*sigh* Cougar Hanging Out In Area

lisa- that's the second time you've gotten snarky with me for no reason. what happened to that apology??

Yeah, keep trying Marvella; maybe someone will agree with you.

Are you SURE its a Ford? Might have been a Chevy,or even a Toyota????

Seriously,when a big cat gets close to people,its hunting season.Im a risk aversion person,esp. concerning family safety.
IMHO,YMMV and probably does.

BTW,BIL has a cat around their place.It got a chicken,but runs from the dog and doesnt get close to them.They also have raptors that got a pomerainian.They leave those animals alone as they arent a threat to them,just natures way.The wildlife is a joy to them,they choose to live there knowing all about it.I agree whole heartedly.

A cat without fear of people is a threat.That cat must go.

BooBoo

I've decided you deserve it. No one likes a holier than thou attitude and you've got it in spades.

I have no idea what the Spokesman printed, we don't read it. The tv stations carried the stories.

There was a little girl attacked at one of the campgrounds at Sullivan lake while waiting for her Grandmother to come out of the bathroom. A boy was attacked south of Sullivan lake within a month or so of the first attack. If I remember the boy was playing near family members. A man was attacked while fishing north of Ione and a hunter was attacked while hunting near Colville. The guy fishing and the hunter were in cougar territory, but didn't do anything to encourage an attack.

We have some cougars around up here. We see tracks, sometimes hear them, very rarely see one in the brush. We leave them alone as long as they leave us alone. When a cougar isn't acting like a normal cougar there is a reason--it may be old/ young/sick- something, and they are especially dangerous.

The question about what to do with the increasing problems with man- wildlife interface is very complicated but that was not the question here. Jane has a problem cougar, and it has to be dealt with. Maggie

Part of the problem is hunting so many animals is now off limits.They get overpopulated and lose fear of humans.Or get populated in areas where they shouldnt be.
IE,humans come first in my book,so thats where I come from in that statement.YMMV!
Plenty of places still remote enough for them,even right here in So Cal,so they dont need to be scoping out humans.

A bit of hunting is a good thing in my book.Not extinction,hunting.

Again,just my view on it,and what I would do on MY property.You do as you see fit on yours and Im OK with that too.

BooBoo

We found those reports Maggie, and I can certainly understand how a cougar attack seven and eight years ago actually SEEMS like it happened a year ago. That's part of the problem, the perceived danger. Those rare instances that it does occur stay current in our minds and make it seem to be an emminent danger.

By contrast, I'd probably raise all kinds of stink if I advocated shooting any dog on my property, even if it was just passing through on the county road, with the suggestion that while he hadn't cause any harm, he COULD have potentially.

There's a heckalot more reported killings and maimings by domestic dogs here in N. Idaho than there ever were of cougars and ironically, there are more protections in place for a dog than a mountain lion. Shoot, in Idaho you can't even prosecute the owner of a dog that has attacked someone until they do it twice!

__________________
Iraq casualties
3,410 American deaths to date in Iraq
25,345 Americans wounded in action to date (your guess how many have died since and been uncounted)
$424,000,000,000 to date

Hey Marvella, at the risk of getting booted off this board - get stuffed, sweetheart.

You've got no call to make judgments about how sure or unsure I sound.

A cougar jumping out at either (a) hubby OR (b) dog is dangerous enough to me.

The cougar hanging around the property and not taking to his heels at the first sight of people or dogs is dangerous enough to me.

The possibility - POSSIBILITY, mind you - that those nice big kitties might take a chunk out of one of my kids is dangerous enough to me. I don't play tag with the predators when it comes to my kids. If you were/are dumb enough to do so, then that's up to you.

You keep on hanging out in those nice safe Appalachians and leave the more dangerous parts of the country to others. Seems you should stay there anyway - the likelihood of you being eaten up here is high. Gonna tell me grizzlies are safe to hang around, too?



bare: on a side note, it's all good. As far as suburbia in Farragut - there's a guy a mile or so down the road with 150 acres who wants to put in 30 houses. The catch? He has to pave our road to do it. That's supposed to somehow sweeten the pot for us...30 new houses hitting up the water and roaring up and down the road and we get a blacktop road. Whee! Not.

__________________
Gun-toting, church-going, homeschooling, right-wing conservative, happily married, stay-at-home mom of three living in the real United States of America!

I hear ya lass, I'm facing the same thing up here. Used to be a rough seven and a half miles up a rutted, incredibly washboarded road, but the pavement inches a mile or so closer every year. Now, it's less than a mile away.

__________________
Iraq casualties
3,410 American deaths to date in Iraq
25,345 Americans wounded in action to date (your guess how many have died since and been uncounted)
$424,000,000,000 to date

I don't think there's much chance we'll be paved anytime soon, the county's always broke so far as road improvements up here. Land prices are starting to get high though. Where DO you live, Bare?

y'know lisa, it seems there ARE a few that agree with me. try re-reading...

get over yourself.

i will repeat my original post..... make sure you have a positive ID before you pull the trigger. many people post on this board about the bears, cougars, whatever, that are predating their livestock... with about as much proof as you have. at least 9 times out of 10, it's the family dog.

if you are THAT afraid of what might come at you out of the woods, again i repeat, you might be a lot happier in town.

tell you what, get your DH to kill it, and post some pics of the carcass, if you all ever figure out how to do it without getting tossed into jail. those of us who think there are quite a number of people on this thread that are over-reacting, THEN will believe a cougar is trying to kill your kid, and go WOW!! along with ya.

and bare.... maybe it's because i feel no real need to mince words and pussyfoot around.

Fifteen miles NE of Bonners. What do you mean land prices are STARTING to get high lass?!? I think we have it bad over the hill from you but some of the prices I see in your neck of the woods stagger me.

__________________
Iraq casualties
3,410 American deaths to date in Iraq
25,345 Americans wounded in action to date (your guess how many have died since and been uncounted)
$424,000,000,000 to date

here's your answer bare,

they think i am holier than they are because i think they ought to make sure they are shooting at a cougar in the yard before they pull the trigger.

i'll be doggone.... the messes i can get into just by trying to point out the obvious.

some people are just looking for excuses to be offended.

I know it. I've heard rumblings (sound pretty far-fetched, I hope) that Sandpoint wants to "improve" Baldy road and annex our area for the property
taxes. I'd really prefer not to part of Sandpoint. I hope its just a rumour!

I 'spose. While it's always a GOOD thing to be certain of one's target, there's no doubt in my mind that what they are seeing is a cougar. They are common here and really, it's difficult to imagine mistaking one for a dog, even with a spotlight across the field. They are incredible critters, with graceful movements, completely distinctive from anything else.

If you search this site with bare and cougar, you'll find a tale of one of my kids encounters with one up behind the house.

A few years ago I was building a house for a feller up in Smith Cr. I was down on the main road waiting for a concrete truck to arrive so I could guide him up to the construction site. I watched a cougar sauntering down the road, not at all troubled by seeing me standing next to the van having a smoke. I thought he just didn't see me for some reason when he froze 50' away. He jumped up off the road and instantly I heard an elk snort. He wasn't worried about me, just intent on his elk! I really hoped for a view of a cougar trying to take down an elk at close range, but although the snorting and stomping continued for about 10 minutes, I never caught sight of either one again and I dang sure wasn't gonna go looking for them.

__________________
Iraq casualties
3,410 American deaths to date in Iraq
25,345 Americans wounded in action to date (your guess how many have died since and been uncounted)
$424,000,000,000 to date

ThreeJane, I believe God placed something in mothers that knows when something isn't right.

I have heard cougars can be found in the Appalachians now: http://www.patc.net/resources/florafauna/cougar.html

So much for relaxing when I take trips there.....but then there were always the pan-handling bears waiting for tourists to place their kids on their backs.

__________________
LilyRose

The only piece of schrapnal I can possibly add to this hand grenade is "Ford = SSS". That pretty much sums up they way I've felt about them for a looong time. Thanks for finally putting it into perspective for me Bare.....

Cougars and grizzlies don't bother me a lick, but the thought of a wild hog after my fat butt gives me the willies. Don't you have wild hogs down your way Marvella?

I suppose it's all what you are familiar with and what wild tales you've heard.

__________________
Iraq casualties
3,410 American deaths to date in Iraq
25,345 Americans wounded in action to date (your guess how many have died since and been uncounted)
$424,000,000,000 to date

And THAT'S why I drive Dodges! *ducks and runs*

bare:

An' they gots loooong tails. They really are beautiful animals. don't get me wrong. I don't want this guy's hide on my wall, in any case.

On to less incendiary things, for a moment...

Land prices here are going for,in some cases, $10k per acre. Per ACRE. Dangit. Down in CdA, NOT on the lake, they can hit $20k per acre.

Then again, before I left SoCal, they were $500k per acre, if you could find an acre, in the San Fernando Valley area, depending upon location.

Hubby and I have been talking about buying some land north of Bonner's Ferry, maybe even over by Moyie Springs (or thereabouts). (we considered B.C. but what with the passport requirement thing, doesn't sound like it's the right idea)

Doesn't need to be anything other than a property, 20 acres-ish, with some kind of water (creek, spring, pond, river, stream, you get the idea). We're not looking to buy it to flip it and get rich quick (like everyone else these days). It's more of a "bug out, retirement, just to have it" kind of property.

Problem is, it's ALL expensive. And I really don't want 20 acres. I'm greedy. I want a full SECTION.

...and there's even MORE predatory wildlife up there than down here...



Heh. Anyway.

Heck, even property in Blanchard (Blanchard! In the logged out spots!) is going for $8k an acre for basically unimproved land.

I figure a good winter or two (and Cliff's Weather Gems predicts a COLD and WET winter this year) will clear out the "Idaho's not so bad in the winter" types and then property/land prices might drop some. I can only hope.

Now, back to the topic:

Marvella: Per your post

Oh, *shut up* about the family dog already. I already have a positive ID. Biiiig kitty, long tail, moves like a cat only far larger, climbs trees, et al. What the heck else do you want? During the season, it's perfectly LEGAL to shoot cougars here...even to hunt them. That would be why hubby bought his cougar (and deer, elk, bear, antelope) tag(s). So if he gets lucky and manages to bag a cougar this season, I'd be happy to post pictures of it on this site...

...if only to shut you up. All perfectly legal and such.

__________________
Gun-toting, church-going, homeschooling, right-wing conservative, happily married, stay-at-home mom of three living in the real United States of America!