermore, I suspect that you both have practiced with and are more proficient with firearms than the average person. I once knew a guide who hunted black bears with his bow- until the night that he found himself tracking one with a Coleman lantern until 2:00 in the morning. He knew that he was close as he was seeing pieces of intestine- then he was looking at one when it started moving.
Now he hunts with something that will do lethal damage when he shoots.

 

[Ken]

Soooo...you think that cougar can dial 911???

everyone knows they have no thumbs....sheeshhh......../s :laughing:

Remember the Oklahoma young lady with new born baby and husband had died recently. Some low lifers were trying to break into her home. called 911 and for 20 minutes tried to convince the response team she needed help. When they did break down door she gave them a load of buck shot. one stayed other ran
State prosecutor wanted to charge her with some crime but Governor said forget it.

Seems the question was it legal to defend yourself if attacked by a protected animal. I was kind of trying to make a joke .that if in doubt its to late.
better to ask forgiveness than permission.

ken
This clear up my post or need some more clarifications.

 

[k0ua]

Remember the Oklahoma young lady with new born baby and husband had died recently. Some low lifers were trying to break into her home. called 911 and for 20 minutes tried to convince the response team she needed help. When they did break down door she gave them a load of buck shot. one stayed other ran
State prosecutor wanted to charge her with some crime but Governor said forget it.

Seems the question was it legal to defend yourself if attacked by a protected animal. I was kind of trying to make a joke .that if in doubt its to late.
better to ask forgiveness than permission.

ken
This clear up my post or need some more clarifications.

Perhaps some animals are more "protected" than others?*

*apologies to George Orwell.

 

[goeduck]

The reasoning as explained by the wildlife agent who shot it is that once any predator sees a human as prey, it will always see a human as prey. To protect other people from predation the animal is killed. Simply catching and relocating doesn't seem to work

I don’t know how anyone knows this, game wardens always seem to kill the animal right off the bat. Too many people in this world is the problem. We encroach endlessly into every corner of the earth. Will we ever stop?

 

[goeduck]

Remember the Oklahoma young lady with new born baby and husband had died recently. Some low lifers were trying to break into her home. called 911 and for 20 minutes tried to convince the response team she needed help. When they did break down door she gave them a load of buck shot. one stayed other ran
State prosecutor wanted to charge her with some crime but Governor said forget it.
.

I hoe that Governor was voted back in for many terms.

 

[dragoneggs]

I don’t know how anyone knows this, game wardens always seem to kill the animal right off the bat. Too many people in this world is the problem. We encroach endlessly into every corner of the earth. Will we ever stop?

From what I understand... at least with black bears and grizzlies, 'they' have proven that if guilty bears are repeat offenders they must be relocated very far away ($$$ / introducing a problem somewhere else?) or put down. This was deduced by tagging bears that were captured. I was told by a ranger in the Canadian Rockies (near Jasper) is that they have done quite a bit of study of bears habits and have a decent chronological history of troublesome bears. He explained to me that they have a '3 strikes your out' policy with bears. They relocate them twice and if they return to do 'no good' they are put down.

My wife reported a grizzly in our campground (we were tenting) and hence the story. She felt bad in that she might have given the death sentence to our visitor. We are relatively seasoned campers/hikers so we weren't too concerned but...

I am not condoning this practice nor do I understand to comment much beyond the above limited info that I have gathered.

 

[k0ua]

From what I understand... at least with black bears and grizzlies, 'they' have proven that if guilty bears are repeat offenders they must be relocated very far away ($$$ / introducing a problem somewhere else?) or put down. This was deduced by tagging bears that were captured. I was told by a ranger in the Canadian Rockies (near Jasper) is that they have done quite a bit of study of bears habits and have a decent chronological history of troublesome bears. He explained to me that they have a '3 strikes your out' policy with bears. They relocate them twice and if they return to do 'no good' they are put down.

My wife reported a grizzly in our campground (we were tenting) and hence the story. She felt bad in that she might have given the death sentence to our visitor. We are relatively seasoned campers/hikers so we weren't too concerned but...

I am not condoning this practice nor do I understand to comment much beyond the above limited info that I have gathered.

So you "dropped a dime" on ole smokey huh?

 

[vvanders]

From what I understand... at least with black bears and grizzlies, 'they' have proven that if guilty bears are repeat offenders they must be relocated very far away ($$$ / introducing a problem somewhere else?) or put down. This was deduced by tagging bears that were captured. I was told by a ranger in the Canadian Rockies (near Jasper) is that they have done quite a bit of study of bears habits and have a decent chronological history of troublesome bears. He explained to me that they have a '3 strikes your out' policy with bears. They relocate them twice and if they return to do 'no good' they are put down.

My wife reported a grizzly in our campground (we were tenting) and hence the story. She felt bad in that she might have given the death sentence to our visitor. We are relatively seasoned campers/hikers so we weren't too concerned but...

I am not condoning this practice nor do I understand to comment much beyond the above limited info that I have gathered.

I know someone who was a game warden back in the day. Generally when they "re-homed" them it was far away deep in the wilderness so they usually don't come back. The bear trap was actually a culvert on a trailer with a set of bars that fell down on one end. As I was told they generally used bacon grease to set the trap and worked every time like a charm.

Not sure if I ever heard of one being put down but things may have changed since then.

 

[dragoneggs]

I know someone who was a game warden back in the day. Generally when they "re-homed" them it was far away deep in the wilderness so they usually don't come back. The bear trap was actually a culvert on a trailer with a set of bars that fell down on one end. As I was told they generally used bacon grease to set the trap and worked every time like a charm.

Not sure if I ever heard of one being put down but things may have changed since then.

Yes bacon grease is a popular lure. I don't know the specifics of how far away they relocated the offending bears but it was significant and they kept moving them farther as the program went along.