Cougar attack kills man (Orange Co, CA) UPDATE

The Orange County Register ^ | Friday, January, 9, 2004 | BILL RAMS, JIM RADCLIFFE, JIM FINKLE and TONY SAAVEDRA

[D Rider]

For years, after mountain lions had been hunted to the edge of extinction in the lower 48 states, one heard that mountain lions were afraid of humans and would never attack them. So we stopped shooting them.

Wrong! California had a stable and managed population of cats for nearly 30 years.

So here are some additional tips to add to "MOUNTAIN LION SAFETY TIPS"

• repeal prop 101
• hunt the cats down to pre-prop 101 levels
• let the game management professionals set the limits on the cat population

[sphinx]

WE are at the top of the food chain

Nah. Even if the lions, tigers, sharks, and bears don't get you first, the worms get you in the end.

[Doomonyou]

MOUNTAIN LION SAFETY TIPS •

".357"

[cpdiii]

Actually bring two guns and two people. The person attacked probably will not know it until the cat is on his back trying to sever his spinal cord. The victim may not be able to fight or get to his firearm. It will be the second person that kills the damn thing.

If you see a cat stalking you, kill it now, and tell the game warden it attacked you.

[Alberta's Child]

That's a good point. The difference, in my mind, is that black bears may attack humans on occasion (they are omnivores), while a mountain lion is "wired" to hunt you down and leap on you from behind.

Something about the speed of the prey comes into play, too. Including this case, the last three mountain lion attacks I've read about have included a woman on horseback in British Columbia, a man jogging in a Denver suburb, and now a mountain biker.

[BadAndy]

When hunting mountain lions with dogs, 22 LR or 22 WRM are commonly used to dispatch them when treed. They are apparently very easy to kill (unlike dogs). However, I would want something much more substantial to ward off an attack (.357, .40, or .45 in appropriate bullet styles and weight seem about right.

[cpdiii]

I have hiked in wilderness areas where you are not supposed to have a firearm. The same wilderness areas that have big cats and the occasional bad guy from across the Rio Grand River. It would be prudent to carry a weapon despite the law. If you do not need it no one will ever know. If you do need it, the infraction of the law is the least of your problems.

[Capitals]

From USA Today:

"Including Thursday's incident, there have been 13 mountain lion attacks on humans in California over the past 114 years, five of them fatal, said Doug Updike, a biologist with the state Fish and Game Department."

Yeah, 13 attacks and 5 fatalities in 114 years in one of the most populous states in the union. What a threat.

[VadeRetro]

Wrong! California had a stable and managed population of cats for nearly 30 years.

We may have an age-difference thing here. Thirty years ago (Jan, 1974) I was 24. It was becoming unacceptable to shoot "the last few remaining big predators" in our woods. When I was growing up in the 50s, attitudes in most of the country were notably different.

repeal prop 101

I haven't been to CA for some time and have no idea what you're talking about here.

[epluribus_2]

Just like Texas Law - you kill someone, they kill you back.

[ZULU]

If you are one of the fatalities, it is a problem. The other issue is the number has increased since the end of legal hunting.

Read some of the prior posts on this subject. Dangerous intelligent predators LEARN that humans are dangerous and avoid them when hunting is allowed. Otherwise, they consider them merely another food source.

[Doomonyou]

Yeah, 13 attacks and 5 fatalities in 114 years in one of the most populous states in the union. What a threat.

Nice, I guess it would have to be your sister before you would care about someone else. BTW, most of those attacks have occured AFTER the ban on mountian lion hunting in the state.

[ZULU]

The Second Amendment had a reason. Carrying of firearms in areas inhabited by dangerous animals should be encouraged or required, not forbidden.

[ken5050]

"LION WRESTLING BIKER CHICKS!!!"

You know Vince MacMahon's gona jump on this one

[ken5050]

"LION-WRESTLING BIKER CHICKS!!!"

You just know Vince MacMahon's gonna jump on this one

[ZULU]

"That's a good point. The difference, in my mind, is that black bears may attack humans on occasion.."

Far more people have been killed by black bears than any other predator in North America. In my opinion, they are potentially more dangerous than a mountain lion. Lions generally attack small persons, women, children, and can and have been driven off by a determined, resourceful intelligent human with no firearm.

I wouldn't place any bets on somebody beating off a 600 pound black bear with a club. Lions usually max out at about 150 pounds.

[D Rider]

I haven't been to CA for some time and have no idea what you're talking about here.

Sorry, let me explain.

Up until the late 80's when prop 101 was passed. The Cat population in CA was kept at around 2000 animals. Then, a big money emotional campaign was run to "save" them. The facts didn't make it out, prop 101 passed and the game managment professionals were stopped from managing the cats any longer. I can go on and on about the impact that this environmental law has had on the environment, but that is the gist of what I was talking about.

[ZULU]

"Bear Attacks, The Deadly Truth"

Who wrote that? I'd like to buy a copy.

[suzyq5558]

Have you ever heard one scream? sends the shivers all over me. when i was a kid our farm was undersiege by a cougar, the pigs would try to bury themselves in the dirt almost suffocating the horses were terrifed to go to the waterhole so my dad had me hand watering them. one evening as my dad stood with the gun while i watered the cougar was just suddenly there right in front of me as i was scooping the bucket in the water, i let out a sream ,dropped the bucket and started running to my dad. the cougar took off.the game warden had trackers hunting it down for about a week they did shoot him finally he ws huge! my parents live in what everyone calls the last house at the end of the road,the place sits right at the base of a mountian and its very rural 17 miles from town. ive watched bears going through our yard, and always there were foxes and even bobcats. my parents still live way out there.

[ZULU]

WRONG.

Mountain lions, like lions in Africa, ACQUIRED a fear of humans AS A RESULT of hunting. When hunting stopped, they gradually reverted to considering humans an acceptable and harmless prey item.

Like dogs and other intelligent animals, mountain lions and bears can learn from experience.