Cougar attacks on CNN....

[Toad]

Originally posted by Airhead
Toad's problem is he hates animals.

No, just misconceptions, right MT?

For a guy that hates animals, I sure do like my Labs.

Remember Air, there's room for all Cod's creatures..... right next to the mashed potatoes!

[Toad]

A traveling salesman stays overnight with a farm family. When the family gathers to eat there's a pig seated at the table. And the pig has three medals hanging around his neck and a peg leg. The salesman says, "Um, I see you have a pig having dinner with you."

"Yes," says the farmer. "That's because he's a very special pig. You see those medals around his neck? Well, the first medal is from when our youngest son fell in the pond, and he was drowning, and that pig swam out and saved his life. The second medal, that's from when the barn caught fire and our little daughter was trapped in there and the pig ran inside, carried her out and saved her life. And the third medal, that's from when our oldest boy was cornered in the stock yard by a mean bull, and that pig ran under the fence and bit the bull on the tail and saved the boy's life."

"Yes," says the salesman, "I can see why you let that pig sit right at the table and have dinner with you. And I can see why you awarded him the medals. But how did he get the peg leg?"

"Well," says, the farmer, "a pig like that--you don't eat him all at once."

[SunTracker]

I know of some runners who carry firearms while they run.  Usually they carry the lightest .22s they can find.  But bikers have the luxury of being able to carry something heavier.

I'm not sure if a .22 would kill a cougar, but it would sure discourage it.

[Fishu]

Originally posted by SunTracker
I'm not sure if a .22 would kill a cougar, but it would sure discourage it.

They say wounded animal gets just more furious.. thats what I believe .22 does.
Doesn't necessarily even stop human whos high on drugs, until it's too late..

Although .22 is better than nothing, not much difference whether the animal is more or less p*ssed off when it's going to attack you anyway.
At least .22 has higher odds than pair of fists and the wounded animal won't be living doing too good afterwards, even if you're dead..  at least it'd save the other probable victims.

[Kieran]

Fishu-

For a predatory animal, every hunt is risk analysis. Will this kill come at the expense of being hurt? Will I be able to heal without infection? Could the infection kill me?

Injured or sick animals can't hunt. It doesn't take much to scare off a predator unless it is ill or starving. This male lion appears to be neither, so a .22 would probably do the trick.

[Curval]

Originally posted by Kieran
For a predatory animal, every hunt is risk analysis. Will this kill come at the expense of being hurt?

One of the saddest things I ever saw on TV was a lioness who had been kicked in the mouth while trying to take down a kill.

The kick broke her jaw and she was just laying there afterwards knowing she was dead...can't eat with a broken jaw.  Unless the film crew finnished her off she would have starved to death...in agony.

[Stringer]

Originally posted by Airhead
More people die from-

Infected Papercuts

Having a tree fall on them

Squirrel bites

Shark attacks

Changing a flat tire

Boils

Cuticles

Zits

Spider Bites

Than have died from cougar attacks.


Toad's problem is he hates animals.

You forgot Bungee Jumping, Myron.

[Airhead]

ESPECIALLY bungee jumping.

[medicboy]

There is one big problem with cougers in California.  There is too many.  Each cougar needs "X" square miles and there is only a set amount of land in cali, that is why we are seeing more and more cougars in cali.  The population is neer full capacity for the land and some game species (deer mainly) are having a hard time recouperiating from the big winter kill of '92'.  I agree that they need to be protected but they also need to be controlled.  I have come across more mountain lions in Cali than any other state in the west.  They have no fear of humans because they havent been hunted in more than 20 years.  In states where lions are hunted there is very few problems because they go out of their way to avoid humans.

[Toad]

.22's and cougars?

All the cats have a thin skull. IF, and that's a big IF, you pop them in the brain pan you win; "right now" pretty quick win too.

I can speak for miniature cougars, the Kansas bobcat. Relatively easy to put down with a shotgun using pheasant loads, if in range. They're thin-skinned and any shot to the chest ruins the lungs and vital organs. Also easy to put down in a snare with a .22 to the head.

I suspect though, that like bobcats, most cougars would rather be somewhere else when a human encroaches on their personal space. Sure, every once in a while you get a "bad actor" that's either hurt, rabid... of just plain fond of "human tartare". I think that's pretty rare though.

[midnight Target]

Originally posted by Toad
No, just misconceptions, right MT?

For a guy that hates animals, I sure do like my Labs.

Remember Air, there's room for all Cod's creatures..... right next to the mashed potatoes!

If the guy had a lab with him he probably would have lived.

[Kieran]

Labs aren't longwinded enough to run the 20-30 miles nor the speed an average biker would do for a workout.