Mountain Lions in Missouri

[Kansas Fly Fisher]

Kansas has the same problem. KDWP will not admit that big cats are here. I used to be one of those that believed people saw what they wanted and claimed that a big cat was around. That is until one day when I was driving home late from work. I had one cross in front of me not a mile from my home. When I asked a local KDWP agent I got the old standby, "Kansas does not have cougars." Yes some may be escapees, but the bottom line they are here. Animals migrate, period! We use to not have amardillos, but now you can't drive down a road without seeing several dead along the road. I asked that same agent what would happen if I killed one. He said I would be in trouble for shooting an endagered animal. But if they don't exist in Kansas then I must have shot something else, right?

[Brian Sloss]

A cougar was hit by a car and killed in Callaway county near my home town of Fulton (not far from Cloumbia and Jeff. City) on Hwy 54 maybe 5-6 years ago. There was an article in the Columbia Tribune. They determined he was wild and had game in his belly. they did a DNA test and determined he was from the Rocky Mountains. Whether he traveled that far or whether he got here over a couple of generations was not known. They are here, but not in big numbers is my opinion. I don't know if I agree with the shoot on sight reaction I have heard on this board. Seems like a knee jerk reaction to me. There are cougars down here in Oregon County (in small numbers at best) and lots of cattle and the ranchers and they are not report loosing cattle to the cats. As for the cougars being a danger to people, they want nothing to do with us. I spent a whole summer in Colorado in an area where cougars were thick and never saw one and all the locals told me I likely never would. They didn't want to be near us they said. Now if the population gets bigger, then I believe we need to use hunting as a management tool, so encounters with cougars are kept rare. My 2 cents.

[Randall]

my position on shooting an endangered animal is that my well being is waaay more important than any animal. i won't necessarily shoot on site, but i do have a comfort zone of about 50 yards and i will kill any predator big enough to target me inside that range. the consistent sightings i was talking about earlier make me a little uncomfortable. a brazen cat can be a problem in my book.

jorob, the lioness stalking the house does make sense. it was used to people, associated them with food, and the reported sighting of the one by my place was in a front yard.

[Wayne SW/MO]

Its rare for there to be conflicts between people personally and ML's, same goes for their targeting cattle, but they can get in a situation where they discover they can find them easily. They run cattle in the mountains out west all summer and don't seem to have a big problem.

For the most part if there favorite food, deer, is available thats what they eat, but a young Tom who is being moved and is inexperienced will take dogs and cats and I'm sure calves.

Each old Tom has a range, and a large one at that, so the Tom's have to move out and establish their own range. This inability to stay close to the range they were born in naturally spreads them out over an increasingly larger range. I'm sure the exploding deer population has helped their survival tremendously.

When it comes to them stalking a human the human best be very lucky or blessed because they don't run deer down until they are very close, you get the picture.

[crappiefisherman]

when my wife and I first got married 20 years ago, we lived in whats known as blue ridge estates.This wasnt the most desireable neigborhood and was located in the sticks close to ark. line.We both were warned from a resident there to watch our housecat around the mountain lion.I didnt believe him at all till one night very late we glimsed the cat crossing a field in the headlites of my truck.That was the only time I saw it.Also a gentleman lived in the area with a african lion that he raised >very true<,,,But I belive that when the family of bigfoot moved into turkey creek bottom the sightings diminished greatly

[jOrOb]

To some extent I can see Brian Sloss' perspective on not shooting. But then again, if I get an opportunity to shoot one, then it is probably a pretty close and prolonged encounter, indicating that this cat is a danger. Of course that is my opinion. I would not actively a cat unless I knew that a certain one was (or had proven to be) a danger to humans.

Several years ago there was an article in Field and Stream about a big cat that took a young boy off his horse. The boy's mom managed to free the child and save his life, but she died in the process. Her husband was able to kill the cat but too late for her. California obliged the man by writing him a ticket for killing the animal. They said the same thing, Mountain Lions rarely attack humans.

Think abut this... If a bear was seen near your house repeatedly, got into your trash, perhaps even killed some of your animals, you would call Fish and Game and have them trap the animal. They would then relocate it to "remote wilderness". You cannot do that with a big cat because they don't acknowledge their existence.

That leaves only one recourse...Kill the beast.

[Wayne SW/MO]

again, if I get an opportunity to shoot one, then it is probably a pretty close and prolonged encounter, indicating that this cat is a danger.

I lived in "cat" country for 13 years and have heard about many encounters, I would say you are absolutely correct that if the animal appears to stand its ground its either very young or very old, but defiantly desperate and dangerous.

I don't however believe sighting one is cause for alarm. It could be moving to find a territory, or just been surprised.

[WebFreeman]

I have a co-worker who lives near the confluence of the Finley and James and he has had 3 spottings on his property. 2 he believes were the same cat and the third seemed like a juvenile to him.

I think it was a year or 2 ago in Cal. that a mountain lion killed a mountain biker who was fixing his bike and then attacked another woman a couple days later, who was able to get away w/ the help of a companion. That's when they found the body of the first biker just a few yards off the trail.

It wasn't too long ago that bald eagle sightings were rare around here. No they're pretty common. I would think attacks would be rare, but to go off in the woods, especially in our more remote areas, without having some kind of awareness of the possibilities and what to do if you saw one, could be dangerous. It's like the cotton mouth discussion at Crane Creek. Some have had encounters, some haven't, but to be unprepared if you go fishing there is risky. I know I almost stepped on a cottom mouth there once and have since read up on what not to do. Anyway, I'm rambling....

[Brian Sloss]

I am not saying don't kill the cat if he is posing a real danger, but just seeing one it should be left alone and reported to MDC even if they won't asknowledge it was a cougar. With enough reports they will have to to admit they are here someday and then they will hopefully start an education program that will keep people safer. If the population gets bigger in Missouri, then I hope they eventually will have a hunting season because I agree that with our population, we can only support so much of this animal before humans and cougars will have confrontations.

[Randall]

i can't believe california would ticket a man for killing a cougar that attacked his kid and killed his wife. i don't know any person that wouldn't do the same.

i was taught that if you do come across a cat in the woods, never run, never turn your back, if you're unarmed, find something to protect yourself with, slowly back away, and make yourself look as large as possible. chances are, it'll leave you alone anyway, but like with any other animal, don't assume anything. sound right to the guys from cat country?