Ever Seen A Mountain Lion While At The Current?

[Stoneroller]

Sadly I have this to report from MDC's website

http://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/ray-county-cattleman-kills-mountain-lion

it's a shitty day when we put the life of a mass produced herd animal worth maybe $300 over that of a wild animal that we have almost completely destroyed from the face of the earth. Seriously who believes a cow has a greater right to live on this planet than a mountain lion. we have BILLIONS of cows, there is never going to be an endangered cow awarness drive. we are a virus, breeding out of control and destroying everything we come in contact with.

[Gavin]

Your outrage...is what it is...but c'mon..... Hoosiers shoot stuff....They should be charged with shooting a protected species......but the price is negotiable...Jail time...nope..not worth it...not a crime against a person.......I'd assess the fine somewhere in the range of a 1/2 a side of beef from the butcher shop at the low end....maybe the price of a 4 wheel drive to your deer stand and eat a box a twinkies gizmo at the top. Cheers.

[Outside Bend]

I figure they at least ought to pay the market price for their trophy...there are folks out west spending 5-7K for a mountain lion hunt. That's a good place to start. Couple that with revocation of hunting privileges for a few years, taking game out of season and all, and I think that'd be a start.

[Gavin]

Some tracks that our guest from MN found & photographed on 1-3-2010...Very close to were Gene's talking about....The photo lacks scale...but they are awfully round...you be the judge.

[ozark trout fisher]

Sadly I have this to report from MDC's website

http://mdc.mo.gov/newsroom/ray-county-cattleman-kills-mountain-lion

it's a shitty day when we put the life of a mass produced herd animal worth maybe $300 over that of a wild animal that we have almost completely destroyed from the face of the earth. Seriously who believes a cow has a greater right to live on this planet than a mountain lion. we have BILLIONS of cows, there is never going to be an endangered cow awarness drive. we are a virus, breeding out of control and destroying everything we come in contact with.

I'm with ya there.

There are unfortunately some people who shoot anything that moves, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't mean they shouldn't be punished for it. I don't know about jail time, but a hefty fine seems to be in order for the guy who shot the lion.

[Gene K]

Received a response from MDC on the photos. Notes from phone conversation:

Although there obviously isn't enough information in the photos to conclude it was a mountian lion, there are aspects of the photos....shape and size....that are "cat like". In some of the photos it looks like there could be claw prints which normally would preclude a cat since their claws are retracted when walking. However, a ML when running after a deer could result in tracks showing claw marks. Given the remoteness of the area, and particularly the proximity to the very remote areas to the immediate south, it is these areas that they expect migrating mountain lions to settle.......not so much the northwestern plains where the one was shot last week. They suspect that one was still migrating to find a more remote area.

[Gene K]

http://www.thesalemnewsonline.com/news/local_news/article_306d1cc6-151e-11e1-934e-0019bb30f31a.html

[anieman]

I was fishing the Current November 5th (right below the cable) and also heard about a mountain lion sighting. I fished down to the rock garden, and on my way back up I saw a guy working his way downstream below the lagoons. I fished at the cabins for just a couple minutes, then walked back to the car and this guy had already beat me back. After talking to him for a minute he told me about a mountain lion that came down off the bluff and got into the stream fairly close to him. He said he slowly backed out of the stream and after getting out of sight of the mountian lion, he ran back to his car. His story seemed pretty credible and he had lived in Colorado, so he's seen them before. He told me he was going to look for a park ranger to report it too, but this was between the end of the park season and the opening of catch and release so I don't think anyone was around. Later that day I told a freind of mine that lives in the area this story, and he told me a mountain lion had been caught on a game cam in Salem a week or two earlier. I think the story was in the Salem paper.

Austin

[Justin Spencer]

That story is more proof how MDC has made it "legal" to shoot mountain lions. It says the 17 year old took a shot at the lion but missed, and said nothing about how this was an illegal act. Kids are now growing up thinking it's ok to shoot mountain lions, and if you do you get a picture and name in the paper.

[Chief Grey Bear]

I don't know that they made it legal but they sure ain't trying to make it illegal. This punk kid states that he took a pot shot at the Mountain Lion knowing full well he was not under attack or in any danger of his life. This is where I get extremely angry with the MDC.

Some people will do anything to for their minute of fame in the local paper. With total disregard for the wildlife and the outdoors. There was no self defense in this instance. Or any of the others in recent time that I have read about. It is time the MDC does something to stop this. As you all know, I am a staunch defender of the MDC but, as long as these senseless killings, no, make that murders, are happening, I can not and will not defend them on this issue.