Posted on 08/31/2010 7:14:29 PM PDT by thecodont
(08-31) 18:35 PDT BERKELEY -- Berkeley police shot and killed a mountain lion early Tuesday as it roamed a neighborhood around the city's world-famous Gourmet Ghetto for at least an hour, leaping over fences from one backyard to another.
Three officers shot and killed the 100-pound adult female with rifles and a shotgun shortly before 3:30 a.m. outside a home on the 1600 block of Walnut Street, just blocks from Chez Panisse restaurant, the flagship Peet's Coffee store, the Cheese Board Collective and other businesses along busy Shattuck Avenue in North Berkeley.
Residents speculated that the mountain lion had been hunting for deer that are commonly seen in the area. But Patrick Foy, a state Department of Fish and Game warden, said it was unclear what the cougar was doing in a residential neighborhood, a baguette's throw from the birthplace of California cuisine. There were no signs that it had killed any domestic pets, he said.
The nearest open space is Tilden Regional Park, more than a mile east of where the cougar was killed.
"We found no reason why it should have been there," Foy said. "It's a very odd situation. It's just very unusual."
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/31/BAV41F6FIP.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0yEtvZVb6
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Probably an older Cat... once they loose their teeth they start hanging out around garbage pits... still dangerous cause they have “CLAWS” my first Dog learned that the hard way.
TT
A couple years ago the police in Palo Alto killed a cougar near an elementary school. The local rag was FILLED with sob stories from the local libs just wailing for the poor widdle kittie killed by the mean police. I really think they cared more for the cat than the kids at the school. But these are the people who favor abortion up to birth, so why should I be surprised?
Some articles speculated that the cat was after deer, which have been known to roam through urban areas. But even if she was prowling after Bambi munching roses in someone's front yard, that's still a pretty bold (and desperate) cat. I speculate that in this restaurant-rich neighborhood, there were rats attracted to the food dumpsters in the back of the various dining establishments, and feral or semi-feral cats preying on the rats. A domestic cat (or a few rats) could be an easy catch for a mountain lion and just enough of a snack for sustenance.
From the article:
"To have something like that happen is very scary," Charlesworth said. "It makes me think that the animal either had to be pretty sick or very hungry to come down this far, because it's so close to people."
"In the case of this mountain lion that showed up in an area that was completely unnatural for that lion to be there, hopping from one backyard to the next, running through the church playground and the parking lot, it's a threat to public safety," Foy said. "We're very supportive of Berkeley PD's action."
Kitty cat seemed pretty familiar with the neighborhood. Interesting.
Google Maps: check out Shattuck and Cedar Streets, Berkeley, CA to get an idea of the terrain.
I will not laugh, I will not laugh, I will not laugh....cannot help it LOL :O)
A good point. Animal rights and environmental groups are populated by the radical left. And their new mission is defending radical Islam. But when it comes to unborn humans, not so much.
The left has an irrational devotion to protecting evil.
LOL
Clever
Like the cat they got a couple of years ago at the food court in the Capitola Mall, or the one on the wrong side of El Camino Real in Palo Alto?
Unusual my ass. The cats are overpopulated and hungry. The creeks are finally dry (it's been a cool year). The deer are seeking a safe place among people. The cats follow the deer and need the water. QED
You don't understand - liberals are in charge of wildlife management in the Bay Area. That means it is done properly, so there is no overpopulation, and they are not hungry, and don't need to follow the deer. Besides, they are gentle creatures if treated gently (as they assuredly are the Bay Area), so they have no need to hurt deer, let alone eat them. Did you know they are widely admired in the cultures of the indigenous peoples of the Americas? It's true and you should never stop learning. The Inca city of Cusco is reported to have been designed in the shape of a cougar, and the animal also gave its name to both Inca regions and people. So right there it's, like, important in ways that we can't really understand, especially because we are inherently biased because we are caucasians. So we need to practice humility. And patience. Also, the Moche people represented the puma often in their ceramics. Have you ever worked with clay? It's great for releasing negative energy in a positive way, by connecting with the earth through your tactile sense. In addition, the sky and thunder god of the Inca, Viracocha, has been associated with the animal. And the Incas were really cool by anyone's standard. All the headresses and everything. Would you like to get a salad? But no cheese and not too much oil, though apple cider vinager is excellent for immune system health. That and colon cleansing, of course. Did I tell you I'm getting a Prius?
Hip Hip Hooray!
lol, Excuuuuuse me, but I've written two books about what liberals do to the environment (for money) and have lived in the Bay Area all my life. Didn't you go to my page before writing this?
Good grief.
Also, the Moche people represented the puma often in their ceramics.
So nice of you to offer benefit of your inestimable knowledge of Central and South American cultures, but the Ohlone never had a ceramics industry. They relied upon basket making for container manufacturing and never once attempted constructing a city. Oh, and did you know that the agricultural practices for producing said baskets were one of the reasons for the fabulous soils of the Santa Clara Valley? Or that the hills were covered with agricultural patches of Clarkia, Eriogonum, Rumex, Brodiaea, Chlorogalum pomeridianum, and Dichelostema capitata interspersed among the Quercus?
One learns these things by managing disturbance and killing every blasted non-native plant, for decades. I've actually got a few patches indicating such relic farming on our property. We're tinning experiments to discern how they might have done it. Frankly, we don't know very much about it.
Effectively, the liberals might as well be making dinosaur paintings of "Nature" around here because there isn't any. But one thing is certain: If they had seen a mountain lion, the "First Peoples" would have done everything within their power to kill it.
Your sarcasm detector is broken... Please have it serviced after you reread the post...
Not a bit (you did see the "lol" there?), I was taking the opportunity to point something out.
While Amerindian cultures in this area were truly primitive, they do have something to teach us about land use and management, simply because they developed the botany of this region for supporting human foraging. They made the system they had more productive. So, while I have little interest in basket-weaving, I actually do experiment with the plants they used and try to fit those practices into the management of our land. So when a FReeper wastes his time bashing liberals for their ignorant application of that knowledge, too often we end up disparaging the knowledge as of little to no use while alienating people who can be converted using the hook of their love for land.
I have also learned quite a bit about their hunting practices, which (unbeknownst to most liberals) were relentless, cruel, and most effective. These guys didn't screw around. It is important to know for the inferences to which it leads in making land management decisions. The respect understanding that knowledge communicates to local tribes people goes a long way with them. They dislike the liberals, even if the extortion rackets they're selling are good for the ol' bottom line.
What I have learned is that they built a landscape capable of supporting large numbers of people. Should disaster strike, we might well be wishing we had paid more attention and not tossed the decent work not a few liberal are doing as if it was meaningless. Hence, I am on decent terms with not a few scientists in this are (leftists all) because I have produced that of which they can only dream. They are slowly learning that there is no way their methods will ever produce such a result. When that penny drops, they are ready to listen to the lengthy tale of real estate racketeering to which their beliefs were actually committed. At that point, they don't go around calling us stupid any more. We may think we are being clever with the sarcasm, but too often we merely come off looking ignorant.
So, I actually think that such sarcasm is a bad habit, one that costs us dearly in the grand debate, and am suggesting a different attitude.
Here we are and it's been less than 24 hours...
Mountain lion spotted in Burlingame
I guess it's just not that unusual, is it?
That said, you never thanked Talisker for the salad invite.
Well, he could come here and go native, digging up some sanicle root and blue dick bulbs, but only if he doesn't drive the Prius. Wouldn't want to ruin my reputation. :-)
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