“[It] was like a dragon took him out of the sky and then leapt 20 ft off the deck. I know we’ve all heard it before but this is obviously NOT normal coexistence behavior and I’m now scared for our children (and the grownups after seeing the size & strength of the lion.)”
I’ve reported on mountain lions in suburban areas before but this is getting downright ridiculous. The area around Nederland, CO, not far from Boulder, has recently been devastated with mountain lion predation on resident’s pets, namely dogs, and folks are fed up, scared and feeling powerless to stop it.
As I read through the article in the link below I couldn’t believe what I was reading… people not able to see the simple reason for the ridiculous increase in lion predation and the simple solution to the problem, and it ain’t keeping your pet on a leash! Disclaimer, if opinion bothers you then stop reading now!
Colorado severely limits the hunting of mountain lions and in the area where these attacks are happening, GMU 29, hasn’t seen a filled lion tag since 2005! That’s right, not a single mountain lion has been successfully hunted in the area in 18 years, even with the “generous” quota of 2 lion tags. No wonder the local lion population is out of control with what amounts to zero fear of humans.
Spare me the cliche argument about people living in the lion’s habitat, that doesn’t fly with me. People in other states (Idaho, Montana, Wyoming) live with and around predatory animals every day and this crap doesn’t happen there with this regularity! The problem is that Colorado forbids the killing of a mountain lion for the protection of “personal property”, see below.
“The law differentiates between “real” and “personal” property, allowing people to kill wildlife that threatens their “real” property, such as livestock, houses and motor vehicles. But it’s illegal to kill predators that threaten “personal” property, which includes dogs. CPW wildlife officials can trap or kill a mountain lion for damaging real property, but not for personal property.”
The way I interpret that law is that if my family and I are walking my Labradors in Colorado and a lion jumps them, putting all five of my loved ones in danger, I have zero recourse! BS!!! If that lion is close enough to harm my dogs, which do not stray, it is close enough to harm my wife and children. Think I’m off base? Read the article as I did, you’ll be shocked to see the circumstances these people are dealing with.
So with defensive killing forbidden the only right answer to this equation is to legally kill these lions through hunting and that will take an obvious increase in tags. Which leads me to another point… If there are two tags per year issued for GMU 29 but not a single lion has been harvested since 2005, why is that? Are anti-hunters getting the tags and tossing them? Is the area too heavily urbanized to hunt? Whatever the answer is it is obvious the state of Colorado does not want these lions harvested with only two tags and an estimated population of four cats per 36 square miles, most of whom seem to be living around the easy pickings of folk’s homes who have zero recourse to deal with the aggressive cats.
Living around predatory animals comes with the reality that they do in fact eat meat and our pets and ourselves are made of meat… predators, especially those who’ve become accustomed to harmless human presence, will push the boundaries of the predator/prey relationship as far as they possibly can. It has nothing to do with CWD, habitat or environmental disturbance, it’s all about getting food the easiest way possible. If that includes snatching a shih tzu out of a backyard instead of stalking a mule deer or nabbing a child crossing the street then that’s exactly what that predator is going to do.
Until the folks in Colorado come to terms with taking back their place as THE apex predator in their neighborhoods this problem is only going to get worse.
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25 comments
As long as SNOWFLAKES run my state nothing is going to be changed.
F… gov Polus, F… CPW, SSS!
I AGREE 100 PERCENT,if it was my dog’s the lion would be dead,that personal property law is BS,if that Lion will attack your dog it WILL attack your child
STUPID law
Life is hard but fair, YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW!
The alternative to stupid game laws… SHOOT and SHUT UP!
At least in this instance, the ones causing the problem have the problem,( the Boulder, Denver area vote for these problems). These laws like very limited hunting and turning wolves loose in Colorado should be on a County by County basis. those that vote for it have the wolves turned loose in their county, those that don’t want them need to be allowed control them in their counties, if the people in their county want to feed their pets and kids to these predators so be it. Instead they vote for it in most instances and the people that vote against it pay the price and feed their animals, and kids in some instances to these predators.
Keep voting Democrat! Anyone, especially a hunter, who votes Democrat is a self-destructive idiot. Not sorry in the least bit. The Democratic Party of old is dead; it’s now the Liberal Socialist Communist Democrat Party of goofballs, crazies, criminals and fools. And, this is coming from someone who grew up in a Democrat-supporting family for 32 years. No more. Liberals WANT more and more Mountain Lions, Grizzlies, Wolves, Coyotes, etc., so hunting becomes obsolete. Wake up hunters, and do it fast!
Steve, you are spot on! How any firearm owner or hunter can continue to vote for Democrats is beyond me. Total ignorance I guess. Colorado is a lost cause. We seem to be trying our level best to become like California with the liberal politics. It sickens me!
Thanks, Kevin! It’s mind-boggling to see hunters vote Democrat. That is like deliberately shooting yourself in the foot. Makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
I hear ya, but don’t give up on Colorado or any other State in the U.S., keep the Faith. We can turn things around.
Best of luck to you on all your future hunting and outdoor adventures.
I’m sorry but if a lion is killing pets the next thing will be humans. Until the right person is affected nothing will change. Think about how things are going with wolves and grizzlies in Montana and Wyoming. A lot of folks think they are cute and cuddly. Shoot, Shovel, Shut Up.
That is why Idaho has a very high wolf tag limit. we are try ing to get back to the agreed amount of 150 wolfs. most of our grizzlies are on the east side of the state but there have been some sighting in the Idaho City area. Which is only about 45 min. from Boise Idaho.
I used to live just outside of Yosemite and we had a bad mountain lion problem but of course the democratic state that CA is, the cats are protected and now even the bobcats are protected…been living in Idaho for the past 15 years and here we get to hunt them, they come into town a lot here too but at least now I can shoot.
Knife /pistol fight ensues,,, lion dies! It came after me and my kids, I had the right to self defense!
We are the ones in the woods. Rounds are cheap
Where are you buying your ammo?
Nederland is in Boulder County and the people there for the most part are very liberal. The area is remote enough to safely hunt. Remember that CO’s liberal governor is from Boulder, that should tell a person a lot. With in the last year there was a proposal to eliminate mountain lion hunting, but that was quickly withdrawn, and I never heard why or anything about it. The liberals moving into this state are destroying the hunting and conservative state that CO once was, quickly becoming California Part 2. Until somebody or their pets are seriously hurt or killed nothing will change and maybe that won’t even be enough. The wolf introduction just barely passed. Currently CO’s House and Senate is a very STRONG DEMOCRATIC MAJORITY, so don’t expect help there. Current their goal is stripping the people of CO of the 2A rights. I agree with the above posts. It will be interesting to see what happens. It is very disappointing to live in CO anymore.
So very true, listen up folks!!!
300 BLK subsonic with a can and night vision. If you go for a walk and feel threatened are you not allowed to shoot?
You have to realize that our game and fish departments are now being run by politicians who are being run by lobbyist and until that changes we are never going to see sound game management. Those small special interest groups have a personal agenda and if they could, they would stop hunting of everything. I don’t know how to prevent this but maybe someone out there can give us some ideas because it is only getting worse.
Randy is 100% correct!!
You are correct, Colorado is not as it was,the only way to get there attention is to boycot hunting, no licenses no money, I just don’t know how to get people to do what has to be done.
If a lion dies in the woods and nobody’s around to see it?
GMU 29 is Boulder County. The most liberal anti hunter county in Colorado. It is 99% snowflake year round. This does not surprise me as when I lived in Wondervu (Coal Creek Canyon) we heard the cats often at night. Also what the story does not tell are the number of horses that have been killed by cats in the Magnolia area. We never let our child out unattended and kept our dogs close.
If a Lion comes after me and mine, including my dogs, I kill the lion.
Just for the record, the two lion tags mentioned in this article are actually a quota number. Lion licenses are unlimited in Colorado but each GMU has a quota. Once that quota has been filled, lion hunting is closed in that GMU. So the author’s theory that anti-hunters are getting the tags and disposing of them is not accurate. Much of that unit is private so that may have more to do with it than anything else. That entire area is filled with liberals who likely oppose hunting and won’t allow hunting on all the private land.