March 6, 2005
HELP IS ON THE WAY, HERDERS (via Robert Schwartz):
Predators may follow deer into urban areas: Magazine essay warns of animals unafraid in humans’ domain (Dave Golowenski, March 06, 2005, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH)
An intriguing essay, written by Peter Canby and entitled "The cat came back: Alpha predators and the new wilderness" appears in the March issue of Harper’s Magazine. The article postulates why large predators appear to be re-establishing their dominance in some urban areas, though none close to Columbus.A case in point: Boulder, Colo., a city of 300,000 people that apparently also holds a thriving mountain lion population. The essay, which is based on a review of three books dealing with how humans unwittingly have created an out-of-sync urban wilderness, points out that several persons have been attacked, including one fatally, by cougars in the last decade or so.
Though attacks on humans and pets remain occasional, chilling is the fact that they have occurred within earshot of children playing and traffic moving. The cats, in other words, feel right at home.
Boulder, Canby’s essay points out, provides an example of what the various authors say humans apparently have overlooked in re-creating urban wilderness. The city was built on a sparsely vegetated plain, but 300,000 trees planted there drew mule deer, which eventually drew the protected cougars.
What’s more, once the mountain lions arrived, wildlife biologists declared them not to be a threat. That erroneous declaration, Canby writes, was based on what was known historically about the large cats.
For example, dogs were thought to be not only immune to cougar attacks but a safeguard against the cats’ continued presence. Cougars, it was known, historically feared dogs because the dogs’ close kin, wolves, hunting in packs, long had been one of the cats’ few mortal enemies.
However, a series of cat attacks on dogs large and small, fierce and timid, led some biologists to change their thinking. Apparently, the current generation of cats, whose ancestors haven’t had to face wolves for 150 years in much of their present range, never learned to fear their evolutionary canine rivals.
Not only that, but some research indicates that cougars study the habits of available prey. In other words, while the lions still prefer to hunt mule deer, they also could well be sizing up humans as they hike or jog along semi-urban trails. In short, some cougars could learn that people make not-so-fast food.
Whether the notion that urbanized cougar populations pose any future threat in Ohio is suspect, but what can’t be so easily dismissed is a cautionary tale. Humans, including the wilderness-loving variety who carry the best intentions, seldom can foresee the entirety of consequences resulting from their actions.
Let the cats start striking in more populated areas and it'll be fair game on predators again. Posted by Orrin Judd at March 6, 2005 5:41 PM
Maybe. Maybe not. Out here in the Portland (OR) metropolitan area, we have frequent cougar and bear sightings in the outer suburbs, and coyotes are common all the way into the central city. Numerous housecats and smallish dogs are chomped up annualy. No kids yet. No uproar.
And you probably know that a number of hiker/biker folks (usually women) have been attacked by cougars West of the Rockies in recent years, with several killed. Again, no uproar yet. Mainly helpful hints on avoiding ingestion.
Posted by: ghostcat at March 6, 2005 11:55 PMI think if it leads to more people going about armed, it will be all to the good. Look I am in favor of the cats, anything that reduces the population of rats on stilts is good. Another possibility is that we wind up back in walled cities, which would be neat too.
BTW, No HT OJ?
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at March 7, 2005 12:02 AMOJ: TX
Posted by: Robert Schwartz at March 7, 2005 12:34 AMTwo years ago, when the drought was bad here (Colorado Springs), we had reports of a cat and a couple of bears in the neighborhood. The bears didn't worry me much but the idea of a cat hanging around scared the living daylights out of me. As far as they're concerned you're just a funny-looking deer that can't run very fast.
Posted by: joe shropshire at March 7, 2005 1:00 AMAll those predators (wolves, cats, bears, etc.) were slaughered in the 19th century for a reason, and sounds like Boulder is about to find out why, firsthand. Couldn't happen to a more deserving city. We'll find out how much those urbanites really love Nature when they get to live with Nature full time on Nature's terms.
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at March 7, 2005 1:59 AMCougars roaming the streets of Boulder, and this is a bad thing? If the local predator population starts munching on the residents of Pyongyang in the Rockies, America wins. The next step is introducing the cougars and other predators to Berkeley, California and Madison, Wisconsin.
Posted by: Bart at March 7, 2005 6:38 AMMichael Crichton talked about this phenomenon, the result of what he calls "fluffy bunny" environmentalism. Its adherents are urbanites who don't really "get" the meaning of the word "carnivore." They're people who have never had to live in close proximinty to Nature and watch all those Discovery Channel documentaries about Bart the Bear, cuddly lion cubs and misunderstood wolves. Up until 50 years ago, cougars and other predators were afraid of humans because whenever they got close to them, they tended to get a face full of lead. No longer. It will be interesting to see when realization begins to dawn.
Posted by: L. Rogers at March 7, 2005 9:39 AMThe "Save the Predators" movement is just one more part of the war on religion, seeking to revoke the Noetic covenant, which confirmed man's status as the master predator.
the fox hunting controversy in England is a manifestation of this, as is the protected or semi-protected status of the medium-sized predators which prey on small game. When foxes and great horned owls were subject to a bounty in my state, their principal prey, the ringnect pheasant, was quite common--one heard them cackling at dusk within the city limits, and it was no problem to bust a limit, without a dog, in just a couple of hours. No more. Foxes are back, owls are back, all kinds of raptors are back, and the pheasants are gone.
Posted by: Lou Gots at March 7, 2005 10:41 AM
We have a similar problem in Florida with gators. Since they never stop growing, not only are they less shy of people, they are a lot bigger than when I was a kid. Years ago, unless you were deep in the swamps or marshes it was rare to see one over 6 feet long. Now, 10 foot+ is not uncommon, and that ain't nothin' to play with.
Posted by: carl at March 7, 2005 10:53 AM