|
|
|||
|
Navigation User login Who's online There are currently 5 users and 39 guests online.
Online users
Support OlyBlog OlyBlog is run by volunteers who care about Olympia. If you like what we're doing, make a donation: OlyBlog is powered by:
Who's new
 |
Submitted by StopDriving on Mon, 07/07/2008 - 5:15pm.
 Cougar Sightings - we need to protect the homeless! If you are homeless and you live in the wooded area around Yauger Park you won't be able to read this post because you probably don't have a computer. But if you know of someone who is homeless and living in this wooded area please warn them right away. Maybe you use Yauger Park as a pedestrian connection between Yauger Way and Cooper Point Road. Maybe you are a frisbee golpher or you live in Apple Park. Look out! Here is a link to the story
|
OlyBlog.net OlyBlog is devoted to citizen journalism, including hyperlocal news and discussion specifically about Olympia, Washington. If you care about this community and are tired of corporate media, then this is the place for you. If you'd like to contribute, please register for an account. Here is a list of local news beats that need to be covered. You can post your news as a personal blog entry, and it will be reviewed (and possibly edited) for promotion to the front page. Once you've established a record of responsible blogging, you can become an autonomous user. You can also send news via email. All members of OlyBlog agree to abide by our comment and fair use policies. If you are frustrated about something said in a comment thread, go here. Now playing at: 
Latest Classified Ads Upcoming events
 
|
|
|
More Flickr photos tagged with "olympia" and "washington" OlyBlog is a site for news and discussion about Olympia, Washington. |
|||
They know about it.
Submitted by Rob Richards on Mon, 07/07/2008 - 5:55pm.A few of the campers were indeed a bit freaked out and this information will be very helpful.
Cats?
Submitted by Keith Hufnagel on Mon, 07/07/2008 - 10:20pm.Cougars
Submitted by rkbronco on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 11:02am.Odd, I don't see any camping spots listed on the city's website
Why would you?
Submitted by Rob Richards on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 11:14am.I saw tracks..
Submitted by the original ep on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 7:52pm.It's not just the loss of habitat,
Submitted by JT on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 5:58am.it's also due to the animal rights activists getting the law passed that prohibits hunting cougars with dogs. Hunting puddy tats with dogs is the only effective way to bag them.
Since the cougar is at the top of the food chain, if humans aren't harvesting them, their numbers will continue increase, and we will see more of them in urban areas.
FWIW, cougar is pretty good eating. It tastes a lot like pork chops, but dryer. I add that only to inform that a cougar is more than a trophy animal.
"A dog is not 'almost human', and I know of no greater insult to the canine race than to describe it as such." - John Holmes
itchyhitch.blogspot.com
Effective, yes
Submitted by Guglielmo on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 10:50am.But pretty hard to watch (Warning: This will be hard for some people to watch). Hard to imagine a return to recreational cougar hunting with dogs. But the state is piloting a program in five counties in eastern Washington. They're allowing limited dog hunting as an alternative to the "problem" cougar control program that is currenty in place. If the pilots are effective, we might see more opportunities for folks out here in the west.
Keep the pets inside for now. DO NOT teather your dog (That's a whole 'nother thread). Walk in pairs if you're near the woods. In India, some folks wear masks on the back of their head to confuse tigers. Maybe that works with cougars too.
But which is harder to deal with,
Submitted by JT on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 11:33am.knowing how cougars are hunted, or seeing your pet, neighbor, spouse, or child, mauled, killed and/or eaten by a cougar?
If you want hunting to stop on critters, well as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.
Even though I don't hunt big game anymore, I still pick the cougar dying instead of people,,,,or for that matter pets.
An interesting situation has occurred too. The animal rights activists have gone out of their way to protect the cougar, but in the process sentencing larger amounts of deer, elk, etc. to an early death. Seeing as an adult cougar eats 20-30 pounds of meat a day, an adult Blacktail Deer won't last long, with one or two being killed a week, not to mention fawns. So with the cougar population blossoming, I wonder how the deer might have voted on that bill to prohibit hunting cougars with dogs?
"Hydrocarbons are not biology reworked by geology but rather geology reworked by biology." – Thomas Gold
itchyhitch.blogspot.com
From the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife:
Submitted by Rob Richards on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 11:53am.* Public Safety Cougar Removal: In response to growing public concerns about cougars following passage of I-655, the 2000 Legislature authorized the Fish and Wildlife Commission to allow the use of dogs to help remove cougars in areas with demonstrated public safety concerns. In December of that year, hound hunters with special permits were allowed to take 74 cougars from areas with the highest number of confirmed complaints under WDFW's newly instituted Public Safety Cougar Removal (PSCR) program. Additional animals have been removed each year from areas with the highest number of public complaints.
* Expanded hunting seasons: Immediately following passage of I-655, WDFW significantly expanded general hunting seasons for cougars, eliminating special-permit requirements and increasing the length of the season from approximately three months to six months per year. These changes were made to compensate for the ban on recreational hound hunting. Preliminary figures show that hunters took 110 cougars in 2003, usually while hunting for other game.
* Depredation permits: Any time a cougar presents an immediate danger to the public, pets or livestock, WDFW can issue a permit to remove the animal - independent of the PSCR program or regular hunting seasons. In 2003, WDFW issued 59 depredation permits statewide.
Taken together, these strategies have resulted in removing more cougars - particularly from populated areas - than in the years prior to passage of I-655. According to WDFW records, an average of 243 cougars have been killed each year by these methods since 1997, compared to an annual average of 188 animals in the previous five-year period." The last paragraph, especially I think, addresses JT's concerns over increased cougar populations since '96.
But what the statement fails to mention,
Submitted by JT on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 12:14pm.is with less hunting pressure, the animals have migrated into more urban areas than previous.
these strategies have resulted in removing more cougars - particularly from populated areas.
Special emphasis wouldn't be needed in urban areas if the restrictions on hunting cougars wasn't in place.
"Hydrocarbons are not biology reworked by geology but rather geology reworked by biology." – Thomas Gold
itchyhitch.blogspot.com
Here is where we come full circle
Submitted by Guglielmo on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 12:20pm.Remember, you reminded us that habitat loss is not the ONLY reason for increased contact with cougars. Similarly, I suppose you would agree that the dog hunting ban is not the ONLY reason as well.
Yes,
Submitted by JT on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 1:01pm.but with the cougar, not necessarily all wildlife, the ban on hound hunting is a bigger cause than habitat loss.
"Hydrocarbons are not biology reworked by geology but rather geology reworked by biology." – Thomas Gold
itchyhitch.blogspot.com
It says more cougars.
Submitted by Rob Richards on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 2:49pm.More cougars are hunted every year since I-655 than before it. That means there are less cougars than before. When the law passed you couldn't hunt them with dogs anymore, but the state then provided more opportunities to hunt them than we had before the law. The numbers pretty clearly show that the law did not have the effect of increasing cougar population. In fact, you could say quite the opposite, that with the State measures to manage cougar population that came after the law was passed, the cougar population has decreased yearly more than before the law.
The emphasis on urban areas is based on permits given to hunt specific animals that are found to be a danger close to urban areas, or places you probably wouldn't go hunting normally. I don't know anybody who has ever gone hunting in the woods just outside an urban area. Like where our cougar is now. If that cougar were to attack or threaten a person, it would be removed from the area one way or another.
"...with less hunting pressure, the animals have migrated into more urban areas than previous."
Most likely, the WDFW release doesn't mention that because it's not supported by the data. There is nothing in this data that would suggest that there are more cougars in urban areas because we can't hunt them with dogs. What that statement is highlighting is that we're more able to provide for public safety in urban areas with the new cougar population control programs than we were before them, and that is because of the programs and really has nothing to do with I-655.
I'll choose the cougar over anyone's pet
Submitted by Guglielmo on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 12:09pm.As for our neighbors, spouses, and children...I think 1924 was the last time someone was killed by a cougar in our state. Attacks are quite rare, though increasing. But I'm not sure we need to rely on recreational hunting with dogs to keep us safe.
I suppose we could spend the rest of the day pointing fingers are animal rights folks and developers and all the other usual suspects. Doesn't really change the issue: increasing opportunities for cougar-human contact and what to do about it. No amount of rationalization is going to change the minds of people who think using dogs to hunt cougar is needlessly cruel.
That more deer die as a result of the ban provides an opportunity to suggest some kind of "hypocracy," but it certainly won't change any minds. Yes, cougars eat deer. They're supposed to. And I don't know of a single animal rights activist who would have a problem with that.
And if deer could vote, they'd be in the cars and we'd be the ones crossing roads at night.
We average about 2 attacks a year in WA.
Submitted by Rob Richards on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 12:23pm.The decreased deer population argument is somewhat disproven, I think, by the WDFW data I posted above. If there are more cougars being taken from the population now than before the '96 legislation, then there couldn't possibly be more deer being killed due to more cougars around.
Yeah, the activists must not care about the animals then
Submitted by JT on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 1:06pm.Gug, but only limiting my freedoms. Because a dead deer eaten whether by an omnivore like me or a carnivore like puddy tat, is still a dead and eaten deer.
"And if deer could vote, they'd be in the cars and we'd be the ones crossing roads at night." Funny, but very correct, far more animals lost to road kill than some would have you believe.
"Hydrocarbons are not biology reworked by geology but rather geology reworked by biology." – Thomas Gold
itchyhitch.blogspot.com
Justifying dog baiting cougars is really sick
Submitted by Laurian on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 2:10pm.Going after a cougar with a dozen slathering hounds and a high powered rifle is not sporting. Dog baiting is more like a gang stomping than a hunt. All of our freedoms are limited to one degree or another. To insist this kind of trophy hunt should be an untrammeled freedom is nauseating.
I am a omnivore and as such I have no problem with sustenance hunting, and reluctantly, trapping. If you kill it, eat it. If one wants to mount the head of the beast you eat, fine. Please spare me "cougar meat tastes like..." hoowie. Cougars are hunted for trophies, not meat.
In addition I have no problem with lethal means of predator control to protect livestock and human life but there are more effective means than hunting and poisoning. My Mom was instrumental in re-introducing predator control dogs (Great Pyrenees) in Washington, Oregon, Montana and Wyoming. Over two decades these dogs have proven themselves to be cheaper and vastly more effective.
But back to the issue at hand. The Yeager Park Cougar is not the result of animal rights activists activities or a dearth of local area cougar hunting. This is an anomaly, not a trend and definantley not an excuse to bash 'Lefties'. This poor cat has wandered in from the near by wilds and in all probably has beat a hasty retreat back to them. With the loss of habitate and the bestial views such as voiced by JT the Yeager Park Cougar maybe the last one ever seen by an Olympian outside a zoo.
I wonder how many people have eaten cougar meat here,
Submitted by JT on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 2:28pm.besides me? Lets have a show of hands. I will bet that most of the hunters that bag a cougar eat the meat. Yes there are those that trophy hunt only, but there are those that only trophy hunt other animals too.
Having lived on wildlife recreation areas most of my life, and being exposed to the outdoors all my life, something has changed with respect to the cougar human contact issue. Contact and or sightings of cougars 30+ years ago was almost non-exsistant. Now in the same areas of Eastern Washington, with little or no change in habitat loss, cougar sights are far more common. I lived in the heart of the Blue Mountains for 5 years as a kid and was very active with hunting and playing in the very remote area (nearest neighbor 2 miles away, then the next was 5 miles away). Never saw a cougar, only saw cougar skat a couple times. Also, cougars coming into an urban environment was unheard of, the cats are very reclusive by nature, more so than many animals, i.e. bears, moose, deer, etc.
So regardless of what Laurian and others would have us believe, Callyfornya and Washington both are experiancing the same problem more cougar and human contact. And I wouldn't be surprised that anywhere that has controls on hunting of cougars will experiance the same thing.
I guess the sad part for some here, like Gug, is this kitty will end up going to kitty heaven if he/she continues to hang out in Olytown. So if you don't want the cat killed, don't call the police or a game agent to report a sighting.
"Hydrocarbons are not biology reworked by geology but rather geology reworked by biology." – Thomas Gold
itchyhitch.blogspot.com
"...sad part for some here, like Gug..."
Submitted by Guglielmo on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 3:58pm.Whoops Double post
Submitted by Laurian on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 4:43pm.Hunting cougars is INCREASING human/cougar contact
Submitted by Laurian on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 4:41pm.Some biologists, people who work with data rather than anecdote, think the truth about dog baiting trophy hunting is having a counter-intuitive effect on human/cougar encounters. From the March 16th 2008 Seattle Times.
Killing large numbers of cougars creates social chaos, Wielgus and his students found. Trophy hunters often target adult males, which act as a stabilizing force in cougar populations. The adults police large territories and kill or drive out young males. With the grown-ups gone, the "young hooligans" run wild, Wielgus says. Full article here
This fits,
Submitted by Rob Richards on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 4:47pm.That is why you have wildlife management,
Submitted by JT on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 5:36pm.with licensing and tagging, Laurian. Unless there has been a big reversal by the Dept. of Wildlife in the last few years, they are supportive of hound hunting of cougars. It's far easier to get a tag for a cougar now too, why??? Because there are too many primarily, and also because it is very difficult to bag a cougar without dogs. Basically you have to stumble across one.
Rob, based on the behavior of the cat, it either has a problem of some sort, or is a juvenile. And I didn't talk to any of the witnesses, but what I got from my co-workers, based on the size, "large" it is an adult Tom.
"Hydrocarbons are not biology reworked by geology but rather geology reworked by biology." – Thomas Gold
itchyhitch.blogspot.com
100 lbs
Submitted by Rob Richards on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 5:40pm.Read the article JT
Submitted by Laurian on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 6:10pm.speaking of wid cats
Submitted by dean-o on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 8:37pm.yes!!
Submitted by Rob Richards on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 12:12am.yes
Submitted by Sarah on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 5:57am.yes
Submitted by enpen on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 7:14am.About two weeks ago. We stared at each other for a minute before it made a sharp right into an alley. A crow flew out about a second later. Lots of native archetypes.
"In principle, I am an anarchist. Kurt Vonnegut once said he was an agnostic who respects Jesus Christ. I am an anarchist who loves democracy." - Kenzaburo Oe
Lion and Tigers and er, Moose?
Submitted by Laurian on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 7:29am.If you think Olympia has a problem with Wildlife gone Wild check this out.
In urban Spokane, closer to the animals' typical terrain, state wildlife officials say they've dealt with eight moose-related incidents already this year, including the temporary lockdown of an elementary school after a moose walked across the playground. Full story here.