Comments on: Come for the mountains, stay for the cougars http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/05/16/come-for-the-mountains-stay-for-the-cougars/ I am an astronomer, writer, and skeptic. I likes reality the way it is, and I aims to keep it that way. My real name is Phil Plait, and I run the Bad Astronomy blog. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:58:18 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Buzz Parsec http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/05/16/come-for-the-mountains-stay-for-the-cougars/comment-page-1/#comment-90049 Buzz Parsec Mon, 19 May 2008 01:43:06 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/05/16/come-for-the-mountains-stay-for-the-cougars/#comment-90049 Yesterday morning I saw the most deadly wild animal in North America approaching the road in one the most densely populated towns in the state (5 sq mi, 40,000 people.) I think dogs (pets, not feral dogs) kill more. And that's not counting Lyme Disease. Fortunately, I wasn't driving too fast, and it stopped before climbing up on the road, so I was safe enough. It was a white-tailed deer, of course. Yesterday morning I saw the most deadly wild animal in North America approaching the road in one the most densely populated towns in the state (5 sq mi, 40,000 people.) I think dogs (pets, not feral dogs) kill more. And that’s not counting Lyme Disease. Fortunately, I wasn’t driving too fast, and it stopped before climbing up on the road, so I was safe enough. It was a white-tailed deer, of course.

]]> By: Mike C. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/05/16/come-for-the-mountains-stay-for-the-cougars/comment-page-1/#comment-90048 Mike C. Sun, 18 May 2008 23:23:48 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/05/16/come-for-the-mountains-stay-for-the-cougars/#comment-90048 Okay, since everybody else has danced around it, I'll say it. If you think you're in danger of being attacked on these hikes, carry a freaking gun. You don't need a .500 S&W mag to stop a mountain lion (or a two-legged attacker, either.) A lowly .357 mag will do the job, and cost a lot less in the bargain. Okay, since everybody else has danced around it, I’ll say it. If you think you’re in danger of being attacked on these hikes, carry a freaking gun. You don’t need a .500 S&W mag to stop a mountain lion (or a two-legged attacker, either.) A lowly .357 mag will do the job, and cost a lot less in the bargain.

]]> By: Gray Lensman http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/05/16/come-for-the-mountains-stay-for-the-cougars/comment-page-1/#comment-90047 Gray Lensman Sun, 18 May 2008 16:32:43 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/05/16/come-for-the-mountains-stay-for-the-cougars/#comment-90047 On the subject of urban wildlife, my wife and I observed a colony of six red foxes while we walked home at dusk from a Light Rail station in central Denver last evening. They were in the open in a small green area which is only a couple of hundred yards from an interstate highway. On the subject of urban wildlife, my wife and I observed a colony of six red foxes while we walked home at dusk from a Light Rail station in central Denver last evening. They were in the open in a small green area which is only a couple of hundred yards from an interstate highway.

]]> By: Evolving Squid http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/05/16/come-for-the-mountains-stay-for-the-cougars/comment-page-1/#comment-90046 Evolving Squid Sat, 17 May 2008 20:17:24 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/05/16/come-for-the-mountains-stay-for-the-cougars/#comment-90046 <i>Don’t be foolish. Control your pets.</i> I wish that it was required by law to have that tattooed on your body before being licenced to own a cat or dog. Don’t be foolish. Control your pets.

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

]]> By: Gary Ansorge http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/05/16/come-for-the-mountains-stay-for-the-cougars/comment-page-1/#comment-90045 Gary Ansorge Sat, 17 May 2008 16:21:28 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/05/16/come-for-the-mountains-stay-for-the-cougars/#comment-90045 AH, big cats trying to make a living. As humans overflow into forests, etc, such encounters are bound to increase. Working in a Georgia State PArk I am required to prevent people killing critters in the park. Seems many humans who come to Rep Top think it an imposition to have to share this planet with anything that's not cute and cuddly, such as snakes, wasps and the rare bear. One lady, incensed that we had to cull our deer population to prevent their starving to death, asked one of our employees, "How can you possibly kill such adorable creatures?" to which he answered, "Well Mam, you just point the gun and pull the trigger,,,". 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. AH, big cats trying to make a living. As humans overflow into forests, etc, such encounters are bound to increase. Working in a Georgia State PArk I am required to prevent people killing critters in the park. Seems many humans who come to Rep Top think it an imposition to have to share this planet with anything that’s not cute and cuddly, such as snakes, wasps and the rare bear. One lady, incensed that we had to cull our deer population to prevent their starving to death, asked one of our employees,
“How can you possibly kill such adorable creatures?” to which he answered,
“Well Mam, you just point the gun and pull the trigger,,,”.

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.

]]> By: Timothy http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/05/16/come-for-the-mountains-stay-for-the-cougars/comment-page-1/#comment-90044 Timothy Sat, 17 May 2008 13:26:26 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/05/16/come-for-the-mountains-stay-for-the-cougars/#comment-90044 "Why do people fear the most unlikely accidents, when they, without a care, venture out into the morning traffic?" 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.) “Why do people fear the most unlikely accidents, when they, without a care, venture out into the morning traffic?”

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.)

]]> By: Lazze http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/05/16/come-for-the-mountains-stay-for-the-cougars/comment-page-1/#comment-90043 Lazze Sat, 17 May 2008 12:39:19 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/05/16/come-for-the-mountains-stay-for-the-cougars/#comment-90043 Take a look at the statistics. The animal responsible for the most lethal attacks is; Homo Sapiens. Why do people fear the most unlikely accidents, when they, without a care, venture out into the morning traffic? Take a look at the statistics. The animal responsible for the most lethal attacks is; Homo Sapiens.
Why do people fear the most unlikely accidents, when they, without a care, venture out into the morning traffic?

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