Daniel Richards Shot a Cougar. Hurray!

Photos of the dangerous animal Daniel Richards legally killed are available here:

http://congressmantomtancredo.com/ca-democrats-call-on-state-fish-game-chief-to-resign-over-legally-hunting-cougar-in-idaho-chief-refuses/

Regular readers may remember that I used to live with a giant freak of a cat called Graybelle. When she assumed that "I'm just a friendly house cat who would like to be held and petted" pose, with me, her paws could reach up to the bottom of my shirt pocket. I was used to her, but I had to admit, when someone shot her and bragged about his brave act of public service, that a cat that size really ought to be...at least...kept away from people who don't appreciate her.

Graybelle looked as if she might have weighed 25 pounds, although most of the bulk was still young hollow bones and long hair. Actually, although too big to fit into my arms or lap, she might have weighed 10 or 15 pounds. And she was one of the more sweet-tempered, patient cats who've stayed at the Cat Sanctuary.

Nevertheless, if you were out in the woods, alone, you wouldn't want to meet a cat like that.

We thought Graybelle must have been killed, but nobody ever found her body, and about a year ago a friend reported finding a cat who looked just like her being kept inside a house in town. That cat seemed to recognize Graybelle's Human, too. (Like many Manx cats, Graybelle consistently showed a preference for just one human.) So now we think she must have survived, and, although she never wanted to be an indoor cat and nobody at the Cat Sanctuary ever wanted to make her one, she's been forced to become one for her own safety. She looks too alarming to be allowed outdoors.

Researchers say that, for the ancestors of our house cats, the "scary" bobcat-size Graybelle and some other cats achieve probably used to be normal. Manx and Maine Coon cats often, and other breeds occasionally, inherit a "throwback" gene for a healthy adult weight of 20 to 25 pounds. The runty little cats whose adult weight is only 5 or 10 pounds probably had more motivation to bond with humans, and would have been easier for humans to live with. So humans nurtured, and selectively bred, cats who would never be much bigger than a newborn human baby...and thus would never be tempted to eat a newborn human baby, as wild cats sometimes are.

Nevertheless, there are people who seriously claim that even five-pound house cats need to be "controlled." And when Daniel Richards is able to get control of a wild cat who must have weighed 75 pounds, where are those people? Why aren't they celebrating his achievement as an inspiring example to us all?
The wild cat species known as cougars, mountain lions, pumas, panthers, etc., seen standing as tall as a short adult human in the photos linked above, could and do kill adult humans. They can eat children, and they've been known to kill creatures much too big for one cougar to eat--like cows and horses--and share the meat, or waste it. However, when they attack adults, usually hunger is not the motive; they prefer other kinds of meat. Territorial instincts, defensive instincts, or even playfulness prompt them to attack humans.

The good news is that most wild cats instinctively dislike the scent of humans, and avoid being in places where humans are. Those are the kind with whom we can peacefully coexist. They'd like it if their space in a nature park was defined by high walls and deep, steep moats, and humans were only ever able to see them out the windows of helicopters.

Here's Wikipedia's official list of cougar attacks on humans:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America_by_decade

Note how the incidence of fatal attacks on adults has increased since cougars have been protected residents of public parks. I say, if they show enough tolerance for human odor to show themselves to humans, shoot'em before they breed.

This web site officially salutes Daniel Richards. If he's made to feel unwelcome in California, he's welcome to visit the Cat Sanctuary, where let's just say I'm pretty sure that people who've seen large predators in our part of the world will chip in for him and his family to stay in any bed & breakfast, or hotel, of their choice.