On Thu, 06 Sep 2007 10:51:40 -0000, thunder
wrote:

On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 22:38:57 -0700, Calif Bill wrote:


we are seeing less and less Bambi's in California. Since the eco-nuts
have protected the mountain lion, they have done what cats have always
done. Make lots more cats. Now they run out of deer to eat, and take
out pets and a few hikers. We have endangered Desert Big Horn sheep.
Most every fatality of the decreaseing numbers is caused by mountain
lions. Which are not that rare here.

All the bureaucracies keep denying, but I've been reading of quite a few sightings of mountain lions east
of the Mississippi. Except for the Florida Panther, mountain lions are supposed to be extirpated in the
east, but I'm starting to doubt it.

Don't EVEN get me started on that.

Ooops - to late. :)

Three years ago when I still had Duke Dogge Dog, I got a call from TK
up the street asking me to bring my M1 carbine up because he had a big
cat in his heifer pen. I said you mean bobcat, and he said no -
mountain lion.

Uh uh...

So I grabbed the gun, put Duke in the truck and we took off. Got to
the house and TK was there pointing towards the pen. I was hundred
yards off, grabbed my binoculars and sure as hell, mountain lion
toying with a heifer in the corner of the pen. By the time I loaded
the M1, the thing took off into the woods heading towards my pond.
Duke got a good sniff of the spoor and we started tracking it. Found
some paw prints in the mud by my pond - definetly a large cat and it
weren't no bobcat. Lost it in the woods behind the airport about a
mile from where we started along the Pomfret line.

So as we were walking back, I heard a scream - big cat. I know what
one sounds like because I've had an up close and personal encounter
with one in Idaho - this one was PO'd. It was off to the Northwest of
where we were, but close, so we started in that direction. After a
couple of miles of hiking, we found cat spoor and a deer drag. Ain't
no bobcat going to be doing that. Found the deer which had a big
chunk out of it, cat spoor all over the place - no cat.

So after getting back, called DEP. Gave them the whole story, TK had
some blurry images of the cat in the pen - they told me it was a big
bobcat. Told me that the eastern mountain lion was extinct and that I
was mistaken in my ID. The deer? Feral dogs or coydogs.

Two years ago, found another set of tracks and one of the local
farmers reported seeing one while haying along a woods line. DEP says
no - bobcat.

Last year, seventeen reports of a big cat (and cats in several reports
that I know of) being spotted in the immediate area - nope, bobcats.
Show them pictures of the spoor - nope bobcats. Sent the pictures to
the Smithsonian for ID - mountain lion. DEP - nope, bobcats.

They absoutely refuse to believe that there are mountain lions in the
area even with direct evidence from experienced outdoorsmen. They
won't support any research or even tracking. Before Duke died, I
offered to bring him anywhere they had a report to track and ID, nope
- not interested. One of Mrs. Waves's colleagues has a brother-in-law
who is a professional tracker from Wyoming and he's said mountain
lion. Nope - bobcat.

I don't know what their problems is, but when it takes a kid or small
child, I'm not going to say I told you so.