I actually live in Villa Hills (referenced in the story). One of those things comes near my beagle and its all over.

On another note, where the reporter saw that cat is actually a place where you get a perfect view of the Cincy skyline from the interstate. You don’t get a whole lot closer to civilization than that. A quite heavily populated area.

I would say they are alive and well around here.

The cougar sighting that you mentioned was reported here on Cryptomundo in January at: Cougar Sightings in Kentucky.

We tend to get four to eight reports a year about pumas around here.

The east needs pumas, period. Because it just does. They won’t restore balance to the deer population. It’s way too late for that. But they’ll reduce it, and also lap up lots of stray dogs and cats - and coyotes - that ARE disaster for resident wildlife populations.

And I think it would be good for us to get a few of our own “harvested” from time to time. I could think of worse ways to go - all of them from stuff we do.

I am just saying that the reason that it matters whether the pumas are the native eastern subspecies is because legally, the eastern puma is critically endangered, and therefore is a 100% protected subspecies, and most pumas from other areas, with the exception of Florida pumas, are not.

I agree - it should not matter where the come from, once they have become established and are living wild. Pumas are the apex predator in the East (other than us that is), and we need them.

swnoel, I’m sorry, you are dead wrong. The problem in California is a people problem, not a puma problem. Pumas keep the deer population from killing off the diversity of the forest. When deer become so numerous that they eat everything in the understory, including the wildflowers, then it’s time to allow their predators to become re-established. Pumas woud help to control the coyotes and feral dogs that plague parts of the Appalachians too. Considering that there are literally thousands of pumas in the west, the number of attacks on people is miniscule. And one way to prevent attacks on pets is to simply keep them indoors at night.

Where pumas do become too numerous or too bold, as much as I personally dislike the idea, hunting seasons could be implemented to help control them. Better yet, people could harass them away from human habitations with dogs, for instance, in the same way that they harass problem bears with Karelian bear dogs in some regions.

As to pumas impacting the logging industry in Maine, I just don’t follow your logic there. Logging and pumas coexist in many other forest areas; why not in Maine?

The states along the Eastern seaboard have changed dramatically in the past 100 years.

Having a viable cougar or wolf population will be a disaster for resident wildlife and once those animals are gone, your pets and children will become dinner.

California is a prime example of wildlife policies gone wrong.

We can’t undo what has happened over the years and things can never go back to how they used to be.

Logging is an important industry in Maine and provides many families with incomes in areas where there is nothing but the logging industry.

Unlike California, I hope level heads prevail in the East.

Of course, my suspicion is that pressure is being put on the Fish and Wildlife Service by those who want to develop the land. The more species that can be called “officially extinct” or off the endangered list, the less red-tape and hassle developers will have to contend with when they want to raze habitats.