Mountain lion kills mountain biker in Washington

[Sigarms]

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.

It's not revenge, just that if a predator gets used to killing humans, the better they (the predator) can become at it and the chances that they could do it again would probably increase.

I consider myself an animal "lover", and although I used to hunt a bit in my youth, now I don't need the meat, and would rather prefer to shoot pictures instead of bullets.

That said, if you want to feel bad for "innocent" animals, look to the east coast deer along with a host of other animals where "civilization" has creeped upon their environment and thousands have had to be put down due to various reasons, mainly due to man.

 

[Doofy]

It's not revenge, just that if a predator gets used to killing humans, the better they (the predator) can become at it and the chances that they could do it again would probably increase.

I consider myself an animal "lover", and although I used to hunt a bit in my youth, now I don't need the meat, and would rather prefer to shoot pictures instead of bullets.

That said, if you want to feel bad for "innocent" animals, look to the east coast deer along with a host of other animals where "civilization" has creeped upon their environment and thousands have had to be put down due to various reasons, mainly due to man.

Amen. I just don't have the heart to kill any more. I want to see and photograph the beauty of nature, not destroy it.

 

[Sigarms]

Amen. I just don't have the heart to kill any more. I want to see and photograph the beauty of nature, not destroy it.

Yep, just keep in mind, I'm not anti hunting by any means.

Generally, it's the hunters who want to preserve what they have for land and animals, and want to protect that for future generations to come. Yes, there are some dirt bag hunters who give all hunters a bad name, but you find that in all areas of life.

 

[Molalla1]

Off the record, real life situation sometimes doesn't reflect a question on a internet forum

. . .I am old and probably not up to internet decorum. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Bigfoot62]

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.

Not trying to pick a fight here. But, any animal that has attacked and killed a human has proven that they are NOT afraid of people, and likely would attack humans again. No, it's not the animal's fault that it has been conditioned to see humans as prey, but they won't "un-learn" that behavior. They have to be put down to be stopped. Around here, there's an old saying: "Only one way to stop an egg-sucking dog."

Earlier in the thread, the question was posed as to the legality of killing an attacking mountain lion yourself. It probably varies a lot from state to state. Here in Louisiana, our Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries flatly denied the existence of the big cats in our state for decades. (but I know that they've been here all along, and saw my first one probably 45 years ago) Then, about 15 years ago, LDWF suddenly acknowledged the presence of the North American Cougar and made it illegal to shoot one. Here is a quote from the current regulations: "Cougars that occur in Louisiana are protected under state and federal law. Penalties for taking a cougar in Louisiana may include up to one year in jail and/or a $100,000 fine."

A local police chief and friend of mine often says, "Better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6."

 

[BoylermanCT]

Yep, I can testify that it has sent every bear running. Nice thing is it works long distance. No idea if it would work on cougars.

View attachment 555022

I can testify it worked twice on my local black bear. The third time he looked up at me, and went back to what he was doing. He was about 25 feet away from me, on the other side of a chain link fence.

 

[Doofy]

I can testify it worked twice on my local black bear. The third time he looked up at me, and went back to what he was doing. He was about 25 feet away from me, on the other side of a chain link fence.

View attachment 555042

I do believe he is drooling a bit. Probably thinking about eating that annoying human that it making silly noises.

 

[Sigarms]

Here is a quote from the current regulations: "Cougars that occur in Louisiana are protected under state and federal law. Penalties for taking a cougar in Louisiana may include up to one year in jail and/or a $100,000 fine."

A local police chief and friend of mine often says, "Better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6."

That's why I asked the questioned, I figured some states must of some kind of protective laws.

However, I do agree with your buddy. I'm not a lawyer, but if you shoot a cougar in Cajun land, is it even an offense that can get a jury trial? My hope is that when people write laws like this to protect animals, it also has some common sense "loop holes" in case you're actually protecting yourself. On the flip side, if you had a gun and you didn't shoot because you were following the law, then the next question is if your family has a right to sue on the grounds that the law failed to give you adequate protection if you actually did fear for your life and you didn't shoot, thus being killed by the animal?

Two legged or 4 legged, if they mean to kill you, by all means protect yourself IMO.

Not certain if a 10MM would of helped with the cougar, but it sure can't hurt IMO if you can get some rounds out.

 

[Molalla1]

I do believe he is drooling a bit. Probably thinking about eating that annoying human that it making silly noises.

I don't know, but bear meat is not that bad at times.

 

[bcp]

A mountain lion was killed. Unclear at this point if it was THE mountain lion.

DNA testing is being done.

Cyclists Tried Scaring Cougar But It Attacked, Killing 1 << CBS Dallas / Fort Worth

When rescuers arrived, it took about half an hour to find Brooks, who was dead with the cougar on top of him in what appeared to be a den-like area. An officer shot at it, and it ran off. Several hours later, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife agents used dogs to track it to a nearby tree. They shot and killed it.

Authorities plan to match DNA taken from the animal with DNA from the victims to be certain they killed the right cougar.


Bruce