Cougars killing sheep!

[Blktail]

Cougars have killed 13 sheep out in the agricultural suburb Metchosin, near Victoria. CO's believe it is at least 2 cougars, maybe a female and young one. They have seen 2 sizes of tracks and some of the sheep have had the wool pulled off the skin, a sign of an immature cat.
CO's have been trying to track them with hounds, but the cats can't seem to be caught. Conditions are good for tracking too.
A local radio station has a poll going and the votes are 80% against sending hunters out to shoot them. (I'll bet the 80% live in the city or have no children or livestock.)
I'll post any news on the subject.

[ghost stalker]

i hear ya. it seems as though the people who are making the decisions are the people who don't live or have to deal with these problems. this kind of stuff really drives me up the wall. not shortage of cats on the isle. if you see one in you yard.........well you know! when i lived in courtenay i had a bear hit my garbage for 2 weeks strait. the funny thing is 65ft from my house was a salmon stream loaded with rotting salmon at the time. when the bear mysteriously passed on he had a diaper in his mouth from my garbage can.....the funniest thing ya know!

[Tall Shadow]

Originally posted by ghost stalker
i hear ya. it seems as though the people who are making the decisions are the people who don't live or have to deal with these problems. this kind of stuff really drives me up the wall. not shortage of cats on the isle. if you see one in you yard.........well you know! when i lived in courtenay i had a bear hit my garbage for 2 weeks strait. the funny thing is 65ft from my house was a salmon stream loaded with rotting salmon at the time. when the bear mysteriously passed on he had a diaper in his mouth from my garbage can.....the funniest thing ya know!

That's One "Bad Azz" diaper! It took out a Bear!

I feel sorry for the people who have to "Take any means necessary" to protect their home, life's, or livestock, While having to hear "Don't hurt the Poor animals!" from the PETA/City morons!


I grew up in the city(and a Yankee), and Of Canadian heritage but always felt that there was a mix up at the hospital....I've always felt more at home down south and out in the country. I prefer the people I know and meet there, and I can't stand the idiots I live around here in Metro Detroit. I just hope that someday I can afford to move somewhere down south or out west.


Best of Luck with Your Troubles!,
Tall Shadow

[Blktail]

20 sheep are dead or missing now.
Fish & Wildlife has actually come out and said in public that these cats are not candidates for relocation. "The owners of the livestock they eat after relocation will not be too happy with us."

Maybe there is a little hope.

(I know 20 sheep does not seem like a lot, but they are measured in the hundreds around here, not the thousands. A typical farm has well under 100 sheep.)

[Blktail]

CO's got one male with a hot chunk of lead. Time will tell if there is another.

[Lilred]

Tall shadow,
My hubby is from Detroit..well..I think they call it Detroit..Van Dyke is where he was raised. The fool married me, a Virginia gal born & raised. We live here now. He wouldnt go back up yonder iffin you paid him to. That goes fer me too..lol

You should holler at him sometime..I'll get him to read the board iffin you want..maybe post some. He always said he was born out of place too..he's now converted..poor thing says ya'll and he eats my grits w/ redeye gravy every mornin.

Back to the thread, there's cougars in VA too, in the mtns. Caint say as they've attacked a human yet tho. How many babies do them things have a yr anyways?

[Nulle]

Our State GF&P has taken a about face on our cat problem and if one is bothering anything, the dogs are braught in and the cat is tracked down and killed.

[ghost stalker]

i was intently listening to the reports and sightings on the eastern side of the continent in the 80s. the big cats were thought to be wiped out back then but more and more sightings and tracks in the adarondacks were coming up. now i believe it is confirmed that they are back with a little bit of a population. it's good to see that some of the predators can bounce back from the brink. they are awsome creatures, but like anything else.. too much of anything can be a problem. vancouver isle has the highest population per sq mile anywhere, same for blackies so culling a few problem animals that call the fringes of town is to be expected.

keep us updated blktail and good luck. keep ur pooch in for a couple of weeks.lol

[Blktail]

Lilred - cougar have on average 2 youngun's every 2 years or so. We have a healthy population around here. There are plenty of opportunities for hunting the cats around here. You need hounds though. In 35 years of pounding bush I have seen only one, and I count myself lucky at that. They are not often seen by people they are not considering to invite for dinner, if you know what I mean.
It is neat there are enough around here to be a problem. My only problem with that is the bleeding hearts who want to let them be, relocate them or make heros out of them.

[Cal Sibley]

I was reading about coyote attacks on livestock such as sheep and goats. It seems that the ideal dog for protection isn't a dog at all but a mule. Apparently they have a built in hatred for cougar and coyote and will go after them. My daughter lives outside of Portland, Oregon and says the lady across the road raises South American llamas. Some are sold to area residents to protect sheep and goats. I never thought of the llama as being particularly fierce, but maybe it is. Anyone else here know anything about this? Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

[Nulle]

Sheep folks in these parts use Llamas alot and mules not as much as the little burrows. They will make fast work out of a yote but not sure how they would fair in a cat fight.