Lions and Bears, Oh My!
BY PGF2 years ago
First, Here Kitty Kitty,
Bend police shoot, kill cougar in NW Bend neighborhood after deer-kill site found in a backyard.
“The cougar was exhibiting behaviors consistent with being a public safety risk, including showing no fear of humans in extremely close proximity, hunting in a heavily populated area and returning to the kill site,” the police spokeswoman said.
Sounds like hunger. People won’t’ hunt the dear, so Lions do. Reality is a hard lesson; somebody will get attacked pretty soon. The suburbs of America are now full of deer. The grazing is good; those deer face no human threat and are fairly docile, prime targets for predation by an apex hunter. These “rare” incidences will likely increase.
After setting up a containment area and ensuring the location was safe, officers shot and killed the cougar, Miller said. ODFW took possession of the animal and later reported it was a 1- to 2-year-old, 77-pound female.
Beth Quillian, a public information officer for ODFW, says the cougar was shot instead of tranquilized because of the threat it posed to the community.
“Tranquilizing animals like a cougar can be pretty tricky,” Quillian said. “It’s not always as easy as tranquilizing the animal and it’s down.”
Miller says it was a hard, but necessary decision.
“We don’t take this decision lightly, we care a lot about wildlife as well — but our role is the safety of our community and our neighbors,” Miller said.
And there was this “rare” Mountain Lion recently captured in a Los Angels neighborhood.
Next, Hunter Shoots Himself in the Leg While Fighting Off Grizzly Bear
“firing a gun in a grizzly bear encounter is rarely the right decision.”
That bit of expert advice sounds like the punchline from a standup skit.
After Francis shot himself, his son activated his SOS device to get help, according to the news release. Then, he provided first aid to help control his father’s bleeding. With darkness approaching, they worked out a plan with emergency responders through the SOS device.
Francis’ son, unnamed in the news release, got his father on a horse and led him toward nearby Water Dog Lake. Search and rescue workers caught up with the pair at about 9:20 p.m. and administered first aid. They extracted Francis by UTV to Flying A Ranch, the news release said, and then flew him via helicopter to the University of Utah Hospital for treatment.
A search and rescue official also accompanied Lee’s son and horses back to the trailhead.
His son, whose age was not mentioned, did a very good job. Fill your mind with useful knowledge, practice those skills, carry the tools you need in the bush, and don’t go alone.
Wyoming game wardens have begun an investigation and will try to locate the grizzly bear that Francis told police attacked him.
Western Wyoming officials said the incident marks the second grizzly bear attack in the area this month. On Oct. 15, a grizzly attacked two college wrestlers outside the town of Cody.
Wait, we were assured, attack after attack, year after year, that these encounters are “rare.”
Such incidents have become more common in Wyoming, where grizzly bears have made a comeback, especially around Yellowstone National Park. As a result, Wyoming leaders have asked the federal government to remove grizzly bears from the Endangered Species Act. If approved, the bears could once again become legal game animals.
[…]
Wildlife officials continue to recommend bear spray as the preferred method of dealing with grizzly bears. According to the National Park Service, it’s actually more effective than firearms for defending yourself in a bear attack. Not only that, but it’s also a better move from a legal standpoint.
That last highlighted link in the embedded article provides zero data and no evidence of the assertion that bear spray is more effective. It’s just a bunch of government propaganda about how it’s always best to be a disarmed slave, even in the wilderness.
On November 2, 2022 at 11:02 am, Don't mind me said:
I would like to drop off the writer of the piece, Andrew McLemore who lives in Ecuador, in the back country up here with bear spray, a large caliber revolver and cover him in peanut butter.
On November 2, 2022 at 3:37 pm, Don Curton said:
I almost hit a deer this morning on the way in to work. I live very near the “Houston, we have a problem” Nasa complex and drive behind it (on Space Center Drive) to take a short cut around traffic. Nasa is a big complex with lots of green space. They used to run cattle herds on it, now home to lots and lots of deer. There are tons of wild animals within city limits, more than most people realize. Over the past two weeks I’ve seen many deer, one coyote, raccoons, possums, armadillos, hawks, and other assorted critters. No doubt there’s some predators in the area, just haven’t seen them.
Debating whether to get a crossbow. When hard times get here, meat on the hoof is available if still illegal to harvest. Just like Bill Clinton, don’t ask don’t tell.
On November 3, 2022 at 1:18 pm, TheAlaskan said:
” more effective than firearms for defending yourself in a bear attack.”
Right…good luck with that.
My bear canister sprays only lead and it works ’cause I’m still above ground.