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Post by dustawaits on Oct 11, 2019 12:06:14 GMT
Every early morning I have been hearing a cat. This rainy morning was no exception. Decided to research because I thought it might be a bobcat. My neighbor had seen one. Turned out to be a mountain lion. Weeks ago I heard one in the evening as I was walking the dogs..it definitely was a mating call.
But it is hanging around here...not very happy, my cat is smart, agile, and I hope can evade it. The dogs are outside part of the day and at times uncomfortable... I have been walking early often while still dark...
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Post by feather on Oct 11, 2019 12:25:20 GMT
Maybe it's just me but I'd be a bit uncomfortable walking early in the dark knowing a mountain lion is hanging out in the area.
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Post by dustawaits on Oct 11, 2019 15:35:51 GMT
feather, after hearing the mountain lion for the third straight morning, I waited until daylight or lighter as it is cloudy to walk this morning. Though the dogs were on guard during the walk they were much easier and more settled. The cat walks with us too and stayed closer. Not looking forward to meeting the bear but apparently it is a smaller one.
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Post by Woodpecker on Oct 11, 2019 16:10:35 GMT
Gee, dustawaits, you sure have frightening critters, in your neck of the woods! Be careful and aware all the time🥰
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Post by countrymom22 on Oct 11, 2019 17:10:01 GMT
Please be careful dustawaits. A mountain lion is nothing to mess around with.
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Post by feather on Oct 11, 2019 18:03:19 GMT
Not looking forward to meeting the bear but apparently it is a smaller one. To paraphrase a ditty found on one of the groups I've been in.
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Post by dustawaits on Oct 11, 2019 18:18:03 GMT
LOL you girls are great.! feather, I will keep that in mind...although gummy bear stick to my teeth so I would starve not choke.... But I was thinking the same thing Woodpecker, for some reason there are a few too many wild creatures around here. If an Irish Terrier gets frightened it has to be bad indeed. countrymom22, when I was in my early teens I awoke before 4 a.m. and the dog and I would walk through the woods to the meadow beyond. Lovely morning walks in the darkness. One morning I had the strangest feeling I was being watched. Couldn’t shake it off. On our return trip we checked the mud around the pond to see what animal prints were there. We stared for a long time at fresh cougar tracks and I knew what had been watching me. Although I thought Mother did not know I left, she did, even if I was back in bed asleep when she got up. She spent the time praying that I would return safe.
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Post by Ozarks Tom on Oct 11, 2019 19:56:58 GMT
dustawaits, You do carry a firearm on your walks, don't you? Not trying to insult, but if you don't, knowing a mountain lion is in your close vicinity, well......
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Post by dustawaits on Oct 11, 2019 21:47:51 GMT
No Tom, I don’t. I have my hands full with a Collie pup in training and a terrier. Plus my cat. I truly believe if the mountain lion was close I could get neither of the dogs out the door. Nor would the cat leave the house. I am not careless, well not now anyway... but my gun stays loaded and the safety off.
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Post by mollymckee on Oct 11, 2019 23:18:08 GMT
Dustawaits the state has taken out 7cougars in our neighborhood in the year or so. Neighbors have killed two others with state permission as they were threatening their stock. You should either take a gun or stay home from your walks unless you go in the middle of the day, with a friend. Here at least the cougars are teaching their young to hunt and they will kill for that reason, not because they are hungry. Please be carefull.
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Post by farmchix on Oct 12, 2019 8:32:24 GMT
Wow! I agree with the others. Wait until daylight. Get some bear mace.
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Post by dustawaits on Oct 12, 2019 12:36:27 GMT
I waited until full daylight...the sun is not up yet but clear skies and visibility. The caution? It was in my backyard, basically at the back door. countrymom22, the DNR has turned these creatures loose here. For a long time if anybody said they saw one they were derided by the DNR. I guess the DNR does not know there are cameras for day and night?
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Post by Tim Horton on Oct 14, 2019 2:41:48 GMT
A number of US state wildlife agencies will deny there is "fill in the blank" animal, bird, fish there. Unfortunately it is usually because if they admit it is there, there must be a management plan on file for it. This takes a man hour away from another program to write a management plan for the "fill in the blank"
If anyone knows, or suspects there is a cat in there area and DOES NOT change there routine, they are asking for trouble. Too many times when it gets to this point the old saying, "it is more scared of me" DOES NOT apply at that time.
You would not deliberately wade in fast, dark, flood water. Nor a tornado warning or lightning storm. Why... Because it is dangerous.. Well... This applies also...
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Post by mollymckee on Oct 14, 2019 5:48:15 GMT
Walking the dogs this afternoon we found a deer, half eaten by a cougar. It was about 150 feet from our back door. We are now carrying every time we go outside as well as having long guns at the door. The fish and game guy wasn't answering his phone and his mailbox was full (1st weekend of deer season). We will try to get him in the am. He lives a couple at roads over and is quite helpful. Hopefully the deer isn't moved during the night. We just want to document how close to our animals the cougar was, in case we shoot it. It is legal but I'm sure some people will not agree.
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Post by mogal on Oct 14, 2019 10:47:43 GMT
I waited until full daylight...the sun is not up yet but clear skies and visibility. The caution? It was in my backyard, basically at the back door. countrymom22 , the DNR has turned these creatures loose here. For a long time if anybody said they saw one they were derided by the DNR. I guess the DNR does not know there are cameras for day and night? Dustawaits, I didn't realize you were also in MO. What you said about the reintroduction is true. And what Tim Horton said re: man hours and admission that a "fill-in-the-blank" population would cause more work is also true. It's amazing how many of the cougars killed in Missouri have, according to TPTB, are young males passing through MO in search of territory. Uh, yeah, sure, right. I guess that means all the young females are over the state lines in Iowa, Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kansas? I vaguely remember one report of a female. Several years back a cougar was killed on the US highway that bisects this county. I have friends who raise lots of sheep within 4 miles of the spot and they have even lost their guard llamas as well as sheep to some predator. I also remember a case where a cougar was killed on I-35 near Worlds of Fun/Oceans of Fun in Kansas City. A friend, now deceased, who worked closely with the Conservation Dept. told me that when the animal was posted, a small collar had been found in its stomach. It had been feeding on pets in people's fenced back yards. Even though it was IN Kansas City, the area is near the Missouri River with lots of habitat for the cougar. I've heard reports of people having seen a cougar within a mile of my house. That doesn't give me warm fuzzies either as I've had the same sensation of being watched as I've come in from the barn late at night. Now we have Pyrs that not only guard the pasture but the house and yard as well. We've lost 2 to old age in the last year and it's a hard decision if we should replace them at our ages since the dogs could outlive us.
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Post by dustawaits on Oct 14, 2019 12:11:09 GMT
I have not been out this morning. Yesterday it was even closer to the house. What about the hunters that go in the woods before dark? That is a concern to me as a hunter came this morning early and is in the area of this panther.
I know they kill small animals/ pets. Last night my cat stayed outside not sure where he was but at least he came in early this morning. With the game wardens shooting every deer they can... of course there are fawns left without mothers so they will be food ... I have noticed that possums and coons have suddenly disappeared,even the armadillos are no longer active. I do not know if they are food for the panthers but I know a hungry one is a dangerous one.
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Post by AD in WNC on Oct 14, 2019 15:37:27 GMT
Cougars need 10 lbs of meat every day. They eat everything from mice to baby moose. I would not be taking my pets outside between dusk and dawn for that reason. Great pyrs are bred to kill canine predators (wolves, coyotes, dogs). I would get another breed to take on large cats. Perhaps a pair of Anatolian shepherds, and carry a gun, when I went to the barn.
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Post by dustawaits on Dec 28, 2019 0:02:09 GMT
Saw the female this morning just before I took the dogs for a walk. She apparently had her family in the thicket about 200 feet south of my house. I will be more watchful..somewhere further south is a "food dump" that the local strays frequent. I am guessing she came from there. As long as she stays in her territory and not mine I will be happy.
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Post by mogal on Dec 28, 2019 2:07:18 GMT
As long as she stays in her territory and not mine I will be happy. Did you give her a plat map to know where your property lines are?
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Post by feather on Dec 28, 2019 2:17:14 GMT
As long as she stays in her territory and not mine I will be happy. Did you give her a plat map to know where your property lines are? I was thinking, have you marked your territory well. How did you do it?
I'd not be out there, not me or an appetizer dog.
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Post by dustawaits on Dec 28, 2019 11:53:51 GMT
Oh my I forgot about the platt map. Must get that made with arrows in where she can go!!
I could hope she would put the fear of God in the prowlers around here at night...I would rather she make their demise than me😆
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Post by feather on Dec 28, 2019 15:16:07 GMT
This is from: www.mountainlion.org/us/mo/-mo-law.phpSo, since you'd have to surrender it within 24 hours, no mountain lion fur coat. Bummer. In addition, what will you do with the baby mountain lions? I bet they are cute cute cute.
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Post by dustawaits on Dec 28, 2019 16:35:53 GMT
Haven't seen the babies. I am surprised at how much smaller she is than the male. Got to thinking about it last night. He is a wild beast hunting on wildlife. She on the other hand is living near the bar and eating thier at night, apparently. If she is eating human food that may be part of her problem. If it is tainted or whatever..maybe licking liquor containers...
I have no intention of killing her unless she does the worst senario . Live and let live.
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Post by feather on Dec 28, 2019 16:54:00 GMT
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Post by dustawaits on Dec 28, 2019 17:06:20 GMT
Interesting ,Feather, I think she has her babies but I don't know for sure. I think they mated in September because I was thinking winter babies . I live within a mile of Panther Creek so named because if all the panthers in the area. And because they raise in the bluffs near the creek.
Obviously she has very keen eyesight as she saw me pull the curtain back and froze . Then she quickly crossed the road and disappeared. I much hope she catches most or all of the armadillos.
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