Another Mt. Lion Is Murdered

[troutfiend1985]

I'm sure no one on this forum knows, but how many sightings had been reported in the areas of the two mountain lion kills? How many of these sightings actually had MDC boots on the ground to investigate them? Were there ever any reports of livestock kills?

I've read this entire thread and I keep coming back to this. If these people had made reports of sightings, but only got the standard answer, "It's probably just a big dog", did they feel the need to prove it by killing the animal? Was the big coyote hunt just a front to kill this cat?

I have a lot of questions, but I'll stop there for now.

It would have to take a lot of frustration to do something like this, but I can tell you first hand(or second hand depending on how you view my brother, I saw his reaction to it) how embarrassing it is to have an authority basically reject your answer and nearly call you stupid in the process. The MDC has no business telling people these animal sightings are "Yellow Labs" when they do no feild work on the report. It is quite demoralizing to hear of such stories, and I know that my brother isn't the only one(although he can rest assurred now that two have been killed, one only a week or so after his sighting). I think that was the time that I really lost respect for the MDC, and then to have them handle this situation in the botched manner that they have only iced the cake. JD, I would think that if the MDC told these people over and over that it was a large dog on their property that they were seeing that it would really start to irritate them. To the point of shooting one? Well, I don't know.

[jdmidwest]

JD, I would think that if the MDC told these people over and over that it was a large dog on their property that they were seeing that it would really start to irritate them. To the point of shooting one? Well, I don't know.

I really don't buy that theory, any hunter would know the difference in the track left behind. Personally, I really don't know why anyone would report a sighting in the first place. It is not a big deal unless it is harming something. Cats are more illusive than bears, but they are getting alot more publicity lately.

[Stoneroller]

so I may have mentioned my theory on MDC's position on mt lions involves someone high up being an elk lover and not wanting to travel to hunt elk along with not having competition from mt lions. (which would actually help the herd quality by removing the old and weak although i'm not sure mt lions are major predators on elk, i would think wolves would be more so)

I found this as a reply to a question asking "When does MDC anticipate an ELK season in Missouri?"

"Missouri Dept. of Conservation: We anticipate a hunting season in about four years. Once the elk get established, we will monitor herd growth and determine a season based on that. - Joe@MDC"

think this answers some questions...

[Tim Smith]

All right, all of you have wore me down to where I see the point and probably the truth of the matter.

The MDC law enforcement division has acted unethically against the oath they took for the sole purpose of..

Allowing individuals to shoot mountain lions that really don't exist in this state as they pass thru illegally for the sole purpose of...

Collection of a number of carcasses that can be processed into taxidermy mounts paid for by our tax dollars for the sole purpose of..

Placing the mounted carcasses into all of the local area offices with a sign stating "this is what we traded our turkey's for this year".

Makes sense, I really think the corrupt agency that provides us with all of our outdoor entertainment is capable of such a conspiracy just to fool us. And it explains what happened to the flock of turkeys that disappeared from my hunting area, I was beginning to think someone might have dumped some old DDT out there.

JD you need to rethink your math here a bit. How many turkeys are in Missouri? I must have seen a hundred just driving along I-70 last month. They must be in the hundreds of thousands. How many mountain lions? Virtually none.

How are your 2 wandering cats possibly going to eat that many birds?

You've blown the risk completly out of proportion. How big have these cats gotten in your mind?

Later this week, I'll be diving with crocs and sharks in murky water. THAT's a risk. If it wasn't my job I wouldn't be doing it and I wouldn't subject other people to it. Talking about risks from non-resident mountain lions in Missouri is absurd.

...and by the way, the MDC doesn't provide nature. That came from a higher source.

[MoJohn]

I'll start by saying that I don't agree with the shooting of both of these cats, however on this second one with what I have read I can see were it could have been agressive. Not by choice but by situation. From what I gather there was about 100 hunters on the property in the area. The cat may have felt threatened by all the people and trapped so to speak. If he felt cornered he may have felt a need to stand his ground, however the hunters probably could have slowly backed out and kept an eye on him giving him some place to run to. With everything that seems to have been going on he may have very well attacked out of a survival instinct, but I wasn't there so I'll have to let others decide on wether it was legal or not.

[Quillback]

The experts say when confronted by a cougar, that you want to act agressive towards it, stand your ground, raise your arms above your head, throw rocks and sticks. You don't want to run away of back off. Since Missouri is apparently being swamped by a wave of invading cougars they may want to start a cougar awareness program so that people know how to react in the presence of one, instead of reaching for the firearm and shooting. Or just continue the shoot on site policy. I don't understand the phobia that well armed people have with cougars.

[jdmidwest]

JD you need to rethink your math here a bit. How many turkeys are in Missouri? I must have seen a hundred just driving along I-70 last month. They must be in the hundreds of thousands. How many mountain lions? Virtually none.

How are your 2 wandering cats possibly going to eat that many birds?

You've blown the risk completly out of proportion. How big have these cats gotten in your mind?

Later this week, I'll be diving with crocs and sharks in murky water. THAT's a risk. If it wasn't my job I wouldn't be doing it and I wouldn't subject other people to it. Talking about risks from non-resident mountain lions in Missouri is absurd.

...and by the way, the MDC doesn't provide nature. That came from a higher source.

Go back and read the post, it was satire. At no time did I mention they were a threat to the turkeys, only making fun of MDC for trading turkeys for mountain lions. And all the while, making fun of the other conspiracy theories on the matter of this discussion.

Have fun with the crocs.

[Tim Smith]

Go back and read the post, it was satire. At no time did I mention they were a threat to the turkeys, only making fun of MDC for trading turkeys for mountain lions. And all the while, making fun of the other conspiracy theories on the matter of this discussion.

Have fun with the crocs.

Alright. I stand corrected. Plenty of people argue for predator erradication on the basis of lost of game and I thought you were going there.

The crocs are usually fine. Although there was that day I forgot I had been processing fish samples and then got in murky water covered in fish guts. That was a little more excitement than I bargained for.

[troutfiend1985]

The experts say when confronted by a cougar, that you want to act agressive towards it, stand your ground, raise your arms above your head, throw rocks and sticks. You don't want to run away of back off. Since Missouri is apparently being swamped by a wave of invading cougars they may want to start a cougar awareness program so that people know how to react in the presence of one, instead of reaching for the firearm and shooting. Or just continue the shoot on site policy. I don't understand the phobia that well armed people have with cougars.

Actually, from what I have heard they say you can back off from one, but they advise you to do it slowly and not turn your back to it. Just what I have heard.

[Stoneroller]

cats hate chasing things. the proper way to react to a mt lion (for some forum users) would be to scream like a little girl, relieve yourself down your pant leg, turn and run, while flailing your arms wildly above your head. maybe drag something along the ground to help cover your tracks, like a shirt or a nice juicy steak on a string...