I wish that it was required by law to have that tattooed on your body before being licenced to own a cat or dog.

Deer are not so adorable when in their breeding season. They too can be killers. On the other hand, those nasty copperhead snakes, which are mildly venomous, are regularly beaten to death and shot, even though they try to avoid humans and are only about 10 percent as venomous as rattlers, meaning that even children who have been bitten by a copperhead and untreated with anti-venom have survived.

Snakes really irritate people,,,must be a superstitious remnant.

GAry 7
PS: Just don’t try to pet the nice , soft, furry cougar,,,unless it’s already fed.

Because we’re genetically predisposed over tens of thousands of years of evolution to greatly fear being attacked by animals and getting eaten. And after reading some of the descriptions of the remains of people who’ve been killed and fed on by mountain lions (I’ll spare readers the gory details) I agree. It’s horrific on a deeply visceral level that has nothing to do with statistics. While I intellectually know that death in a car is a horrible tragedy, it doesn’t ook me out the way that getting eaten does. That’s why there are far more horror movies about monsters that eat you than monsters that make you die in a car crash. (Only “Christine” and “Maximum Overdrive” come to mind for the second category.)

You won’t find an ecology lab on the planet that says you should let your domestic animals roam. Cats kill for sport, dogs form packs and kill for food – yes, even a little Peke will do that – and both will happily bring diseases back into your house for you. The prairie dog population in Colorado harbors plague, and stupid people are going to learn about that in a big way soon.

Out here in the sticks, strays are simply shot, because it’s the right thing to do. So be advised that if your dog or cat goes missing, it might not be a wild animal that ate him. It might be a car tire or a rifle at work.

Don’t be foolish. Control your pets.

I have, however, had to shoo a 500-pound black bear off my deck after he knocked over a garbage can full of sunflower seed (for the birds). He looked so disappointed, looking over his shoulder, as he slowly retreated to the woods.

But seriously, it’s such a pretty place. I wish I could move there. But what with not being a citizen and all. Two places I’d want to live in the USA – Colorado (Bolder) and Arizona (Sedona). So pretty. But one gets so hot, the other so cold.

You’re still a lucky sun-of-a-gun to be there.

Philip

How do you tell the difference? Do the good come up and sing a little ditty about Jack and Dianne?

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha…

This cougar, based on DNA, likely came from South Dakota and was about a two year old male. This is the age when they start to roam to look for their own territory and a mate. Cougars are very territorial, and males do not share their territory, so young males have to roam to look for “available” territory that is not already claimed. So they are pushing into new areas.

What we’ve been hearing is the population of cougars in areas like South Dakota is growing (after being down for a long time), and has gotten to the point where these areas are supporting the largest population of cougars it can (based on the large territory a male cougar occupies), so they are spreading out into new areas, like Illinois.

It’s part of the great animal conspiracy.

And a friend of mine was chased by a cougar while mountain biking just south of Boulder.

One was spotted about 5 blocks from my house in North Boulder two years ago, doubtless tempted by the mule deer fawns that show up in the area in the Spring. It was the first one I’ve heard of that ventured east of Broadway.

Just one of the things you have to be prepared for living this close to the mountains.

http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/lion_attacks.html

What’s a little (ok, big) kitty compared to Friggin’ Polar bears, roaming the street, crushing cars, rubbing up lampposts and bending down to the street, while eating a few dogs?
Granted, it doesn’t happen often, and the only polar bears I’ve seen were in a zoo, but it does happen, even in my own little town.

Depending on where you are they’re not particularly dangerous to humans. They’re picky eaters and we’re not on the menu. In some areas, like Vancouver Island, they are dangerous to humans although they prefer ones they can carry off like children. There was, and may still be, a program to transfer cougars from Idaho to Vancouver Island in an effort to breed the viscousness out of them there. The Idaho cougars are apparently among the most human shy around.

If they’re hungry enough they will go after a human and in that case you likely will never know what hit you as they come from behind and go straight for the neck. There was a case like this in Banff a few years ago. IIRC the cougar was trapped in the townsite by a pack of wolves. When it got hungry enough it took out a woman who was out skiing alone.

Hiking with your dog off-leash (yes, I do it sometimes) is more risky for you but especially the dog.

Keep an eye out and keep the kiddies close by.

But, be sure to enjoy the scenery!

One of those times I disagree, Phil. They are the ‘good’ kind of Cougar. Best kind, I’d venture! I’m glad the general reaction from the people who saw him was positive. Not good to have him wandering Boulder, of course. But at least the ending was more educational than tragic.

Cheers