FINALLY! The truth about Eastern cougars!

[Bigbear]

What the real Bushers knew all along.

http://www.pennlive.com/wildaboutpa/..._official.html

Time to smile!
Where's the popcorn icon?

[gbk]

I am not sure what is your take on this-since you mentioned the popcorn i am neither pro or against the existence of the cougar in the east,but i think that this article-is just a WIN WIN opinion on a paper.
Nothing else-just an opinion.At one hand Big science was wrong so many times(thank God ,so many times extinct species appear somehow-in low numbers ,yet still existing) and at the other hands no one ever specified -and the occurring debate was never about the Eastern Cougar specifically ,but: based on sightings-footprints-witness statements etc,that there ARE wild Cougars in Ontario(or East -but we "debate"Ontario in general).For an average person to differentiate between a"cougar"and an Eastern Cougar takes a whole lot more then seeing a fleeing animal,seeing a footprint or a scat of the big cat.
Why WIN WIN-because if EVER there will be a real end to this Cougar debate-if No animals,the officials and the nay sayers will say:-we said so-no more Eastern Cougars.If they will be ever proven wrong-they will say:be happy we were wrong,there is the animal,nature takes its own back,true miracle etc. There could be immediately a debate about-Nah,they are not local animals,those are long exctinct. We said that along time ago.
The officials made their wages-the newspaper people made their news-why not publicize opinion like this .So everyone will be allays right(or wrong)but we will be all happy.

[greatwhite]

Ummm. I don't understand your point. No place does it say cougars are not living currently in Ontario. Actually what it said is the last so called Eastern Cougar in was killed in the 1930's or so. Where did it say that there is not a population currently living in Ontario did I miss that part?? I guess we could also say that there are no Elk in Ontario as these were transplanted from Alberta I think it was? Do cougars live in Ontario the MNR believes so. Are they original? Hard to say. But if escapees have been breeding and have created a viable wild population then just like Elk we now have cougars.

I might be easier to understand if you stated what kind of point you are trying to make.

[ride.lift.shoot]

There's debate as to whether or not the eastern cougar was in fact a genetic sub-species.

[Fox]

There's debate as to whether or not the eastern cougar was in fact a genetic sub-species.

Does it really matter? They considered them distinct in the 1930s, without the same type of genetic proof as we have now. Ideally they catch one and test it like they did in Florida but does it really matter? We consider the whitetail deer to be a whitetail deer from coast to coast and most really do not care how many sub-species really exist and how they might hybridize, etc.

[greatwhite]

You will find many people who think the Elk are the same genetic species as they use to be and they are not either. If there is a wild population of cougar then we have wild cougars and give them a hundred years and they may become a distinct species. Yes animals can change in fact some birds have genetically changed in less then 50.

There's debate as to whether or not the eastern cougar was in fact a genetic sub-species.

[Gilroy]

Ummm. I don't understand your point. No place does it say cougars are not living currently in Ontario. Actually what it said is the last so called Eastern Cougar in was killed in the 1930's or so. Where did it say that there is not a population currently living in Ontario did I miss that part?? I guess we could also say that there are no Elk in Ontario as these were transplanted from Alberta I think it was? Do cougars live in Ontario the MNR believes so. Are they original? Hard to say. But if escapees have been breeding and have created a viable wild population then just like Elk we now have cougars.

I might be easier to understand if you stated what kind of point you are trying to make.

The point he is trying to make is that he is a "real busher" what ever that means and as a distinct sub species his type are smarter and possess enlightenment which none of the rest of us mortals possess.LOL

[JoePa]

There could be subspecies of white tailed deer also - there was a place where I used to hunt near Wilkes-Barre Pa. - the deer that we shot had extra long faces - the deer where I live now have much shorter faces - the difference can easily be seen - somehow these deer are from a different stock - inbreeding keeps the difference going

[Snowwalker]

You will find many people who think the Elk are the same genetic species as they use to be and they are not either. If there is a wild population of cougar then we have wild cougars and give them a hundred years and they may become a distinct species. Yes animals can change in fact some birds have genetically changed in less then 50.

They tell us the Rattlesnakes in states that allow rattlesnake hunting are becoming less and less likely to rattle, because the one that rattled at the smallest thing get killed by the hunters.