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Cougar in San Francisco yes a real cougar


Dirty Dog Doug

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Wichita, KS has recently had cougars show up on security camera video. Right in the middle of town. :o

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2 hours ago, Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 said:

I thought this was going to be about Nancy Pelosi.  Thank gawd it was not.


This was about a cougar, not a buzzard. 
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In 1990, William Newsom pushed California Proposition 117, with the assistance of his young son, Gavin.

 

In brief, Prop 117 was to establish a fund to be used "principally for acquisition of deer and mountain lion habitat; rare and endangered species habitat.  Remaining funding for wetlands; riparian and aquatic habitat; open space; other environmental purposes."  

 

Oh... and almost appearing as an afterthought, it "Prohibits taking of mountain lions unless for protection of life, livestock or other property."  The proposition did allow controlled taking of lions "for protection of life, livestock or other property. Permit for taking required..."

 

The proposition passed, roughly 52% to 48%.  Not exactly a landslide; but the prospect of providing habitat for wildlife does have appeal, especially for the vast majority of the population of California who are not hunters.  Prior to the passage of this proposition mountain lion hunting was legal and well managed by the states Department of Fish and Game.  There was a healthy and sustainable population of cougars throughout the wildlands of the state.

 

With the passage of Prop 117 and a cessation of hunting (i. e., "management") the population of cats exploded.  The impact of this increase in numbers of lions over the years have had a significant impact on other wildlife species (each adult lion can take fifty or more deer in a single year), livestock, and even human victims.

 

According to an investigation by the Sacramento Bee newspaper, around 100 lions are killed each year in connection with deaths of livestock. This is four times the number killed prior to the "sport" hunting ban.

 

Well, guess what.  Governor Gavin Newsom has been vocal in his passion for protecting the big cats, and there is now a movement underway in the state to have them put on the Endangered Species List.  Why?  Well... it seems that there are now so many cats they are being killed by motor vehicles, restricted in travelling by geographic boundaries which results in inbreeding, and even dying because of ingesting rodents poisoned by agricultural pest control.  Oh... and if put on this list, depredation control (taking animals to protect livestock) will be all but impossible.

 

Interesting article here.

 

I suspect there will be a substantial and un-documentable increased in the practice of the "Three S's." 

 

 

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it was taken a local zoo for a  heath check and will be released in open space north of SF

plenty of deer to eat and  not alot of sheep or cattle 

I was thinking Tom Steyer ranch would be better place 

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3 hours ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

Cougars eat deer? Say it ain't so!

 

Cougars have been eating deer for, I reckon, several tens of thousands of years....

 

They also eat bugs, squirrels, rabbits, racoons, and pretty much whatever they can find....

 

California has a cougar population of 4,000 to 6,000.  Round that out at 5,000, and they can each supposedly eat kill a deer a week.

 

Do the math.  :rolleyes:

 

Hint:  260,000... or a roughly a quarter million deer per annum.  

 

By comparison, in 2019 California hunters took a reported 21,333 deer.

 

 

 

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Are the Cal hunters coming up short?

 

We've got deer all over the city here. See them every day. I grew up here, and never saw a deer in my life as a kid. But then, the dogs ran at large.

 

They say there are far more deer in North America than there were when Columbus came to the hemisphere. They like the open land; the verges between forest and farm.

 

Cougars eat a deer a week? I think not.

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24 minutes ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

Are the Cal hunters coming up short?

 

We've got deer all over the city here. See them every day. I grew up here, and never saw a deer in my life as a kid. But then, the dogs ran at large.

 

They say there are far more deer in North America than there were when Columbus came to the hemisphere. They like the open land; the verges between forest and farm.

 

Cougars eat a deer a week? I think not.

 

I amended my original post ~ meant to type "kill" instead of "eat." 

 

California Black-Tail Deer are pretty small.  Adults may be 3 ft tall at the shoulder... I've taken several decent-sized bucks that yielded as little as 35 - 40 lbs of meat.  I've had a full-sized buck in the luggage compartment of my '73 Super Beetle a couple of times, and once even stuffed a forked-horn buck into the trunk of my '74 Fiat Spider.   

 

B'sides... the cats don't have refrigerators - leftovers won't last all that long, plus they get help from scavengers. 

 

 

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5 hours ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said:

 

I amended my original post ~ meant to type "kill" instead of "eat." 

 

California Black-Tail Deer are pretty small.  Adults may be 3 ft tall at the shoulder... I've taken several decent-sized bucks that yielded as little as 35 - 40 lbs of meat.  I've had a full-sized buck in the luggage compartment of my '73 Super Beetle a couple of times, and once even stuffed a forked-horn buck into the trunk of my '74 Fiat Spider.   

 

B'sides... the cats don't have refrigerators - leftovers won't last all that long, plus they get help from scavengers. 

 

 

Perhaps Gavin thinks the mythical Condor can have the leftovers. 
 

I have been to areas where the Condors are supposed to be living numerous times. I have never seen one. I guess they’re nocturnal. :wacko:

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8 hours ago, Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967 said:

 

California has a cougar population of 4,000 to 6,000.  Round that out at 5,000, and they can each supposedly eat kill a deer a week.

 

Do the math.  :rolleyes:

 

Hint:  260,000... or a roughly a quarter million deer per annum.  

 

By comparison, in 2019 California hunters took a reported 21,333 deer.

 

 

 

I used to see, periodically, stories telling about why hunting was necessary. You had to keep the deer population down. Because we had gotten rid of all of the natural predators, if we (man) didn't kill so many deer every year, their population would increase till the land they were on could not support it, and deer would start dying from overpopulation related diseases. "And that's why, you anti-hunting idiots, there needs to be deer seasons."

 

That always made sense to me. So if the cougars are killing a quarter million deer a year, that's a good thing. Predators doing their thing - preying on prey animals.

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The Missouri Department of Conservation officially maintains that despite numerous sightings, there is no evidence of a breeding population of mountain lions in our state.  It is comforting to know that mountain lions take a vow of chastity when they cross the state line.

 

:rolleyes:

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We’ve all heard the story of the cougar being a older woman who likes younger men . 
But what about the cat that is male and likes younger men ? It’s a Nittany lion :) 

I know old joke 

 

image.jpeg

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2 hours ago, bgavin said:

Yep.
When I worked in the SF Financial District, I saw lots of the two-legged kind.

 

Maybe not you, but most folks would be downright shocked at some of the things I saw when I worked there....  :o  :unsure:

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The one I remember most:  a secretary-type in tennies, carrying a bag with her work shoes and running for the door.
A guy held the door open for her at 425 Market, and she cursed him a blue streak.

This gal was the Professor Emeritus of Communications for Truck Driver 101 and Deck Ape Sailor.
I was simply amazed at the breadth and depth of her collection of four letter words directed at this hapless man.

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