Mountain Lion in Brown County this time

[AGarbers]

Mountain lions and black bear are protected in Indiana and can only be killed if they are inflicting harm on you or your property.

Can you shoot these cats?

I can't have them eating the neighbor's chickens (and my fresh eggs.)

I have heard odd sounds coming from the surrounding woods at night for years. Kind of a baby crying/scream sort of noise.

Neighborhood pets are all still intact though, even with the 'yotes passing through regularly.

 

[churchmouse]

Mountain lions and black bear are protected in Indiana and can only be killed if they are inflicting harm on you or your property.

Wonder how this would play out if you shot said full grown cat with pet kitty in it's mouth....????

 

[NyleRN]

Wonder how this would play out if you shot said full grown cat with pet kitty in it's mouth....????

SSS

 

[Mongo59]

With a range of up to 500 square miles, the chance of being targeted multiple times is decreased.

But knowing their favorite prey item in Yellowstone Park is elk, and these are solitary hunters, how much damage are they capable of inflicting in a single encounter?

The problem I see is that children are more likely to be targeted and the most likely to run at the sight of one possibly triggering an attack. This will lead to an outcome that no one wants and no one can control.

If the DNR is trying to reincorporate them into the state's ecosystem it reminds me of a line from Jurassic Park: "They were so concerned with whether they could that they forgot to ask themselves whether they should..."

 

[JimH]

With a range of up to 500 square miles, the chance of being targeted multiple times is decreased.

But knowing their favorite prey item in Yellowstone Park is elk, and these are solitary hunters, how much damage are they capable of inflicting in a single encounter?

The problem I see is that children are more likely to be targeted and the most likely to run at the sight of one possibly triggering an attack. This will lead to an outcome that no one wants and no one can control.

If the DNR is trying to reincorporate them into the state's ecosystem it reminds me of a line from Jurassic Park: "They were so concerned with whether they could that they forgot to ask themselves whether they should..."

When you consider that the number of fatalities on children-18 and under ,in the last 100 years is 10,and that 99.9% of the U.S. mountain lion population is west of the Mississippi river,I don't think lion attacks are going to have a significant impact on human population in Indiana...

 

[bwframe]

Wonder if there is a percentage of these that are never officially reported because of the fact that they are protected?

If you have children or grandchildren or even pets, that are today often treated with the same reverence as children, how do you deal with a mountain lion in your yard? The same as rattlers, also a protected species?

Wonder how many threats like this are just "dealt with" and go unreported?

 

[churchmouse]

Wonder if there is a percentage of these that are never officially reported because of the fact that they are protected?

If you have children or grandchildren or even pets, that are today often treated with the same reverence as children, how do you deal with a mountain lion in your yard? The same as rattlers, also a protected species?

Wonder how many threats like this are just "dealt with" and go unreported?

S. S. S.

 

[red_zr24x4]

S. S. S.

Words to live by in multiple situations

 

[M67]

Money still says a hopped up meth head


Or someone's pet. I wouldn't be surprised at all if someone kept a mountain lion as a pet and it either got too big and they let it go, or it got out of its cage

 

[Mongo59]

The DNR is acting like the blind guy in "Young Frankenstein" with this for some reason.

Around here they think a dog can nearly decapitate two donkeys in a pen all while wearing cat footies...

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I don't understand the DNR's repeated denials about these sightings either. One would think they'd be celebrating, just like they did when Bald Eagles started making a comeback. Nobody was trying to pass them off as just turkey buzzards or a big hawk.

 

[Mongo59]

At least they are getting less neurotic about the eagles.

Back in the 90's when a local farmer told people he had a pair of eagles on nest on the edge of one of his fields the DNR banned him from farming his own field.

It would seem eagles have more rights than humans...

 

[DoggyDaddy]

At least they are getting less neurotic about the eagles.

Back in the 90's when a local farmer told people he had a pair of eagles on nest on the edge of one of his fields the DNR banned him from farming his own field.

It would seem eagles have more rights than humans...

On my Nextdoor app, someone was just talking about having a nesting pair in their housing addition near me. That would've been unheard of 20 years ago.

 

[edwea]

Their repeated denial makes it seem like they are somehow involved. Are they just waiting until a person is injured or killed to finally force them to openly admit that there is a local population of big cats?

 

[Charleybravo56]

Y’all come visit...but ya don’t wanna live down here, there’s spiders, snakes ‘n hillbillies seems like a few mountain lions ‘r movin’ in.
I am thinking of selling some catnip shirts to liberal tourists.

 

[Mongo59]

I heard a rumor you all wore shoes up there in Brown County.

Down here we have a saying, "Crawford County, making Perry County look good since 1816..."

 

[1DOWN4UP]

Who do you think has been replanting these"extinct " animals in wilderness areas for years.Do you think they will admit to it and cause a public panic.A wolf was hit in Richmond 5 years ago or so and it's tags had it in northern Wisconsin. Locals around Potato Creek St.Pk.have seen a 100 lb.light brown long tailed bobcat too.

 

[two70]

I don't understand the DNR's repeated denials about these sightings either. One would think they'd be celebrating, just like they did when Bald Eagles started making a comeback. Nobody was trying to pass them off as just turkey buzzards or a big hawk.

Setting aside all of the conspiracy theories, the main reason the DNR denies so many of the "mountain lion" sightings is that they simply weren't mountain lions. The DNR probably gets dozens of reports of mountain lions that turn out to be nothing more than bobcats or housecats for every legitimate mountain lion sighting. It doesn't take many mistaken reports or less than credible witnesses before the default position becomes skepticism and once that happens it takes really strong evidence to overcome it. I've heard enough stories from enough random people to have a pretty healthy skepticism myself and I've heard only a tiny fraction of the reports that I'm sure the DNR gets.

Now, I suspect there are other reasons that the DNR often downplays the handful of real sightings while also listing them as a protected species. I think that the way the Feds have tied the hands of the Western and Upper Great Lakes States to manage wolf populations because of their questionable listing as an Endangered Species combined with the push by some to consider eastern cougar populations as a separate and of course endangered population, likely plays a role in this reticence of the DNR to promote real mountain lion sightings. Neither the DNR, nor any outdoorsman, should want any part of the Feds hijacking the wildlife management of the state in order to protect "endangered" mountain lions. As long as the DNR can keep playing the infrequent legitimate sightings off as escaped pets and prevent a bunch of cats from being shot and ending up in the news, they can avoid Federal involvement.

 

[lovemachine]

I enjoy mountain biking in brown county. And to be honest, I’m more afraid of the rattlesnakes than the mountain lions.

 

[edwea]

You're far more likely to be injured from the mountain biking than either animal. I stopped doing that stuff years ago.