Another urban mountain lion attack
Once again another case of an urban mountain lion, near Denver, coming in conflict with humans. i’ve caught some flak in the past from folks who don’t think this is a problem, but I think that this story illustrates how silent a big cat can be, to kill a labrador retriever in the house, and drag it out without waking the residents.
IDLEDALE, Colorado (AP) — A mountain lion crept through an open door into a house outside Denver, snatched a Labrador retriever from a bedroom where two people were sleeping and left the dog’s dead body outside, wildlife managers said Tuesday.
Jacquie and Mack Anderson say they woke up to find a mountain lion in their bedroom outside Denver. No one else was hurt in the home about 14 miles southwest of Denver.Wildlife officials later trapped the 130-pound male cat using the dog’s body as bait and fatally shot it.
What if it was their child?
You don’t here about these encounters in ranches or cabins in far flung wild areas, where we would assume the reticent creatures would prefer. Why? I theorize it is because of the territorial nature of dominant male lions drives subadults into areas where human conflict is inevitable. It is a shame that this immature tom had to be killed when perhaps a few experiences being treed by a pack of hounds may have been enough aversion to make it avoid a populated area. I’d like to hear your thoughts on this matter as well.
I think part of your theory is right–human encroachment is moving wildlife into smaller and smaller wilderness areas and territorial issues will drive them elsewhere.
I’ve written about this before on my blog and website because cougar incidents are becoming more frequent.
I think additional reasons include habituation to humans, abundance of resources in human areas (pets, water,), and building of houses in closer proximity to wild habit.
Drought and fire destruction are two other reasons we see more wildlife this year than in years past in my region, So Cal Mtns.
In my region were are near the forest but every September we have a mountain lion that essentially moves into town.
One of his/her “dens” is an old cabin that has an open storage area under the house. I haven’t picked up prints but see scat just behind the homes nearby and up on the trails.
Neighbors see and hear the cougar when it fights with a local bear that also inhabits the area–usually at night.
This animal is fairly habituated and seen during the daylight hours near the YMCA camp basking on rocks instead of being stealthy. This is a few miles above town.
At the moment the cat isn’t a big problem and we know when it is around based on the absence of smaller predators (coyotes).
People should take precautions when in lion country. I have an iron grid screen on my door to keep out animals if I leave the door open…so far only raccoons and coyotes have ventured onto the deck.
August 6th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
The risk from dying from a Mountain Lion is alot smaller than dying from driving and being hit by a deer. Mountain Lions eat large prey like deer and help control their populations where they live. Deers kill more people every year than mountain lions have killed in the last century. The image of a puma attacking is more exciting and fear inducing but the threat the present is smaller than the animals the prey one present to us. I think some might overreact to the puma “problem” and in fact enlarge the bigger threat that large deer populations can have on roads in rural and semi-rural areas. Hunting can only go so far into controlling deer populations and in Arkansas even with a larger hunting population and long season, in rural areas the population explodes from time to time. A large number of accidents happen every year on roadways in our state. But in Arkansas we have no more predators that prey on deer. The puma is extinct in Arkansas, though sporadic sightings still happen in the Ozarks.
I wonder how many people have died in Coloraodo from hitting a deer with their car? But a incident like those does not make national news.
To over react and kill a Mountain Lion that showed fear of Humans(but not dogs which like wolfs ,if alone are Mountain Lions prey)is not the best thing to do. Humans are not a natural prey to mountain lions but lone canines, regardless of size are.
Though I would have shot the puma if it was trying to kill my dog/cat. But after the fact seems misguided. Relocation?
August 6th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
I’m not sure I’m qualified to have an opinion on this. I live in cougar country, but I’ve never even seen one…hard to believe that all the time I’ve spent in the wild lands and I’ve never seen one - but I remember my relatives shooting a cougar in their yard near Klamath Falls, OR several years ago as it attacked their dog. It had killed one of their dogs, and then a few weeks later, they caught it attacking their other dog, so they went in and got a gun and shot it. I’d say you’ve got some very valid points as to why human encounters are becoming more common.
PS - I’m looking forward to that bear poem.
August 6th, 2008 at 1:50 pm