Mountain lion kills mountain biker in Washington

[Jstpssng]

Again with concern for a mountain lion. Had the cat taken a calf, a horse, house cat, dog, or a sheep and been put down then I would agree with the sympathy for the lion. But this time it took down a human being that was no threat to it at all. The hills are alive with game, rabbits, deer and fawns, elk and calves, coyotes, possums, etc. etc. but the animal chose a human being. Humans being generally slow and often defenseless it stand to reason that human beings would become this particular animals prey of choice. Putting this particular animal down is the logical and reasonable action.

You mention humans encroaching on their territory, well that has been happening since the first human beings set foot on North America 10000 years or so ago. The only solution would be for all of us to move from our rural hobby farms and ranches to a nice cozy apartment in some well controlled city. You first.

We also need to reduce the population by about 90%; but I'm not volunteering. The sad part though, is that what you suggest is part of what some people have in mind. We shape the planet to fit our needs; I'm not saying we're perfect, yet we try. Humans, big cats and bears are all competing at the top of the food chain; yet we're the only species which tries to mitigate our damage.

 

[Doofy]

Wild animals try to mitigate their damages...THEY eat you
(At least the big ones do)!

 

[Jstpssng]

Mountain biking is becoming a hazardous sport; before you know it, it will rank right up there with technical ice climbing. Mama moose charges cyclist, news van — Outdoors — Bangor Daily News — BDN Maine

 

[dragoneggs]

Watched a bad movie(s) on flight back from Asia last week. One was called 'Downsizing'. Basically the idea was to shrink humans to a small fraction of their size so they could live in tiny colonies and put far less pressure on resources and 'save the world'.

 

[goeduck]

Humans can not continue their population growth rate, it is not sustainable and we are the cause of this dilemma. Thinking people know this. This rock is only so big and so capable of supporting life and it cannot be just humans.

 

[Doofy]

The U.S. comprises about 4.34% of the world's population and the U.S. birthrate is almost nil. My population boost is long done so it's not me overpopulating this earth. I was mostly practicing anyway.

 

[goeduck]

Unfortunately immigration counts as population growth rate. You are correct about the 4.3%.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

It seems that many environmental scientists paint a picture that depicts the natural world as being ideally static, i.e. the current climate is the ideal and shouldn't change, the current flora and fauna must remain at sustainable levels, etc. Natural history paints a totally different picture, the climate has been both warmer and colder, flora and fauna have come and gone, long before there was any human influence. Human beings are currently the dominant species on the planet but that could change at any time. We could kill of ourselves by nuclear war, nature could kill us through some kind of pandemic, natural disaster, or astronomic event. However, it should be remembered, we are a natural part of the Earths environment.

We collectively have a large impact on the environment around us, that fact can't be denied. We have killed off previously thriving species and damaged the population of others possibly to the point of unrecoverable population loss. What is the solution? In the US and Canada our reproductive rate has slowed to the point equilibrium or even slow population decline. The population increase we see here is mostly because of immigration. We can't close our borders, we can't force our policies on the worldwide centers of population growth by forcing birth control. About all we really can do is wring our hands and complain about population growth and how unsustainable it is.

 

[rekees4300]

Humans can not continue their population growth rate, it is not sustainable and we are the cause of this dilemma. Thinking people know this. This rock is only so big and so capable of supporting life and it cannot be just humans.

You are absolutely correct but humans won't listen to that truth. Never fear though, there's good news just over the horizon. Soon Mother Earth will be making an "adjustment" that will solve the problem.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

It seems that many environmental scientists paint a picture that depicts the natural world as being ideally static, i.e. the current climate is the ideal and shouldn't change, the current flora and fauna must remain at sustainable levels, etc. Natural history paints a totally different picture, the climate has been both warmer and colder, flora and fauna have come and gone, long before there was any human influence. Human beings are currently the dominant species on the planet but that could change at any time. We could kill of ourselves by nuclear war, nature could kill us through some kind of pandemic, natural disaster, or astronomic event. However, it should be remembered, we are a natural part of the Earths environment.

We collectively have a large impact on the environment around us, that fact can't be denied. We have killed off previously thriving species and damaged the population of others possibly to the point of unrecoverable population loss. What is the solution? In the US and Canada our reproductive rate has slowed to the point equilibrium or even slow population decline. The population increase we see here is mostly because of immigration. We can't close our borders, we can't force our policies on the worldwide centers of population growth by forcing birth control. About all we really can do is wring our hands and complain about population growth and how unsustainable it is.

Very astute observation. Here in this state, when I was growing up in the 50's, wildlife was pretty sparce. The meat hunters from the time of settlement through the depression had pretty well killed out most of the game...deer, turkeys and beaver...including some predators like the mountain lion. From the time I was born until about the last 15 or 20 years, I had only seen one deer in the wild, and never a turkey. Now, we are covered up with deer; mountain lions are beginning to be spotted in the state and turkeys are everywhere...even beavers are making a come back. Why? I suppose that destroying their habitat may be one reason, but I believe that wildlife management and better economic times has more to do with it. We are even having geese and ducks walking around the yard occasionally. What next, wild buffalo?