Free Republic

A woman’s photograph of a big cat roaming the snowy woods near her mother’s home in a sleepy central Connecticut town has some convinced it’s a mountain lion — despite environmental officials’ assertion that cougars are extinct in the state. Caitlin Handley posted the photograph on Durham-Middlefield Patch on March 6 under her mother Linda’s name, warning residents to keep their pets inside, and soon received a dozen comments from folks who surmised it was a bobcat. “It was approximately 10 in the morning when I saw it,” Handley says. “I believe the animal was actually bigger than the picture...

Authorities are searching for an “aggressive” mountain lion that killed a German shepherd in a Fontana backyard Wednesday and kept returning to the home despite being shot at by police. About 3:30 a.m. a resident in the 4100 block of Fox Borough Drive heard his dog crying out and went outside to find a large mountain lion standing over his dead 100-pound German shepherd, the Fontana police said in a statement. http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-aggressive-mountain-lion-search-20140305,0,6377684.story#ixzz2v9UKdfWZ

Traps have been put in place to capture the lionAuthorities are hoping to speak Sunday to a 50-year-old homeless man who suffered severe injuries in an apparent mountain lion attack in Perris. An emergency call was placed around 8 a.m. Saturday morning of a man suffering injuries to his face, chest, head and arms, according to Dan Sforza, assistant chief of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The man, who was injured near a makeshift shelter near Highway 74 and Navajo Road, was taken to a hospital where he underwent surgery, Sforza said.

SunkenCiv always has the most beautiful photos of distant galaxies and comets and stuff. The other night, he posted this photo of a planet that was just stunning. I thought that maybe I should go outside and look at all the stars I was missing. I walked out the back door and started across the back yard looking up to see what was in the sky. This is kind of dangerous as I have four dogs and you should watch where you step in the back yard because if you don't you might step in dog crap and drag it...

Five mountain lion cubs mothered by Teton Cougar Project research animals have met their ends in the jaws of wolves over the past few years. Now a Jackson Hole female cougar appears to have exacted vengeance. A lion tracked by the Kelly-based science institute for the past six years is documented to have recently dined on a yearling wolf, Cougar Project biologist Mark Elbroch says. “What’s nice about this particular incident is that this is a collared mountain lion, and we know for sure that she killed it,” ... While not unheard of, proven cases of lions killing wolves are...

A male mountain lion was shot by a deer hunter Saturday, November 10th, the opening day of the November firearm deer season. The incident occurred about 10 miles northeast of Ainsworth in Brown County. The hunter reported the shooting to a Nebraska Game and Parks Commission conservation officer. According to the hunter, the cat walked parallel to him at about 35 yards as he left his hunting blind, made eye contact with him, then circled in front of the hunter’s path. A subsequent investigation concluded the hunter was justified in killing the 150-pound animal. By law, a person may kill...

CUSTER (AP) — A rural Custer man who discovered a mountain lion lounging on his porch shot and killed the animal.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer claims that Microsoft has sold 4 million upgrades to Windows 8 in the first three of its launch -- more than the 3 million upgrades of Mountain Lion sold in the first four days of its launch. That sounds impressive -- but is it really good news for Microsoft? During Microsoft's BUILD Conference today, Ballmer said, "In just the last three days, we have sold 4 million Windows 8 upgrades. The level of embrace from enthusiasts is very, very high." He later called the results "stunning. Computerworld's Gregg Keizer notes that those numbers are likely downloads,...

A B.C. woman who was attacked on her sofa by a starving cougar that strolled into her house in search of a meal says her faithful dog saved her life. Angie Prime, 35, was sitting in the living room of her home in Trail, located in southeastern B.C., on Saturday evening, talking to her husband on the phone and getting ready to take her three dogs out for a walk before turning into bed. Then she caught a flash of something that should not have been in the house. "I just happened to catch something out of the corner of...

NEVADA CITY, Calif. - A mountain lion attacked a 63-year-old man camping northwest of Nevada City. ... the man decided to stop and sleep for the night while on the planned hiking trip, and laid a sleeping bag out on a tributary to the Yuba River. The man told officials that during the attack, the mountain lion bit and clawed him through the sleeping bag. The animal bit into the man's cap and his clothes. "The lion immediately began a ferocious attack. It bit him into his head. It bit him on the hands," said Patrick Foy, of the Department...

It was hard to put a finger on it, but something seemed slightly off five years ago as Jim and Nell Hamm were completing a hike through pristine Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. The Humboldt County woods seemed unusually quiet, they said, perhaps a bit spooky that fateful afternoon on Jan. 24, 2007, when Jim heard a "gravelly sound" and looked behind him. In the air, its claws straight out in front, was a mountain lion flying toward his head. He said he instinctively ducked to his left and the lion flew by, landing on the trail. The cougar quickly...

A mountain lion cornered in a downtown Santa Monica courtyard bolted after being shot with a tranquilizer dart, prompting authorities to use lethal force Tuesday morning, according to the California Department of Fish and Game. "We were able to get a dart in the lion. At that point, the lion was making its way out into the street and then we really have to be concerned about public safety at that point," ... The male, 3-year-old mountain lion -- estimated to weigh 80 pounds -- apparently jumped over an eight-foot fence to enter the courtyard area

The ranchers in Indian Valley, Genesee and Taylorsville, Plumas Co. have had 7 mountain lions killed this year after they had lost pets and livestock. One after this one was killed. Alicia Knadler, Indian Valley editor, wrote the following story in the March 27 Lassen County Times. "Blood and gore and the blank stares of his baby and adult goats greeted Genesee youth Paul Astles when he went to do his chores in the barn before school Monday, March 12. "He discoved a full-scale slaughter of his kids and adults. (Heather Kingdon told me he lost nine head that night.)...

A northern California man who says he was attacked by a mountain lion while out on a hike has a helpful hand - or claw - to thank for his life. Robert Biggs, 69, of Paradise, Calif., says he was saved by a helpful bear. Biggs set out Monday morning for one of his usual hiking and gold-panning trips near Whiskey Flats when he came across a mother bear, yearling, and cub sitting on a stream bank. Biggs said he stopped to watch the bears for a few moments, but, as he turned to leave, something jumped on his back...

Democratic Assemblyman Ben Hueso said Friday that he is dropping his effort to oust Fish and Game Commission President Dan Richards. Richards recently came under heavy fire from animal-rights groups and Democratic lawmakers after a photo in a hunting publication showed him posing with a mountain lion he shot in Idaho. Unlike in California, where voters banned killing cougars in 1990, Idaho allows the animals to be hunted. Critics said his actions, while not illegal, raised doubts about his ability to lead the commission. But hunting and fishing groups, as well as GOP lawmakers, have come to Richards' defense. Hueso,...

LOS ALTOS -- A dog chased a cat up a tree Tuesday morning in the Bay Area -- same old story, right? Well, except in this case, the "cat" is a rather large mountain lion. The California Department of Fish and Game reported to an upscale home on La Barranca and Elena roads in Los Altos on Tuesday morning after learning of a mountain lion 30 to 40 feet up a tree. An 85-pound German Shepard named Cody apparently was scary enough to send the mountain lion running. The big cats have been known to eat things larger than Cody,...

The divide between those who live in rural areas and those from cities ruptured wide this past weekend across America in a debate over a provocative photo of California Fish and Game Commission President Dan Richards and a huge mountain lion he shot legally after an 8-hour hunt in Idaho. Some comments on Facebook suggest that Richards should be the one hunted and shot, that he should be jailed, that is unethical to shoot anything you do not eat, and hunting of any kind is barbaric.Most from rural backgrounds would see nothing wrong with the photo. Mountain lions are predators...

Big Bend National Park - What started as a family vacation quickly took a turn for the worst after a six-year-old boy is attacked by a mountain lion in Big Bend National Park. "We weren’t on a trail or down in the woods we were on a sidewalk between the restaurant and hotel," explains Rivers Hobbs’ father, Jason. The Hobbs family drove in from Austin, hoping to enjoy the outdoors in Big Bend National Park. But their vacation was cut short. "It snuck up on me," claims 6-year-old Rivers. “It” was a mountain lion, sneaking up on Rivers just feet...

The animal had been preying on domestic goats, residents and authorities said. A mountain lion that took a heavy toll on the animals in an Oak Glen petting zoo was killed on Christmas night when it returned to a sheep carcass to feed. The 7-year-old female lion had been raiding the petting zoo at Riley’s at Los Rios Rancho apple orchards. In all, 13 goats and sheep died, said Devon Riley, who owns the business in the mountains east of Yucaipa. When the goats and sheep started to disappear in late November, California Department of Fish and Game officials investigated...

A Los Alamos family is mourning the loss of their pet dog after a mountain lion attacked and killed it in their backyard on Christmas Eve. Police Capt. Randy Foster said that when Hari Viswanathan heard the family dog, named Gwennie, barking outside and found a mountain lion trying to pull it through wooden slats in the fence, he frantically tried to get the big can to let go and even hit it over the head with a shovel. Even after four officers responded and the dog was dead, the mountain lion wouldn't let her go,