New Traveler Poll: Do you agree with releasing Reynolds County mountain lion?
The Missouri Department of Conservation released a recently trapped mountain lion in Reynolds County back into the wild. Was this the right thing to do? Please choose an answer and add a comment.
- Yes. Wild creatures belong in the wild. (98%, 47 Votes)
- No. The cat should have been kept alive in confinement. (2%, 1 Votes)
- No. The cat is dangerous to the public and should have been killed. (0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 48
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Boy, that is a tough one but I would have to say yes (release it). I am not a fan of the thought these cats are around but I am not sure if killing it is the correct thing. I suppose one could look at the shoot on sight message for wild hogs and say what is good for one is good for the other but I don’t see cats breeding at the same rate hogs do. My biggest thing is that I have heard reports of cats in MO since I was a boy and they were always denied by the dept. If they are out there, I wanna know.
I can’t see the value of killing the cougar, it evidently posed no threat to humans or livestock when it was trapped, it just had the misfortune of being hungry at the wrong time and place. Had there been a rash of problems attributed to this cat then it might have required different action, like putting it in a zoo or putting it down. My 2 cents worth.
We’re in central Florida for the winter and they have an incredible array of potentially dangerous animals here, black bear (they have a season in this area), cougar (aka Florida panther), wild hogs, alligators wherever there is water plus some really big, bad snakes that aren’t native to America.
I’m glad it was released but it does make the walk out the woods after dark a little more interesting, especially when armed with just a bow.
I have very mixed feelings about this. I’m going to assume they released it in an area that is not heavily visited by the general public. So chances are only the locals and an occasional hunter might come in contact with it. This particular cat doesn’t seem to have caused any problems yet. So releasing it to the wild was a good thing. But what do the people that live in the area think about this. They are the ones that will have to deal with the cat if it decides to become a problem. Personally I have no problem with it taking a cow or pig once in a while. Of course I’m not the one losing the cow or pig either, I would just consider it a cost of raising livestock just as any other cost involved in raising them. But my concern is more the danger to pets & children & adults. These cats deserve a chance to live in the wild but the wild areas but unfortunately these areas are becoming more & more scarce. And if I remember correctly these cats need a large territory to survive. So it may become a problem latter. Guess we will just have to wait and see. Hopefully these cats can learn to survive without causing any major issues with the human population.
There really should have been a fourth choice on the poll. Should it have been released back in South Dakota where it came from? Since they are really an invasive species now, removed from this area last century, why did they let it go here? It would have been more humane to return it to an area where others exist so it would not be lonely.
It came to Missouri to establish its own territory. Wild animals aren’t any more adventuresome than most couch potato humans. They won’t travel any farther than they think they have to to establish their own territory. This cat must have felt the need to leave the area it originally came from or it would not have ended up here in MO. So taking it back to where you are assuming it came from would not accomplish anything but making it walk that much farther to return to an area where it felt comfortable.
I live less than l mile from where they released the mountain lion. There have been previous sightings in this area(although the conservation denied they were here) one was a female. I have mixed feelings about this. I hate anything killed just because it is there but I will never be able to let my grandchildren explore the woods and roam like I did as a child.
Yes, I agree with the decision to release it near where it was captured. Cougars were once native to Missouri, and are now expanding back into their former range. Unless men decide to make a concerted effort to track down and kill every one that crosses the state line, they will return. Hogs are a completely different situation. Hogs were never native to Missouri. They were brought to the Americas by Europeans. They have no place in the wild. Hog farms? Fine. Ozark hills? Nope.
I, for one, am tickled pink to see large mammals, like bears, cougars, and elk, back on Missouri’s landscape. They were eliminated by man, not because the habitat could not sustain them. I think it’s wonderful they are coming back, even if the elk needed some extra help.
The mountain lion, or cougar, evokes a giant fear of the wild, and also a giant wonder. It is not our duty to ask which is greater. To have the animal is always greater!