Mountain lion kills California man in state’s first fatal attack in 20 years (August: to eat, association)

[mattja]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

One theory I have heard is that if predators are hunted, and / or generally treated rudely by humans (flash-bangs, booby traps, or any other creative scarinesses), they will learn and teach their young that Homo sapiens are not nice.

Now, when I think on it some, considering the state population estimate I linked earlier in the thread is in the 4,000 cats range, and the number of ‘scary’ and hunting events might number in the 10s or low 100s (?) … how will the cats widely disseminate the news to generate awareness? Cat social media forums?

The only solution we know that works for sure is killing. And specifically, killing with firearms.

That way they equate humans and their loud boomsticks with death.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by mattja

The only solution we know that works for sure is killing. And specifically, killing with firearms.

That way they equate humans and their loud boomsticks with death.

Well wait just a moment. How do any cougars equate the loud boomsticks with death, other than the dead ones, of course? They’re not social animals living and hunting in packs. Who observes the boomstick deaths? And then how is word spread? Cougar YouTube videos?

I’m not opposed to cougar hunting. I’m just pondering how knowledge is spread between thousands of solitary animals living in large isolated territories. Seriously wondering how that can work.

[JGC97]

Originally Posted by jbgusa

How about a middle ground, some hunting but not enough to threaten the species?

Two species I would take no issue with driving to extinction. Ants and cockroaches. I find no redeeming quality in either of them.

[mattja]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

Well wait just a moment. How do any cougars equate the loud boomsticks with death, other than the dead ones, of course? They’re not social animals living and hunting in packs. Who observes the boomstick deaths? And then how is word spread? Cougar YouTube videos?

I’m not opposed to cougar hunting. I’m just pondering how knowledge is spread between thousands of solitary animals living in large isolated territories. Seriously wondering how that can work.

I suppose the noise of the gun, the sound of a cougar in pain, finding a dead animal, the scent of humans, blood, powder, etc. They seem to be able to put that together and the parents will teach their cubs to stay away from humans like they stay away from rattlesnakes.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by mattja

I suppose the noise of the gun, the sound of a cougar in pain, finding a dead animal, the scent of humans, blood, powder, etc. They seem to be able to put that together and the parents will teach their cubs to stay away from humans like they stay away from rattlesnakes.

Maybe? I mean, and not being facetious here, would we have to hang the carcasses of the dead from trees scattered around the state (BIG state) and hope such solitary creatures who stick to approximate territories they establish, would wander out of their territories and come across these random few (relative to population) spread around the state’s 156,000 sq miles to get the hint?

It is interesting how all animals train their young to avoid certain things, though.

[Tulemutt]

Here’s a related story from another west coast state that I find illuminating to this CA discussion:

Cougar spotted in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood
… The area is close to apartments and a school...

… Friday is not the first time a cougar has been spotted in this Seattle neighborhood. Back in 1981 and 2009, two cougars in Magnolia were captured...

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/cou...NUPETLTFLNCOY/

Not the first time the cats have been found in this big city park, either. Of particular interest is that - though I’m not in Seattle now I am camping up here at this time, and I am personally familiar with this Seattle neighborhood and park (it is a BIG wildernessy park, admittedly) - to get to this park, the cougar would have to travel through many many urban miles from any rural settings.

Nor are these city cat encounters all recent, as you can see (one in 1981, same park).

And of note to recent conjecture in this thread: cougars are and have been hunted continuously in Washington State. So, somebody isn’t getting the “humans are killers” memo, given these sightings and attacks in Washington. (There have been a couple attacks in Washington and Seattle area recently).

There have been 20 cougar attacks recorded in Washington state in the last century, two of which were fatal.

).

[V8 Vega]

I saw in a nature program once they can leap 30 feet.

[CalWorth]

How about accepting that the habitat of a mountain lion is not like Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland, & if that scares you, stay home & out of its habitat? Problem solved.

[mattja]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

Maybe? I mean, and not being facetious here, would we have to hang the carcasses of the dead from trees scattered around the state (BIG state) and hope such solitary creatures who stick to approximate territories they establish, would wander out of their territories and come across these random few (relative to population) spread around the state’s 156,000 sq miles to get the hint?

It is interesting how all animals train their young to avoid certain things, though.

Ranchers seemed to find a way to make it work almost 150 years ago. I think they just killed every animal that came on their land and killed their animals. They used hunting parties with several dogs.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by mattja

Ranchers seemed to find a way to make it work almost 150 years ago. I think they just killed every animal that came on their land and killed their animals. They used hunting parties with several dogs.

Ranchers certainly did that. But that doesn’t answer the question I posed. As I said, I’m not particularly against hunting cougars. You had posed the theory that killing them would somehow “teach them” to stay away from humans. Maybe it would, but I don’t see how that would work with an animal as already furtive, naturally suspicious, elusive and solitary as cougars are. I suspect that killing one here and another there as they claim a territory - simply resets the territory as open. They don’t live, communicate, travel and hunt in social groups.

150 years ago there were twice as many cougars in California as there are today, as per the research I previously posted. Humans cut that down quite a lot in the first half of last century and since the 1970s the cat population has rebounded but only to roughly half the level of the eighteen hundreds and leveled off.