EISPIRATEN

Not that the two are necessarily related, but when I saw this, it made me wonder whether we can expect more frequent and aggressive wildlife encounters as water and food resources become more scarce due to the continuing drought. tracker? CM? Anybody else with more knowledge than me (meaning everyone)? What do you think?

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-m ... z2sMTnjUnm

Uncle Rico wrote: ↑Not that the two are necessarily related, but when I saw this, it made me wonder whether we can expect more frequent and aggressive wildlife encounters as water and food resources become more scarce due to the continuing drought. tracker? CM? Anybody else with more knowledge than me (meaning everyone)? What do you think?

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-m ... z2sMTnjUnm

My "feeling" is as food becomes more scarce encounters will increase.

My feeling is based on knee jerk emotion and not on any proven fact about animal behavior

The fact the person is not dead. Indicates if we are dealing with a mountain lion we have a sick or injured one.

Who knows if this has anything to do with food scarcity OR if it was a cougar at all.

DNA testing will settle it.

When they track the animal down an autopsy will reveal more information

It seems to me to be irresponsible to gin up emotions with out real facts. But local media loves this sort of thing. "If it bleeds it leads"

Depending on media for real facts for anything but the time of day is a fools errand.

(I for one check my watch/clock when they give the time of day)

It's human nature to try and explain things; especially when it comes to one's safety. But sometimes an event can't be explained and its causes proven. So I would say one theory is as good as the next when it comes to trying to explain mountain lion attacks on people. I've studied all of the modern-times California lion attacks as well as having been directly involved in a couple of the investigations. I have to say - It's hard to find common threads. Every time a factor seems to explain the causes of an attack, a different incident can be found that blows the theory apart.
I'll throw in a personal (non-scientific) opinion: Maybe these apex predators are thinking, planning, learning creatures that aren't completely bound by hard-wired instincts. If so, they might be able to occasionally think outside the box and try something different.
( Good thing they don't do that more often.....)
Then in some cases they decide, "This thing stinks and its neck is too short. Ow! Deer don't punch me in the nose. I'm outta here".

tracker wrote: ↑ I'll throw in a personal (non-scientific) opinion: Maybe these apex predators are thinking, planning, learning creatures that aren't completely bound by hard-wired instincts. If so, they might be able to occasionally think outside the box and try something different.
( Good thing they don't do that more often.....)
Then in some cases they decide, "This thing stinks and its neck is too short. Ow! Deer don't punch me in the nose. I'm outta here".

So, it seems lack of "common sense" & natural selection are making people dumber and wildlife smarter? I love it when plan comes together har har har