23913 posts 12/15/2013 7:27 pm
Last Read:
12/17/2013 6:49 am
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That is too bad
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But you can not coughers running about killing pet dogs.
Two dead cougars, shot while doing what comes natural to big mountain cats — only this meal happened to have a name, and was loved as a family pet.
This is the bloody price of Canmore’s population boom, of both human and wildlife.
“I can confirm we put two cats down,” said Canmore District Fish and Wildlife Officer Ron Wiebe.
It’s not a happy conversation, the Sunday afternoon phone call to Canmore’s animal management experts — people who do their best to keep human/wildlife conflict to a minimum, but sometimes have to make a grim choice.
And when it comes to picking a winner and loser in the battle for co-existence in Alberta’s mountains, the wildlife almost never comes out on top.
“It’s a harsh part of the job, but it does happen,” said Wiebe.
The two fatal gunshots have hopefully ended a spate of carnage around Canmore, blamed on hungry mountain lions who view pet dogs as an easy meal.
On Dec. 12, a medium-sized Australian Shepherd was out for a walk on the Silvertip golf course when a cougar pounced out of the woods and killed the dog.
There are conflicting reports about the attack: officially, the was off leash and chasing a squirrel when the cat struck, but follow up reports from the woman walking the suggests it was actually on an extend-a-leash, and the cougar wasn’t discouraged by the<b> proximity </font></b>of the person.
“Well today our family lost a friend and companion. While out for a walk Amber was attacked and killed by a cougar. You will be dearly missed. You were one hell of a puppy,” wrote the grieving owner of the dog, on a public Facebook post.
And on Wednesday or Thursday, a cougar also attacked and killed a miniature at Rafter Six Ranch, about ten kilometres east of Canmore.
“I was pretty shocked and upset,” Tim Kilgour, a wrangler at Rafter Six told the Sun.
The 15-year-old miniature , named Nacho, was the second ranch animal attacked by cougars this year.
But wild animals stalking livestock is an occupational hazard for ranchers.
Giant cats eating dogs is something once-sleepy Canmore faces ever more frequently, after nearly doubling in population to 12,500 over 15 years — and that doesn’t include the 6,000 people who only live there on weekends.
That’s a lot of humans and their dogs using off-leash areas and off-season golf courses for exercise — and that, coupled with a very healthy cougar population in recent years has made conflict almost inevitable.
And that of course means controversy.
“Moving a problem animal to another location just moves the problem to another spot,” said Wiebe.
“And these cats tend to move long distances once they are relocated, so they tend to get into trouble again shortly after — and when a cat has been killing dogs, they will do it again, because they tend to be prey specific.”
That answers the first question, one asked from the moment Fish and Wildlife officers are forced to shoot an animal: “You should have moved it instead” is the most frequent criticism, but as Wiebe points out, that’s not always a solution.
The death of two cougars in this case was not guesswork either, says the officer: “We’re confident.”
Wiebe says the pair of mountain lions were both found feasting on the killed Sunday, and while cougars don’t often work together, these felines had a proven taste for canine.
The other question — why wildlife has to die when humans are the ones who have invaded their territory, is never as clear cut.
It’s led to raging debate in Canmore, where the rights of owners is at odds with those who say wildlife should come first.
For officers like Wiebe, the only question is protecting the people, no matter how unfair it may seem to wild animals acting on instinct.
“It’s part of public safety and it’s a difficult situation all around. But do we let it heighten to the point where walking dogs get tangled up in it? We haven’t seen that here a lot, but it has happened in other jurisdictions,” said Wiebe.
michael.pxx
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This is not meant to offend any one in any way.
 
  
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50414 posts 12/17/2013 6:49 am |
Yes it is sad. It is the rich too. In that area I don't think you can buy a house for under a million dollars.
This is not meant to offend any one in any way.
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50414 posts 12/16/2013 10:04 am |
Quoting rm_19harley86:
we don't have cats that big and dangerous here in the sticks 
Your lucky
This is not meant to offend any one in any way.
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45446 posts 12/16/2013 8:41 am |
we don't have cats that big and dangerous here in the sticks
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50414 posts 12/16/2013 7:03 am |
Quoting sexysixties2:
Just as well they got them...it would be terrible if they got a child.
That has been know to happen
This is not meant to offend any one in any way.
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39750 posts 12/16/2013 6:22 am |
Just as well they got them...it would be terrible if they got a child.
"Age does not protect you from love, but love, to some extent, protects you from age."
~~Anais Nin~~
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---------------------Dennis US ARMY (RETIRED) AND YOUR FRIEND 
