The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
Today’s question:
A battle is going on in the Peninsula due to the possibility of lawmakers giving ranchers permission to shoot mountain lions to protect their cattle. The land the mountain lions are on is land that was set aside for conversation purposes, according to a KPIX report (below).
QUESTION: Do you think rachers should have permission to shoot mountain lions, or do you think the mountain lions should be protected, or trapped alive and relocated?
Talk about it….
This reminds me of people that move near the airport, then complain about the noise.
It’s not that simple. Airports have flight protocols in place in order to be good neighbors and there are pilots who think those rules don’t apply to them and some who actually go out of their way to antagonize residents who live nearby (a pilot has actually posted as such in the comments here on Claycord).
It’s the equivalent of a teenager doing doughnuts in their car right in front of your house, as opposed to simply following the rules of the road.
If you complain about the teenager doing doughnuts in front of your house for hours, hey, “you bought a house on a street, deal with the noise.”
See how ridiculous that comment is?
Common sense isn’t so common.
This is CA, . . . cattle produce “gas”. If mountain lions kill those gas producers it’s a good thing. Am surprised gas producing cattle are even allowed in the bay area, state legislature “must” do something.
We now return you back to the realm of thoughtful and rational debate.
Since California decided to completely protect lions two thing have happened.
1. Three women have been killed and eaten by lions .
2. Game Wardens have killed more problem lions then hunters killed when hunting was legal.
This is explained by lions , who haven’t been hunted for generations, becoming unafraid of humans.
Animals lovers might consider that lions kill about one deer a week.
What kind of conversations has this land generated so far? … set aside for “conversation” purposes!
Protect them they were there first
You should have every right to defend what is yours. I’m all for it as long as it’s a one shot one kill.
First, the land wasn’t set aside for “conversation purposes” it was set aside for conservation purposes. That said, leave the Mtn Lions to their work. The land is for creatures like deer, bobcats, Mtn Lions etc to live on. If cattle are put on that land, that’s the risk the rancher takes. Not sure why that’s so hard to figure out.
Absolutely-ranchers have ALWAYS had protection from attacks on livestock
by firearms. That includes dogs, along with wild cats of any specie.
Apparently relocating large cats is a problem, as they are now trespassing on a rival’s territory. Their territories cover large areas and are patrolled by the cougar constantly. That forces a large singular-hunting carnivore at the top of the food chain looking elsewhere to get a meal. That includes some suburban areas, as well as ranches.
They could be relocated and put to use for fire suppression. Fire requires three things: fuel, oxygen and ignition source. We can’t do much about oxygen but goats have been used, in the process of feeding themselves, to remove the fuel in and around homeless encampments. Mountain lions could be put to handsome use, in the process of feeding themselves, in removing the ignition sources.
“The land the mountain lions are on is land that was set aside for conversation purposes,”
So then the land does not belong to the cattle owners?
If you want to let your cattle go onto land that is not yours, you take the risks associated with that.
Let you cattle roam on my land and I’m having steak for dinner.
Whether or not land was set aside for conversation purposes, I don’t see the Mountain Lions as especially interested in discussing it.
I need to know what the mountain lion population is.
If there’s a low or average population, then capture & relocate. But where?
If there’s a high population, then slaughter it & scatter the remains for other wildlife to eat.
Why don’t you look it up on the internet.
Obviously TraumaRx is hoarding pills from “medication time” the last few days and has gotten ahold of someone’s phone. Someone needs to call Nurse Ratchet at the Psych Ward for a little shock therapy to get her back on track commenting on seat belt usage.
There are a lot of moving parts to this story, with the positive impact of cattle on grazing land versus global warming versus that the cattle are a business and loss of 4 per year could just be their expense versus on and on. I will avoid all of that and say my piece: whatever nitwits designed and approved those humongous tracking collars should be made to wear them personally. I would not be surprised to see those cats throwing themselves in front of cars to end it all rather than wear that stupid thing.
If possible, it would be better for some of the lions to be relocated. In LA County, they have found that many mountain lions are unhealthy due to in-breeding. Since there are multi-lane freeways all over SoCal, families of the big cats are concentrated in certain areas and unable to roam for breeding.
The mountain lions were here first and should be protected.
Exactly. Thank you.
I wonder if you’ll feel the same way when there are so many of them that they start eating your dogs, or even your kids.
Ok – which is it… “conservation” or “conversation”? 🤣 It may be time for the lions and the cattle to sit down and have those tough conversations.
Without the lions there will be a marked uptake of vermin. Hence the cattle feed will disappear, costing the ranchers even more than an occasional loss by nature. Comprende ???
Yo no comprende ON DA…
I believe these cattle are grazing out on the range….and there’s alot of grass…. about all the cattle ranchers are likely to lose is whatever the deer can slurp off of the salt lick.
.
They only lose a miniscule amount of livestock. The livestock already are grazing on wilderness preserves. If you allow too many deer to graze they systematically over strip the ecosystem. Let alone feral hogs and other unendangered creatures.
The lions keep out other non desired creatures, even in-humans.!!!
The Mountain Lions are doing what Mountain Lions do, but I believe the cattle serve an important purpose in grazing and livestock need protection. If a Mountain Lion is creating a problem, killing or injuring livestock, I believe it needs to be trapped alive and relocated to a more remote area where it can establish a new territory and has plenty of room to roam without encountering livestock.
The article does not say the cattle are on protected land it says the mountain lions are on protected land. If the mountain lions get off of the protected land as they do and are attacking cattle then they can be shot. Who is going to sit there and watch a mountain lion take down your cattle. Would you shoot a mountain lion if it was attacking your dog.
Sure, Mountain Lions are doing what they do, but…..
There needs to be a balance (within nature).
For example, too many lions have a very adverse affect: Besides the previously mentioned in-breading, over time their prey diminishes. Lack of prey causes the lions to be expand their hunting to include the cattle, as well as family pets and even people.
Their diet can consist of deer though they also eat smaller animals such as coyotes, raccoons, rabbits, squirrels, mice and rats. Granted some might not like the smaller critters, but to few of those guys creates other problems…
For example deer eat vegetation, which can help with fire protection….
Temper enthusiasm for relocating . Animals frequently are relocated and frequently go right back to their original location .
That’s right all creatures have a built in magnetic compass. It is part of the glandular system.
Get your (private) cows off of (public) mountain lion land.
Famers and ranchers get too much as it is, get them millionaires off welfare already.
Yeah…. let that grass grow as tall as it can … and dry out & catch fire… then the mountain lions will have to go live somewhere else.
That’s much better than letting the cattle keep it short.
I often wonder if the people attacking farmers ever eat. The article says nothing about cattle being on public land it says mountain lions from public land. Mountain lions really have no idea where public land ends and that is the problem.
No
cougars will eat mice; maybe send a few to the Farallon Island for a while. Just a temp solution.
Just pay the ranchers for the dead cows and relocate the cats if possible.
How about harvesting the thousands of turkeys and wild pigs lurking about and setting up ML feeding stands…
🙂
You got too or do something to control their population. My coworkers buddy has some land in half moon bay where they use to hunt deer said the mountain lions are everywhere and they killed off all the deer and coyotes already
You can’t fool Mother Nature.
Set up a program to compensate the ranchers, then let the animals work it out.
What will we have if no conservation, wildlife and animals? People and structures every square inch. Nature is important on many levels.
Relocate the lions to downtown Oakland, they only hunt during the evening hours…………this will solve two local problems.
108RS
I think predators should be controlled when a certain percent of livestock loss occurs .Loss to predators should be considered part of the cost of doing business.