[Flycatcher]

I went to the website you posted. The gist of it is that lion attacks are extremely rare. It also points out that one has a much higher likelihood (10 to 1) to be killed by a neighborhood dog than a mountain lion.

I agree with the points made at the website. I'm out in the true wilderness a lot, yet I've only seen three lions, and all three fled. To see a mountain lion in the wild is a magnificent thing, and to think that any encounter with this animal should result in its shooting death is extraordinarily short-sighted and, well, cowardly.

HOWEVER... all mountain lions that act aggressively toward humans (and this is mainly happening in near-suburban settings) DO need to be hunted and put down.

I would like to think that there is a place in the wild for this magnificent beast — but not in suburbia.

[jazusamo]

all mountain lions that act aggressively toward humans (and this is mainly happening in near-suburban settings)

You are correct. Mountain lions that live in suburban or rural populated areas have been forced to live there by their over population, thus they lose their fear of man and those are the lions who become problems.

The only practical way of hunting lions is with hounds and if hounds are allowed to be used in those areas it solves the vast majority of lion problems.

I have hunted deer and elk over forty years in prime cougar country in three states and not once have I had the privilege of seeing a cougar. In that type country they've not lost their fear of man.

[GladesGuru]

If American history is any indication, when people are free to shoot any predator that they see fit, predators learn to stay out of sight.

The issue is not whether there are predators near man, the question is “ARE THE PREDATORS AFRAID OF MAN?”

“When gunpowder speaks, beasts listen.”

Repeal the Endangered Species Act and allow the citizen to carry openly in all state and Federal recreation lands.

[familyop]

"To see a mountain lion in the wild is a magnificent thing, and to think that any encounter with this animal should result in its shooting death is extraordinarily short-sighted and, well, cowardly.

HOWEVER... all mountain lions that act aggressively toward humans (and this is mainly happening in near-suburban settings) DO need to be hunted and put down."

It's good for us that the mountain lions wear license plates, so that we can kill only the bad ones. ;-)