After reading everyone’s comments, I thought of something that I find interesting. First. I think that when an animal attacks a human, it should be relocated to a different area far from human populations. (although those are kinda hard to come by now). Now to what I find interesting. Why is is that when an animal kills a human they usually get killed, but when a human kills another person they get life in prison or 20 years on death row? Specially since animals kill for food or in defense, but humans usually kill out of malicious intent. Anyways, just thought that was kind of interesting.

You got half of it right. If a person is to go outside I do believe they should account for the possibility of an attack, there is nothing wrong with being educated and prepared. Never did I say it was strictly their fault for the attack however. While in many cases it is the fault of man it certainly isn’t true for every attack.

Very well put.

Great site, great argument–I’m off for now.

Second, there is only so much human beings can do to prevent nature from being natural. We can live in cities and never venture into woodlands or deserts or swamps, but it won’t matter, the animals will migrate into our habitat just like we (admittedly, more abruptly) migrate into theirs.

It’s no one’s fault. It’s life and death.

I do understand that some animal attacks are the result of human carelessness or stupidity; I’m not saying that that does not happen. Kittenz also makes good points about human intrusion into animal habitats—I’m not for that and understand that sometimes things “happen” as a result.

What I was reacting to was Maslo statement saying “if you fear being eaten—-(which you probably won’t) then stay indoors or in the city.” It just seemed a bit hardcore—although I understand his response. It just seemed he was saying that if one decides to go outside in nature that person must always account for the possibility of bieng attacked. And if that person is attacked, then it’s strictly their fault. I’m sorry, that is not true.

While there is a risk, some people are simply minding their own business and staying out of the way of animals. Look to the examples I talked about in my previous post. And Sergio, I agree with you. This is not about provoked attacks; this is about people minding their own business—unprovoked attacks. Andrew Minnesota also makes good points. This is a case of people being in the wrong place and wrong time. I was just reacting to what I considered to be a lack of compassion “those filthy, selfish humans always provoke this” attitude on the part of a particular poster. If that was not the poster’s actual attitude, then I apologize.

our logic is to stop these animals from becoming ‘man – eaters’; so we run into the forest (cougars) or ocean (sharks) or rivers (alligators) to retrieve these vicious beasts for the safety of our 7 billion strong population. if only we applied this same reasoning to those animals that do premeditate the killing of humans – other humans.

we also have to realize that with overfishing, overhunting, and overpopulation by humans, that there is less prey species for these animals, which in turn leads them back to us, and there are plenty of us around.

basically, we can’t treat every cougar attack as a crisis. there are 300M people in the U.S. Cougar populations don’t even come close to that amount.

just think…in the time it took me to write this little essay, probably a dozen or so people were killed by other people across our tiny blue planet. where are those articles?

We all know, from a young age instinctually that certain things can be dangerous. As we grow we add more and more things to our “catalogue” of possibly dangerous things. Yet we venture into areas where predatory or dangerous animals habitate. Why? Because we are human, thats simply what we do. Asking someone to live in fear becuase they choose to co-habitate with potential injurious animals is simply silly. Sure, accidents happen, sure, occasionally a predatory animal actively stalks and kills a human. This is life folks. It doesnt MATTER who is at fault, it never has. What matters is how you deal with it. I’ve been on the recieving end of domestic dog bites, and wild boar chases. Neither is fun, nor was either expected. But at NO point did i say to myself, “self, your in thier terf now, they have a right to do you bodily harm”. This turf war argument about animals and man is pure distraction. We have existed in thier lands since our inception, the trick is finding a balance somewhere so we may mitigate the threat of the animals, and not place undue stress on them. As far as the argument i read previously that we somehow “compete” with animals for thier food sources is pure bunk. Ive never chased a grizzly off his kill so that i may nibble the tender bits of his hard earned elk. Nor have i ever run a whitetail out of my yard because he is eating MY grass, which goes lovely in a salad. The problem is simply proximity. We get in thier way and they will act or react however they deem appropriate. As far as predatory hunting and killing of humans? Absolutely it happens, and the offending animal should be excised from any area that has frequent human visitation, pure and simple. If it cant be relocated, then it should be eradicated. We will never “teach” nature to not be well…. natural. So we are left with few options. Deal with the facts folks, we humans are here, we are numerous bossy smelly unpredictable creatures ourselves, sure, but we are here, and we are searching for the same thing all other things on this planet are, safety, happiness, and the chance to grow our family. You wont ever stop the human race as a whole from advancing itself into the most remote of places. And claiming its not right doesnt matter, it is what it is, right or not. Rather than saying “animals have a right, its your fauly, blah blah blah” try saying “how can i, personally, assure that both species involved get through this with as little impact to thier daily lives as possible.
Remember, the only reason cougers and bears dont run the joint is thier lack of a thinking reasoning human mind. Give them that, and im quite certain they wont be asking how they can minimize pain for our species, rather they would be asking if we taste better par-boiled or grilled. We are a destructive species, no question. But we are also the only species capable of producing an answer.
Rap