Predator populations increase.
Human populations increase.
More conflict between large predators and humans. Who would have predicted this!/S
Grrrrr! Don’t you just hate it when people who talk on their cell phones while hunting? If I was a hunter, I would.
How long until we have this story regarding wolves?
Did Tonto write that headline?
Don’t know about going for a handgun when you could belt kitty with over 2 ounces of #6 shot.
Why didn’t he use the shotgun on the mountain lion? Birdshot, at close range would have done a number on it. They are not hard to kill, as evidenced by the 9mm.
I would not have taken the risk on pulling another weapon.
He was hunting pheasants with his 9mm...??? I’m impressed.! :)
They are called wild animals for a reason. This is why I never go into the woods without at least a .44 with 300gr bear busters.
Intelligent people know better than to go into wild areas with large predators unarmed. Yet unarmed people go into Chicago (and other large urban death zones) by the millions everyday.
And yes, I am always armed when I ride.
I have 26 acres in woods on a small river in north Alabama. We have seen mountain lions on my property. A lady up the hill has seen a bear on her property. We also have deer and wild hogs. You don’t go walking in the woods without a baseball bat or a gun going with you, especially about dusk . . . that is when the cats come out.
I am only 8 miles out from a town of 10,000 and the rural areas around me are somewhat thickly settled. But that small river is mostly bounded by hills and bluffs, making a wooded corridor along its path that provides good cover for larger animals.
Here in South Alabama, I talk to a bunch of older folks who insists panthers are still out there in our woods, black panthers and mountain lion panthers. First, there are no known melanistic cougars in North America. Jaguars, yes, but not pumas I don’t know why so many insist they saw a black panther but they do.
I suppose any particular panther showing up where I live is possibly from Florida. It’s unbelievable how far a young puma can roam. One was shot at West Point, Georgia, which is Northeast of where I live, and it was confirmed through DNA to be an endangered Florida Panther (which is still the species puma concolor).
Anyway, I used to think it would be cool to have panthers back in the woods here again, but now I’m pretty sure they can stay away. Sometimes it’s hot outside and I don’t work clothed except for shorts, and I’d to have to carry all the time, especially in those conditions.
Dropping your shotgun to go for your pistol with a cat coming on within 30 feet is plain stupid.
They’re big generalist predators. The puma’s closest living relatives are the cheetah and the domestic cat sized jaguarundi.
I have to say that I, for one, am glad these predators are making a comeback. That there is conflict at the interface of the exburbs and the country is to be expected. That there are predators deeper in the wild country is also expected.
I am frequently in the country and backpack in the wilderness. I have become more cautious and always carry. Still, I am pleased that the populations of these animals are recovering and would hate to see policies to intentionally eliminate these from the wildlands in favor of mobile home parks and vacation homes.
The increase of mountain lions is a direct result of an increase in deer populations.
Locally we have no mountain lions observed to be predators on the deer hordes eating our shrubs, flowers and vegetables but coyotes have been observed chasing the numerous fawns.
Either humans have to restrain their own extensions of human development, or expect more of this.
Large predators have always had “local areas” much larger than what humans would call a “local area”. They travel and hunt across distances greater than most people travel in a day. As human civilization creeps, in fingers of development, ever so little each time into formally unoccupied areas humans cannot seem to acknowledge those areas have been occupied for ages, by large carnivorous predators.
Then you have another factor as a result of human development - the shrinkage of the food sources of the large predators. From that cause, predators like the mountain lion have had to extend their food-source territory, and again bringing them into contact with humans.
Corner a wild animal - even just corner it territorially - and it will react as any living thing does when it is desperate; taking risks more aggressively.
Wonder if it’s just a new trend Kitty tacos?.
I would fired the birdshot at close range and then beat the cat to death if necessary, Texas style!
Does that picture accompanying the article have anything to do with this incident? The person holding the gun looks like a young female and the gun is a modern scoped rifle and clearly not a 100 year old double barrel shotgun.
Duh! Mountain Lions are just making a living when they attack humans, pets or any other animals.