Kind of makes you want to move back to the safety of the big city I bet..
mikell
mikell
I was wondering about that. However, a 120+ pound dog with a heavy coat might do better than ya think! In all honesty, I was hoping that just the deterent of a huge, noisy dog would be enough, should there ever be another in the area. My collie has chased off a few bears in his time by sheer temper tantrum alone! :haha: Pyres are successfully used to keep bears at bay, so I'd hope they would do at least a little better than my aging collie or Chesapeake.CJ said:I don't think any guard dog is going to stand much of a chance against a mountain lion. A bobcat yes.
Are you always this condescending? Did you actually read my comments before launching into a self-rightious rant? Do you think that perhaps people like yourself who live in cat country are more acustomed to, and as a result, prepared for them? Southeastern SD is not home to many (if any previously??) mountain lions, so I was taken off guard by this development, as was the entire community. I'm terribly sorry this offends you so. Now, do you think that parents, living in town in an area not prone to cats would be troubled to hear of one hiding in the shrubs next to a house that the their children walk by on their way to school? If you noticed, I did not scream for anhiallation of all cats, I commented that it was time to get a LGD, implying that I may need to prepare for a potential risk to my livestock. I'm happy to hear that this has not been your experience, but livestock and people have been killed by cats. To try to make them sound like harmless animals and ignore any risk seems irresponsible to me.bare said:"So, freak right out about it whydontcha. I live in Mountain Lion Paradise, Northern Idaho. Critters galore, even five kids, yet no attacks in all these years. Add all my neighbors and their visiting kin...all with no problems from the evil Mountain Lion!"
CJ said:And on the other hand, it's heartbreaking as hell to watch and listen to 50 ewes run around bawling their heads off looking for their baby lambs the mountain lions carry off.
We lost over 50% of our lamb crop last year. I don't mind sharing the land with other creatures, but I'm afraid if I catch sight of another mountain lion it's dead.
I agree with you, it's a good feeling to know that wolves, eagles and cats, amoung others, are making a comeback. I think the real problem is when people choose not to inform and prepare themselves to live peacefully with predators. I don't know if it's a misguided sense of entitlement, but it seems that there are too many folks with livestock living with predators who expect the gov't to "fix" their predator problem. These seem to be the ones screaming for blood.fordy said:..............There are a Limited number of wild creature's in the Us and Alaska that are survivors in my opinion and should be accorded special treatment in some way or another . They are ..........Coyete , Cougar\Puma\mountain lion , Grizzly Bear , Timber Wolf , Moose , Elk , Buffalo , etc. The coyete will survive on its own initiative and probablly needs NO special recognition which means I shouldn't have included it in the first Place.
.............These special creatures are the Very Essence of what The American WEST was , is and should Continue TOO be as far as the "Freedom " to Discover what's over the Next Mountain. They must be preserved along with the 200 Million plus acres of National Park land That Teddy Roosevelt signed into Existence just before he left office. I also Understand that lions must NOT be Allowed to destroy the herds of vulnerable animals like sheep and goats. They must be either moved and\or shot when necessary.
.............If, we allow the force of economic development to pave, cement , cultivate every undeveloped acre of land we possess the MYSTERY and Sense of AWE that you get when you visit places like YellowStone , Glacier, etc. will simply be destroyed. This cannot be allowed to happen.......fordy....![]()
I agree about having to shoot the cat. He was most likely lost. There had been no mention of him prior to this...in other words, he was probably not hanging around stalking and/or killing pets or livestock in the area. I'm suprised they could not find a tranq gun...but then, I can't say when the last time something like this came up!Laura said:I've lived in peace with the predators all my life without any problems. I never considered doing it without a dog or two, though. I teach my kids when they are very young not to make cat food noises and never go out without a dog.
It's a shame this young cat had to be killed. He was striking out to find his own territory and got lost and confused. I am an advocate for running the cats with dogs to train them to stay out of populated areas and to fear dogs. Alas, it has been outlawed and now only "The State" has that right.
That's a bit too close for comfort. It happens around here and our neighbor shot at a black one about 8 yrs ago, before we moved here. It happens every year here, somewhere around us and we are between two rivers and far enough out in the sticks they could hide well. I guess civilization has just encroached too far in on them. The ones born wild will attack livestock, they just look at it as food.apirlawz said:"My hubby was talking to someone at work about this today, and they had mentioned that the cats usually tend to follow rivers, and they thought that this one just happened to follow the James River...the same one that flows exactly one mile west of my farm! I just have birds and rabbits, but I'm surrounded by cattle ranchers. Bet those guys are getting nervous! Also, I'm just glad school's out...can you image how dangerous that would have been for kids walking to school!?
April
April,apirlawz said:I was wondering about that. However, a 120+ pound dog with a heavy coat might do better than ya think! In all honesty, I was hoping that just the deterent of a huge, noisy dog would be enough, should there ever be another in the area. My collie has chased off a few bears in his time by sheer temper tantrum alone! :haha: Pyres are successfully used to keep bears at bay, so I'd hope they would do at least a little better than my aging collie or Chesapeake. April