Prey
Or should that be “Pray”. As in, you might really want to pray you have someone nearby with some hefty firepower if a cougar decides you or your children are the blue plate special.
Three cougars that appeared to be stalking people were shot in Princeton, B.C., during the last two weeks, and a veteran conservation officer says he’s never seen anything like it.
The first cougar was spotted lurking near a campground in the southern Interior town on July 3, CBC News has learned.
B.C. conservation officer Al Lay shot the big cat out of concern it may have been stalking people.
“It was close to residences and campsites on the other side, and it was just one of those situations where it is better safe than sorry…. We just can’t take the chance of someone being hurt. Sometimes it’s not pleasant but it’s something we have to do,” said Lay.
On July 10 another cougar was spotted in Princeton following two girls tubing down a river. A local resident was so worried he got his gun, according Princeton Mayor Randy McLean.
“The fellow noticed the cougar was crouched, observing the two girls as if he could pounce at any moment, and he shot the cougar,” said McLean.
A day later, a third cougar was spotted hanging around a softball tournament right across from the RCMP station.
“RCMP members went across the road and unfortunately dispatched the animal to prevent anything tragic from happening,” Cpl. Dan Moskaluk told CBC News.
That would be “unfortunately” for the cougar, one presumes. Or one hopes the RCMP is more concerned with the folks that pay their salaries than they are with carnivores who appear to be targeting said taxpayers.
Pray you have some well-heeled folks nearby you or your children in a situation like this.
Animals, World news | Gaius July 15, 2009
By Foxfier, July 15, 2009 @ 8:38 pm
Guy has to say “unfortunately.”
I’ve seen folks complain when animals *in the act of mauling people* are shot.
Never underestimate teh crzy.
By Plumpplumber(balding), July 16, 2009 @ 5:52 am
Down here in east Texas we have an answer for problems like that. Repeated applications of 00 buckshot until it quits moving, and then one more to the head. Our dogs give us a warning, and then get out of the way. They don’t flinch at the loud bangs, which might be more than can be said for a defenseless leftist. Oh, by the way, who would get eaten first?
By Andrew X, July 16, 2009 @ 9:28 am
That’s weird.
I kinda have fantasies about being stalked by a cougar.
To each his own, I guess.
By martian, July 16, 2009 @ 2:24 pm
It’s part of the Animal Uprising! The cougars are on the march!
I recently bought my wife a 9mm Beretta for protection and I have a 9mm Ruger for myself. I doubt a single shot from either would stop a cougar unless we got very lucky but that’s okay – they each have a good sized clip.
By Foxfier, July 16, 2009 @ 4:05 pm
Snake shot works very well for deterring predators– no matter how many legs they go on.
My mom likes one bird shot, three snake shot, three normal shot and the rest “kill them now” shot.
By Peter, July 16, 2009 @ 4:09 pm
It’s not an animal uprising. The big cats have always hunted people, under the right conditions. Iy’s simply that to about a hundred and fifty years cougars learned to be frightened of people because instead of being predators they were the prey of people. People carried guns, we shot first when we saw one so the survivors learned to keep out of sight.
Funny, though, I have lived all my life in cat country and have only seen them through field glasses, way past rifle range. Mountain cat hunting was only really successful when dogs were used all through my hunting days. Never being interested enough to have a pack of dogs I didn’t fool with them. I’d just see the tracks once in a while. I’m pretty sure that they saw me, though.
Funny thing, though, the old mountain men thought “catamout” was the best meat ever. Better than beef, better than buffalo.
So now people wander the woods, gunless, and it’s against the law almost everywhere to hunt those critters. And everyone is surprised. Go figure.
By Foxfier, July 16, 2009 @ 7:16 pm
Also, now that it’s illegal to hunt them with dogs… they’ve discovered dog meat is nummy.
By martian, July 17, 2009 @ 1:28 pm
Peter, you must be new here. The ‘Animal Uprising’ is kind of a long running joke here at the Crabitat. It wasn’t meant seriously.