Cougars

[auld argonian]

That doesn't change my opinion that there are WAY too many people. .

Yeah...but the hard part here is finding any that want to volunteer to leave...anybody?

Remember out ol' buddy Thomas Robert Malthus? The one who suggested that there will always be disasters to help "thin the herd" now and again? We've gotten too good at getting through disasters so there's a lot more of us covering a lot more area.

But Bro. Canuck's last post reminds me of the Thylacoleo sightings in the Land Down Under. The marsupial tiger supposedly went extinct back in the 1930's but people are still spotting them out there in the outback. Mike Smith, a local songwriter, did a great tune a while back titled "There's A Panther In Michigan" about sightings back in the last decades of the 20th Century.

(M. Smith)
Chorus: There's a panther in Michigan. Don't that make your Halloween?
There's a panther in Michigan, although he is seldom seen
And he's following the water in the ways of the Indian,
And he's crossing the border to Indiana.
There's an awful lot of cover down along the Raisin river.
We would set up on the one side, he'd show up on the other.
I know people used to wonder why we couldn't catch the panther,
There's an awful lot of cover down along the Raisin river.
When a farmer in Manchester called, I was there in minutes,
Following the trail of feathers
Through the high grass when he screamed.
Thirty-four years in law enforcement, I've never been so scared.
I could see where he was going by the way the grass was moving.
Chorus:
Now, people who know panthers say that they are lazy hunters,
And they will take a prey that's wounded over one that's healthy,
And he might take a child, playing in a sand-box,
For some kind of wounded critter down along the Raisin river.
Test drivers saw the panther at the Chrysler proving grounds.
It was during hunting season. He was out there on the track,
And he knew if he went in there, he'd be safe from hunters.
He's an uncanny animal.
Chorus:


Best

AA

[Lallans]

Whoever wrote that is the Gilbert and Sullivan of cougar lore!

[BoldHighlander]

A couple years ago a good friend of mine told me about when he & his brother-in-law and a couple buddies went hunting.

They were sitting around a campfire, bs'ing, when they noticed a cougar sitting, watching them, just on the edge of the shadows (perhaps 20 feet away). Pretty soon they noticed one, then a second, then a third cougar (all younger), doing as mama....basically surrounding them. These cats would then back into the shadows, then reappear in a different spot.

My buddy said they felt like they were been "hunted". He also said their guns were out of reach, and they felt if they turned their backs or made a move, that they'd be in deep trouble.

Finally the cats moved off into the shadows, and my friend & his buddies quickly broke camp, loaded the truck (while one stood guard), and got the heck out of dodge! He & his crew never did figure out what their game was, but they didn't want to stick around to find out. He said he never was so scared before, even when he was out hunting the year before, and discovered a bear had been tracking him!

[BoldHighlander]

Noon hour news today states that a large BLACK cougar was spotted nearby my usual stomping grounds- seen by several witnesses and while in the process of "capturing a large rodent."

A black cougar? Is that a known colour variation or are we getting a little silly here? And the fact that the witnesses couldn't even identify the rodent victim makes me wonder if it wasn't a black labrador retreiver, if a mouse a black house cat, or perhaps it was even a free pet panther someone got tired of/eaten by.

They are very rare, though from what I've heard they are not truly black. However here is an interesting website that discusses them: http://www.michigancougar.com/black.htm.

Make's me wonder, however, if it is a big cat, if it isn't an escaped exotic pet (leopard?). I have an Animals X episode on video that talks about the Big Cats of Exmoor (England), and the sightings of big black cats on the moors. There was speculation that it could be an escaped leopard, though they mentioned that if it were escaped cougars, and the breeding population was rather small, that a regressive black gene could surface & produce "black" off-spring. So, I guess it is possible.

[BoldHighlander]

I have an Animals X episode on video that talks about the Big Cats of Exmoor (England), and the sightings of big black cats on the moors.

Just as an aside:

Beast of Exmoor
The Beast of Exmoor is a cryptozoological cat (see phantom cat) that is reported to roam Exmoor. There have been numerous reports of eyewitness sightings, however the official Exmoor National Park website lists the beast under "Traditions, Folklore and Legends",[49] and the BBC calls it "the famous-yet-elusive beast of Exmoor. Allegedly."[50] Sightings were first reported in the 1970s, although it became notorious in 1983, when a South Molton farmer claimed to have lost over 100 sheep in the space of three months, all of them apparently killed by violent throat injuries. Descriptions of its colouration range from black to tan or dark grey. It is possibly a cougar or black leopard which was released after a law was passed in 1976 making it illegal for them to be kept in captivity outside zoos. In 2006, the British Big Cats Society reported that a skull found by a Devon farmer was that of a Puma, however, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) states, "Based on the evidence, Defra does not believe that there are big cats living in the wild in England."[51]

More on the subject at:
British Big Cats - British Big Cats Society, Prove and Protect, Big Cat Sightings, Official Website

[Bigkahuna]

We've had a few sightings here in New York. There were in pretty remote areas however.

[wildrover]

Ugh...every time I see this thread, I reflexively click, thinking it's one of those Friday threads

[Lallans]

Ugh...every time I see this thread, I reflexively click, thinking it's one of those Friday threads

I guess then that I have to apologise for bringing the thread back to page 1- but what IS a "Friday" thread and how do I avoid the look?

Anyway, today I read that tourist shops surrounding the area nearby where Ontario cougars are officially in residence are now selling hikers "cougar sticks" and since Google offers nothing, I've been trying to imagine what such a stick entails, I mean in the public imagination. I can still only bring to mind something in the 10 mm, .30 calibre, or 12 gauge line, but such wicked devices would not be legal. One is more expected to behave like a willing sacrifice to our animal friends, so I CAN picture hikers being given jars of mayonnaise to spread on themselves as soon as a cougar is sighted....

[weepeskythistle]

Can't remember who it was a while back who was talking about making a dress sporran with human hair but I say, why stop there? Full (human) mask sporran.

I keed, I keed...

I don't usually care about most discussions but I had to tell you that I too am on your page with this. Humans have ruined the earth.

Anywhoo, how about the fools who set loose non-native species like boas and pythons who are now able to make it further and further north because of warmer temps? Yikes!

[Jerry]

There have been unconfirmed sightings in my area too. I'm all for leaving predictors alone, unless they try to prey on me or mine. Then, those "Cougar Sticks" which Canuck mentioned are not illegal here, and I am well skilled in their use.