# Big Kitty



## Arne (May 10, 2011)

Yesterday morning in Kearney, Nebr. there was a cat hunt. A mountain lion was roaming the streets of town. They finally put it down. Took 2 game wardens and a police officer to carry it to the truck. Now a uproar they shouldn't have killed it. My thoughts, a small child crying sounds just like a hurt wild animal. A cat this size would not even hesitate taking a kid. It did not belong in town. It has only been a couple of years since the game and parks admitted we might have a mountain lion in Nebraska. There have been sightings for years and people have been told they have seen a coyote or some other critter. Anyway, in the other states that claim they do not have lions and people claim to have seen them maybe they really do. Arne.


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## Runningwolf (May 10, 2011)

Arne, you are so right about this. They do now want folks to know what is really out there. I believe it was Grapemen that had tracks in his vineyard a year or two ago. I'm sure he'll tell his story as it was quiet interesting. I think they even have a name for not admitting certain wildlife really does reside there.


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## Dugger (May 10, 2011)

Same thing here in Nova Scotia - the eastern cougar is not supposed to exist here, but many, many sightings - I have seen 3 myself over the years. Strangely, they are a protected species here, although they don't exist!!


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## midwestwine (May 10, 2011)

Arne, I have land on the Missouri river right by Crofton,Ne and we see Mountain lion tracks all the time.


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## ibglowin (May 10, 2011)

Wonder why they didn't try to trap or tranq the big guy then remote him way out of town?

They do that around these parts all the time. Esp with the black bears. This is going to be a bad one as we have had no precip this Winter to speak of so not much in the way of food to eat. Here is a pic from the local paper a few weeks back of a little guy looking for something to eat. They did not shoot him!


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## closetwine (May 10, 2011)

Around here they trap the trouble makers, tag and relocate them... If the get caught again, they get put down. That goes for bears, cats, ect...


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## mmadmikes1 (May 10, 2011)

You have way more to fear from Neighbors dog or car.Over 300 people have been killed by domestic dogs in the U.S. between 1979 and the late 1990s.
I have tracks 3 feet off my deck at pond where the deer drink all the time. 

Cougars like food that does not fight back, that's why they don't go after wolves
If you see a Mountain Lion, he has seen you 12 times before. 

2/3 of all the deaths and attacks in North America happen on Vancouver Island in BC

A scientific review of records on attacks by cougars on humans in the United States and Canada from 1890 through 1990 indicated there were 53 cougar attacks on humans during this period. There were nine attacks that resulted in 10 human deaths, and 44 non-fatal attacks. 

Year U.S.A. and Canada
# of Attacks # of Deaths	
1991	4 2	
1992	4 1	
1993	3 0	
1994	9 2	
1995	3 0	
1996	6 1	
1997	7 1	
1998	9 0	
1999	6 1	
2000	8 0	
2001	7 1	
2002	5 0	
2003	2 1	

total	73 10	
Average per year	5.6	0.8
that is 20 deaths in 100 years.; I bet more people died choking on bread
I do believe it is an unrealistic fear you are all feeling. I live with cougars,bears and Bobcats. Myself, my children, and my pets are all fine

That is one young cat in that picture and without fear of humans his days are numbered


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## ibglowin (May 10, 2011)

They trap and remove to remote location (of which we have many!) in our area. Rarely do they ever find their way back. Down in ABQ they also trap but have been known to shoot a few that have returned. People around these parts just kinda figure it comes with the territory. After all they were pretty much here before we moved in so they try hard to keep everybody happy (and alive)......


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## ibglowin (May 10, 2011)

Oh and they have had like 6 serious Pit Bull attacks down in ABQ in the last 2 months. Little kids and even a horse was mauled by one and the horse owner was able to run inside, get his gun, run back outside and kill the dog. Horse will live but he was torn up pretty good. Kid has like 68 stitches in his arm. Not a fan of that breed for sure. The owners always say they are soooo sweet, but you never know when instinct will kick in no matter how well they have been treated or brought up.


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## Sirs (May 10, 2011)

ibglowin said:


> Oh and they have had like 6 serious Pit Bull attacks down in ABQ in the last 2 months. Little kids and even a horse was mauled by one and the horse owner was able to run inside, get his gun, run back outside and kill the dog. Horse will live but he was torn up pretty good. Kid has like 68 stitches in his arm. Not a fan of that breed for sure. The owners always say they are soooo sweet, but you never know when instinct will kick in no matter how well they have been treated or brought up.



well I know mountain lions are fairly big and can seem really bad but 99% of the time you'll never see them they know to stay away from us. They probly should've trancquilized him and took him off like others said. Sorry to get off subject for a bit but I know dogs, dogs do as they are raisied to do. You raise them to attack anything they will you raise them to be couch potatoes they normally are dogs are like anything else they react to being hurt or being treated badly. It isn't the breed it's how it is raised 99% of the time


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## Sirs (May 10, 2011)

I love 99% can you tell I like Ivory soap lol


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## ibglowin (May 10, 2011)

You can make a Chihuahua attack if you treat it like crap/and or train it (small dog syndrome). Genes do pay a role (as they say you can't fight genetics) as well and some breeds are just more prone to attack than others.


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## Runningwolf (May 10, 2011)

Chihuahua attack's have led to bigger measures.


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## ibglowin (May 10, 2011)

Bwahahahahahahahaha!


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## closetwine (May 10, 2011)

Pit bulls get a bad rap though... And that's because there are alot of bad breeders out there. Bad genes are a big problem. But a well-bred pit will only do as it's taught. They're territorial and protective. Mine would've killed someone who made a kid cry... but he was the friendliest dog ever... You have to treat them right. 

There was a statistic a few years back... chihuahua's caused 10x more trips to the ER than any other breed. but Yeah I pit can do wayy more damage, and not every one should own one.

Back to the 'wild' animals... once relocated the cats usually don't com back. It's the black bears coumming out of the mountains starving in the summers... they always come back. We had 9 one year that lived in our backyard... Dad fed them (he regrets it now.) but all they wanted was food. Some even learned to obey commands. All of them knew what go back in the pasture and dinner time meant. We had no probs. and lots of visitors. Wildlife Dept. knowingly turned a blind eye because no one wanted to see them put down. But none of them ever broke into the house or messed with the livestock...


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## mmadmikes1 (May 10, 2011)

I have never heard of a bear killing livestock. My grandfather had coyotes kill a couple of calves. Now a couger will take a small cow if it gets a chance. Having a couger in a vineyard I see as a good thing. They will eat a ton of moles and other rodents. Not to mention scaring away birds


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## Arne (May 10, 2011)

This is hearsay, but the lady whose yard it was in when it was put down says all the people that are complaining about it around here did not have it in their yard. The tranqualizer thing, it was reported there is one gun in the area. It has to be accompanied by a licenced veternairan in order to be used. The police used what they thought was the best tool they had on hand. I do not know what they considered the area where the tranqualizer was. Relocating around here is really not an option. It is most all cropland. Not a lot of out of the way places. The cat probably came out of the Platte river bottom. That is where Kearney is located. Not a lot of wooly bully land there, but I would put money on there are more cats around. We have had sightings of them around my little town here too. I have not seen one, but bet I have been close to them. A couple of years ago there was one sighted close to the land i bowhunt on. I saw very few deer that year, and I think he was staying around the creek that runs thru there. Most years there are lots of does and yearlings around, that year it was almost a treat to see one. Enough ranting, Arne.


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## Wade E (May 10, 2011)

My brothyers best friend has a lot of woods in back of his house and spotted lots of Cat trails. Some decent sized animals wre being killed back there so he decided to mount a tree cam with some bait in front of it. He told the town previosly abaout big animals getting killed back there and they stated nothing that ig is around here. He caught a good size cougar or something like that (cant remember what it was) and he took the tape to them to show them.


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## ibglowin (May 10, 2011)

There is always two sides to the story and differing opinions on how to handle a situation. The Mountain Lion is higher in the food chain for sure!


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## ibglowin (May 11, 2011)

Here is how they handled a Mountain Lion in downtown El Paso, TX yesterday.


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## Runningwolf (May 11, 2011)

ibglowin said:


> Here is how they handled a Mountain Lion in downtown El Paso, TX yesterday.



...and what would that vet of said if the cat snag a kid along the way somewhere?


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## ibglowin (May 11, 2011)

Why is it acceptable to have a BOMB rolling down the highways everyday X 10,000 in the USA (.i.e a Gas Tanker) and that is an acceptable risk to society..... 

But Lord have mercy if we have a big cat wonder into town, its BLAM, BLAM, BLAM.........

"Can't have that thing wandering around town....."


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## grapeman (May 11, 2011)

I won't get into my cat story right now, but suffice it to say the deer population is in check for the first time in years and ruffed grouse are less plentiful than a few years back. I know the cats are here, but they leave me and everyone else alone. They are quite nomadic and will move with their food supply. I don't worry about them any more than I get nervous about having 400 pound black bears take things out of the barn. I know they are both here. We all live in relative peace. Nothing is 100 percent safe- including life. I don't mind sharing space.

Sometimes it is necessary to protect life and property because of an ill animal, but those are rare exceptions. Some guys will kill a mother bear when she stands up and is confrontational, but then the bear cubs climb down the tree next to her and mourn her death and are orpaned and probably doomed. A pasture behind my vineyard has had a few cows killed in it in the past 10 years. Those were years of downturn in the native deer population. When the deer were totally gone for a few years, so were the cats and then no more dead cows. Plenty of deer, no cow problems. Keep them in balance and they could care less about humans.


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## closetwine (May 11, 2011)

A bear will takedown small livestock. We owned a pig farm with lots of little piglets separated from mommas. We just never had a problem with our "pet" bears. 

As long as they aren't hurting anyone or anything, and aren't overpopulated I really don't see the point in killing any bear/cat/wolf ect...


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## mmadmikes1 (May 12, 2011)

20 people in N America have died from Cougar attacks in 110 years. It is an unrealistic fear that is cause the death of these animals. It is sad. They do a job in nature that needs to be done. Cats eat deer most of time, very little else interest them, they eat smaller prey when time hard.


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## Arne (May 12, 2011)

Please don't get me wrong. I like most all wildlife, although I have to draw the line at snakes. I like watching critters in the wild, I also like hunting. But having a big predator wandering the streets of a city is a bad deal. It has to be taken care of. The powers that be decided to eliminate the threat. We have only had a few examples of cougar attacks in many years as mikes said. But How tragic if we had another that could of been prevented. This was in a residentual neighborhood and they could not take a chance with anything happening. The uproar started and has now died down. Most have forgotten about it. If by chance a person had been attacked there would be many more yelling why didn't somebody do something and it would not of been forgotten for a long time. Just my 2 cents. Arne.


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## closetwine (May 12, 2011)

Arne said:


> I like most all wildlife, although I have to draw the line at snakes. .



LOL! Same here ecxept I only hate poisonous snakes and those dang adders, they'll chase you! I love little greend grass/tree snakes and I never kill a King snake,I might scare it off though. 

AS long as the cat in town didn't try to hurt anyone, I'm sticking with the tag and relocate method... If he comes back sure shoot it because he might become a routine problem, but they usually don't come back...


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## mmadmikes1 (May 12, 2011)

I have tracks off back deck this morning, Deer and Big Cat. I live with him, and still have not seen him even though he leaves tracks in back yard at least once a week. 
I HATE SNAKES, but don't kill them. BECAUSE....I hate mice and rats in my house more. I do understand there is a primitive fears of big cats. Some believe the North American continent was not inhabited by humans until the Saber tooth tiger became extinct. Now no one ever raises hell to prevent auto from killing people every time a crash claims a life, because we accept it as a part of life.


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