Another One

Florida Fish & Game has (had) a tame black panther they bring to various functions. Sister had photograph of her husband sitting on one end of a couch with the cat and officer at the other end. Cat was obviously staring at BIL. I said it reminded me of Willy Coyote seeing the Road Runner on a serving tray.

I met someone the other day from Kempner who told me his wife spotted one from the deer stand, after the deer. He said they later discovered there was a family of cougars in the mountain nearby. (I don't know what kind of mountains they have near Kempner--maybe a hill?)

I haven't seen one, but have always heard that so-and-so said so-and-so saw one. The one that supposedly attacked the horses near here was not seen. The vet and the wildlife guy both thought the wounds were from a cougar. Wildlife guy said they usually get just a few reports a year.

I figure odds are, since they seem to be rare, that most people are not going to see them or be bothered by them. But, in this drought, wildlife seems to be coming up more.

How to protect livestock? Keep them up at the barn at night, if at all possible.

We have cougars here in east Texas, the game cam doesn't lie.

3 years ago my coworker in Slocomb had her neighbor accuse her black lab puppy of taking and eating most of one of his calves, with no hole in the fence and them hanging out with and feeding their dog regularly. They have heard lion screaming. Here in Wicksburg my brother- reliable amateur naturalist- and the kids saw a bobcat cross to our place. The boyfriend says he saw one too at the nearby creek but adds a magical story which makes me doubt the whole sighting (and his sanity but that's a diff post).

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US Army veteran, military retiree spouse, and military; civilian; British NHS; and VA doctor.

When we lived there never heard of any but there's a lot of hill 'country' a few miles from the roads. No actual mountains though.
I saw a bobcat on the Gatesville Road though.

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US Army veteran, military retiree spouse, and military; civilian; British NHS; and VA doctor.

The state DNR in most states won't admit that there are cougars/mountain lions in their state. They don't want to frighten the populace and if they admit the lions are there then they will have to manage them. This is a huge expense making up management plans, taking population counts, and setting hunting seasons.

What they do instead is deny, deny, deny untill someone proves the cats are there by running one over. Even when they are presented with hard evidence they say the lion was a solitary male wandering through the state and there are no breeding populations.

Trust your government - NOT.

I have three donkeys in with the herd. While they may run off the stray dog, when it comes to cougars, I rather doubt they would 'take one for the team'.

we have mtn lions, lynx, bobcats in Michigan also

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Brenda Groth
http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/