Posted on 05/25/2011 4:56:20 PM PDT by Daffynition
UPDATE 9:20 a.m. - Charlene Wilkinson just wanted to read the news, not be the news when she picked up the Independent Record off her porch Wednesday morning.
Then she got a call from the Helena Police dispatcher shortly after 7 a.m., telling her to stay inside and move away from the windows because a mountain lion was curled up on her front porch, precisely where she had picked up her newspaper just moments earlier.
"They told me not to even look out the window because I could startle it and it could go through the window," Wilkinson said, recalling a Townsend mountain lion that did just that. "So I got away from the window and called my son."
Moments later, Dave Loewen, a game warden with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, shot the year-old mountain lion from the safety of his truck.
Loewen said they initially wanted to dart the lion and capture it, but it was too dangerous to do that in the residential neighborhood.
"I couldn't get a clean shot, and if I darted it and it didn't take effect, it would run off. I didn't want to make a second problem," Loewen said.
The lion was on the porch in the quiet subdivision just west of the St. Peter's Group medical building, near the corner of Road Runner and Sand Piper Loop.
Check tomorrow's Independent Record for more on this story.
Lewis & Clark County Sheriff's Department and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials have located a mountain lion on the 100 block of Sandpiper Loop. Authorities have cornered the lion on a porch of a house and are asking people to stay out of the area and residents to stay in their homes until the lion is darted.
In this particular case, there was no reason to shoot that animal. He was not threatening but was sleeping. I would argue that the idiot park ranger put the residents in danger by firing, what had to be a high powered rifle, toward an occupied house.
An argument could also be made about your personal encounter that you should not have been there in the first place. No I’m not making that argument, just making a point. He could of easily killed you as you stated...but he didn’t. You were not threatening.
We are the stewards of all creation. That does not mean killing just because the animal crossed over into a human area. We have the means to put an animal down, almost immediately, without killing it and those methods should be used unless there is an immediate threat.
Magnificent! thank you for posting that
That's it exaclty. All creatures belong to God and humans are stewards. Just like parents are stewards of their children. And mountain lions are following their God given nature. So many humans are worse than animals. That's why I prefer to live in an area with lots of wild animals and very few wild people.
Awful why did they have to kill the animal. What happen to just knocking him out and then taking him to his home. Good god.
I saw a Mountain Lion on my way to up to Mt St Helens a few years ago. That sucker was huge—and I was easily 100 yards away from it, down the road.
What was going to be a nice camping trip, alone on a volcano, turned into a nice night in a motel a few miles away.
Big cats like that are not just going to saunter away. At least not until they’ve eaten every dog and cat in your neighborhood. And, what comes on the food chain after that? Illegal immigrants, homeless people, and the nannies walking their strollers down the street.
Nope, shooting him was the right decision. Respect nature and all that, but most people are so domesticated they forget we were once prey.
I live in a remote rural valley surrounded by large mountains, most either State or National forest. There are countless bears, mountain lions, bobcats etc. I’ve seen lion footprints and scat on my property all the time and heard them scream a few times. An unearthly sound. Bear scat? A dime a dozen.
Very very rarely are any pets or livestock bothered.
Lions would rather eat deer or other natural prey. If people aren’t stupid, lions are not a problem. Most people with livestock have several large dogs and lions do not like barking large dogs.
You can’t compare illegal aliens to wild animals. Sheesh.
Right!
Yes I suppose your right but that just breaks my heart.
i was kidding. Come on. It was a little funny.
Anyway, if you are living in THEIR area, I appreciate your position.
However, if this thing is laying on someone’s doorstep it just a matter of time before they start getting the easy prey. And eventually, that would be stupid people.
THAT was the point I was trying to make.
My mom lives in rural VT. Deer, bears, etc are pretty common. Even the occasional Moose. They are part of the scenery. But, if they started making their homes in town, a bear would just get into trouble. They usually just dart them and take them home.
I am not opposed to killing lions who start going after livestock or humans of course. Sometimes in this valley they have gone after horses, goats or cattle. In which case people try to find them and kill them.
When living in a rural area inhabited by large predators, people need to protect their pets, livestock and children with fences, dogs etc.
Sorry sometimes I don’t get funny without some hint! ;-)
I would need new underwear if I saw a lion like you did. For sure.
Her son made no sense.
Afraid he could not get off clean shot with dart but thought he could with rifle?
Afraid if dart did not take affect lion could run off, but not afraid he would miss with rifle, or that firing in the direction of his mother’s house might be a problem?
Some people just like to kill things.
So can a dog. So can your neighbor. etc
Yes, just like gun control. People with guns can kill other people. As good citizens, like our ancestors, we see the danger and guns need to be eliminated.
b
Trying that old liberal, if I say it is so it is so approach. Look, you were caught with some poor logic, own up. Your logic toward the cat, and the gun control people is the same.
What would you propose to do with a cougar that has so little fear of humans it sleeps on someone’s porch?
Obviously, you don’t live in cougar country.
Cougars/mountain lions can’t be reasoned with.
I already posted what I believed should have been done.
We on the West Coast are becoming overrun by these violent, aggressive predators, because urbanites have banned hunting cougars with dogs (the only practical way to hunt them), on the basis of emotionalism.
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