Ruling out an animal based on that reasoning seems premature. Out west, these kind of things have ended up being a predator with a compromised ability to feed. Such as an obstruction, a timorous growth, broken mandible, etc. I am not saying I know better, just that they should be a bit more open minded. And read The Beast in the Garden.
We used to walk around the woods behind my house but dont anymore. Family of deer including a 10 point, multuple owls (anybody ever talk to them?), believed to be 2 bobcats, 1 fox, opossum, skunks, snakes and a couple coyotes that send my dogs into a craze when they are close.
Puma concolor are definitely not endangered, and clearly not extirpated! I like them, and do not wish to see them all removed. They and everyone else are better off being aware of them and acting accordingly, though. Reality shouldn't be ignored, whatever the inconvience.
Not sure how reliable this is Jay, but a buddy who lives in Greenville and who bear hunts says the same thing, and that Kentucky drastically lowered its quota, so they’re overpopulating and coming south from there instead of north/west from Smokies. If you have one you’d like to get rid of around Thanksgiving, just yell (I’ll ask JG and/or Float come and bag it for me...and you).
They've put a good number in the big south fork too. I know there's a lot of sighting and encounters with them now. I've had some trail camera pictures and it's crazy how big some of them get.
Will do. Those guys are welcome to hunt my land for bear. I just already have a guy that hunts deer though.
I am just poking. It's interesting how we each frame the natural world, where it ends, and where the human world begins.
One of the absolute best classes I ever took was on the Book of Genesis, primarily because the professor was a highly acclaimed scholar in its original language, and could give a literal translation (he actually worked as a translator for the work that became the NIV bible, and later, became a Messianic Jew) of the work. I recall that he once pointed out that the biblical text used the same ancient Hebraic word - “kabash” - to both describe men’s exercising dominion or “subduing” (as its often translated) of the earth in Genesis 2, and which was later used to describe what happened to Dinah, which was often translated as “defiled” or “raped”. I’m not advocating for the raping of the earth, of women or am making any larger statement - your comment just reminded me of his telling us that.
Languages are interesting like that. There can be more meaning in a familiar phrase than we readily see due to its familiarity. Talking to someone who learned English as a second language or is learning English really opens your eyes up to the words and phrases we use all the time, in a new way. I wonder if that little hebraic connection may in part relate to plowing, cultivating, seeding, etc.
Whenever a horse is killed down here, its assumed a Cuban did it. They butcher them and eat horse meat. I don't think you can buy it here legally, but they do love it. I guess they eat horse meat in Cuba.
I always find it odd people will eat cows and sheep but find the idea of eating another grazing animal "disgusting". I guess it is the whole pet thing.
