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Posted on 04/16/2006 7:33:43 AM PDT by george76
A 7-year-old boy hiking with his family was attacked Saturday by a mountain lion...
The boy, whose name was not released, was apparently in a group taking a short hike at a scenic area of Flagstaff Mountain, Division of Wildlife spokesman Tyler Baskfield said.
"The father turned and saw the cat had a hold of the young boy," ...
The group began screaming at the cat and throwing rocks and was able to free the boy...
the mountain is prime habitat for the cats, and there had been several recent sightings of mountain lions in west Boulder.
(Excerpt) Read more at rockymountainnews.com ...
Mountain lion populations are way up...nationwide.
We not only see tracks but also the lions and their growing families.
We often see signs around town for folks who have a missing dog or cat.
One does not know if it was a pack of coyotes, a bear, or a mountain lion.
The sign that says..." Have you seen my dog muffin ? " teels the story that something had lunch.
Keep them close, IN FRONT and carry?
A cat will generally attack from behind. If everyone walks with just a broom handle as a walkingstick/weapon you'll probably be OK. Myself, I would have a revolver under my vest, just to make noise you understand.
It sounds like Oregon is making the same mistake that many other states are making.
The PETA lawyers can easily find a weak, emotional judge to rule against hunting.
Scientists with advanced knowledge and experience should be making these scientific decisions.
Foresters will make better forest decisions and hunters will manage the populations of wildlife better than any emotional judge.
"How cool would it be to have a t-shirt with a picture of yourself and a cat in a death struggle that says "Someone went to Flagstaff Mountain and all I got was this stupid t-shirt".
LOL!
Or "I went to Flagstaff Mtn and all I got was MAULED wearing this stupid T-shirt!"
About 35 years ago, I killed a huge timber wolf about 3.5 miles from Los Angeles International Airport in the city of Lawndale. During the night, it had killed a couple of german shepards, a st. bernard and who knows how many little dogs.
I killed it in a school yard while very small (kindrgarten and elementary students were arriving at the school) and before any of the kids tried to pet the big "doggy".
After killing it we discovered it had a "choke" chain collar on it. Apparently somebody in the wealthy neighborhood of Palos Verdes Estates (where the attacks on the dogs began) kept this beast as a pet.
That picture reminds me of when our old stud horse Manitou Rock was attacked by a dog in his corral. Rock picked the 60 pound dog up by the nape of the neck and threw it over the fence, breaking it's neck.
Nice shot.
Many of the DUmmies also have wolf hybrids ( part dog ).
They release them onto us after they realize that these wolf-dogs are big time predators.
Those are impressive pictures.
It is amazing what a mule or horse can do to defend itself.
No dog in this one. It was HUGE.
Rancher families in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana are increasingly dealing with big wolves, too.
The reports that the kids can not go outside to play in their own yards at home unless there is an armed adult present is sad.
It is good that you shot that big wolf.
I met one in the desert of Utah (I had no weapons with me) and I'll say this. It is a hair raising experience...
Some mule deer had just wandered by and he was tracking them. We met eyeball to eyeball at a distance of about 40 feet. After the hair on my neck stood up, we both turned and went opposite ways. It scared the hell out of me. I now carry a Winchester 12 gauge on my back and a large hunting knife strapped to my leg. I rate the knife as my most important defense as if a cat hits me, I won't know he's coming until I get struck from behind.
Let me add, he was a beautiful animal...
Cool story. Love the Utah desert, too. I should probably carry a big knife like that, too. It's definitely in the "careful what you wish for" category. Then again, I don't even wish to see a grizz in the wild. No thanks. Black bears will do, thank you very much. But a wild cat would be cool. Maybe something smaller, like a lynx or bobcat :-)
B. The fact that mountain lion exposure is a cumulative risk i.e. the more time you spend in lion country the higher the probability.
This reason is precisely why I consider the odds are so low for an individual tourist family on a single trip to the mountains. The population of Colorado is about three million or so. Plus there are a million tourists per year. Since most residents go outside several times a year, and tourists are going to the very places that are mountain lion habitat, this would all probably add up to hundreds of millions of opportunities for a mountain lion attack per year. Yet I can only think of about six or seven actual attacks in the last ten years or so.
No I have not calculated the odds scientifically, but if someone wants to be afraid of something while in the Colorado mountains, here is a list of much more likely incidents:
Car Accidents
Inexperienced climbers falling from rocks
Hypothermia
Dehydration
Lightning
If a person wants to insist on being afraid of wild animals, be afraid of a deer on the road at night.
Perfectly.
;^)
It is, of course, a Federal crime to purchase a handgun outside of your home state.
A Mountain Lion's Perspective |
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Mountain Lion Attacks, One Fatal, in Colorado Parks
A 10-year old boy was attacked and killed by a mountain lion Puma concolor in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park while on a family hike in July, while a boy from France was attacked in Mesa Verde National Park.
Mark David Miedema was walking ahead of his parents, who did not see the attack, in Rocky Mountain NP. rounding a corner of the trail they saw their son lying with his head in the lion's mouth.
Mark's parents scared the cat away and Kathy Miedema tried to revive her son while a fellow hiker called for help.
Wildlife trackers, aided by a team of dogs, shot and killed the 40 kg cougar when it returned to the scene of the attack a couple of hours later.
Park spokesman Doug Caldwell said: "What we think may have happened - and this is pure theory - is that, unfortunately, Mark came along at the wrong time, when the lion was in a hunting mode.
Mountain lions don't distinguish between humans and deer."
on 14 January 1991, when a high school student was attacked and killed while jogging near Idaho Springs.
Caldwell said the attack occurred on 17 July in the same general area as the park's last two mountain lion encounters.
In 1996, a female park employee was attacked near there while jogging. In 1995, a photographer in the western part of the park was treed by a mountain lion.
when they were hunted regularly, they had a good reason to fear us. Now they don't," ...
http://www.bigcats.org/abc/attacks/colorado1.html
Then you should not falsify a number for the sake of enhancing the authority of your argument.
If a person wants to insist on being afraid of wild animals
This has little to do with fear but rather preparation. Just as you should have some polypro to deal with hypothermia you should also take precautions against predatory critters human and otherwise. Real Fear is what you experience when you are lacking in preparedness.
That cougar was already dead when Berry the mule got ahold of it.
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