Town besieged by cougars

The hunters became the hunted in a southern British Columbia town menaced in recent days by three cougars — two which had their baleful gazes fixed on children.

Last Friday, only the quick-thinking actions of a Princeton resident prevented two kids swimming in a river from a likely deadly attack.

The man, who lives near the river, saw the 16-month-old male feline stalking the children and shot it dead, with follow-up investigation by Mounties concluding the firearm discharge was warranted — not to mention life-saving, said Cpl. Dan Moskaluk.

“There’s certainly little question that he may have saved that kid’s life, one of them at least, because it probably would’ve scooped up one of them and taken off,” he said.

“When you see a cat in that mindset of watching prey, regardless of whether it’s a house cat or a cougar ... it must have been very unnerving for the guy looking out at the riverbank.”

The close call came less than two weeks after conservation officers killed a cougar prowling amongst campers in the town 790 km southwest of Calgary.

And if those two incidents weren’t enough to put Princeton residents on a claw’s edge of tension, yet more feline fear erupted the next day.

A decidedly bold big cat was spotted prowling at a town park, with a swimming pool full of children and six baseball teams, on Saturday afternoon.

A panicked resident ran to the nearby RCMP detachment, with officers quickly holstering up to deal with the hungry predator.

“The guy was pounding on the detachment door, all he could get out was ‘Cougar! Cougar! Cougar!’” said Moskaluk.

“As they were walking up to the park area, this thing was crouched down and it was watching them as they approached.”

The animal, a 16-month-old female, was also put down.

Making matters more unsettling is the fact the fearsome predators are not generally apt to wander into town, said Princeton Mayor Randy McLean.

“To hear about one around town is amazing, to hear about three is surreal ... it’s just so hard to fathom,” he said.

“I’ve lived here all my life, I hunt, I fish, I Ski-doo, I quad ... and I’ve seen one cougar in my life and that was on the highway at two in the morning.”

Police are warning residents to be alert and on the look-out for these dangerous predators pictured below.

Is this heart-wrenching or what?

A dog is run over by what appears to be two vehicles. Another stray attempts to rescue the already dead dog by dragging him away from highway traffic to the safety of the median.





This pooch is also "dog's best friend" and deserves a medal of valour. It's times like these that the memory of my own deceased pet touches my heart. Sometimes, it's an insult to beasts to describe humans as "acting like animals". Our furry friends are often nicer than our fellow man.

Q & A's from around the web

Where does salami come from?

Same place steak and chops come from--an animal. A salami is a four-legged mammal about 5 feet tall that is found only in western Europe. It is the only mammal known to man that is completely hairless. --Vinny

Yes the native salami is endangered now, so cunning italians decided to gather up all the necks and arseholes left over after they had slaughtered a pig, and assorted other bits and pieces and brew it up into a mess that could quite possibly kill you if made the wrong way, forced it into a bit of guts twisted the ends and hung it out to dry, and called it salami. --Mick

Italians aren't that cunning...looks like they missed an arsehole. --Vinny

On extreme capitalism

I just came across something I posted to a message board a couple of years ago and I like it so much I'm posting it here:

America was founded by people tired of being "oppressed" by others. A nation founded on the principle of freedom. However, with freedom comes competition. And with competition comes great winners and great losers. Those who find ways to win at all costs often destroy weaker competitors, even if only by circumstance. And the strong who acquire power and status are able to circumvent the few rules/laws meant to protect the weak by hiring fast-talking, Harvard-educated, charismatic executives and lawyers. The weak, in desperation, turn to crime or end up on the streets or both. In a dog eat dog world, this polarization is inevitable.

The ultimate example of freedom is nature. And we can learn a lot from observing it. Animals are free to do whatever they please, so long as they are bigger, stronger, have sharper teeth--whatever gives them an advantage over other animals. And what do we see in nature? We see packs of vicious animals preying on the weak, old, young and infirm. And then, even in the winning group, the stronger ones eat first and the most. Pecking order dictates that those most in need, often end up dying.

I contend that while freedom to succeed is a good strategy to promote discovery and invention and therefore a better life for all overall, it does not hold that more freedom means even more success. I believe there is a point that when crossed, it puts people closer to the realm of animal behaviour than we should want. That point is when profit is put ahead of human life.

When pollution is allowed on a scale that causes human illness or death, when water or food supplies are insufficiently tested that threatens human health, when competition is so fierce that the stress causes great numbers to either take meds for life, give up or be unable to find adequate employment, when crime is seen as a viable alternative to the rat race, when landlords have the right to maintain unlivable conditions, when corporations produce defective products that can harm or kill people and do so because lawsuits may be cheaper to settle than the cost of a recall, that point has been crossed. We are behaving like animals.