Open question: Should that beach cougar be killed?

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

So a cougar this week was spotted climbing on Oregon’s Haystack Rock. It caused the beach to be vacated and the town to be on high alert.

The cougar swam around and left the area.

We are not experts … but … we love to ask questions … like, why was that cougar not captured or killed?

If a cougar is wandering around on an isolated rock in the ocean and also swimming around the beach, how hard was it to locate this beast?

Now that this cougar seems daring enough to be in the vicinity of crowds, how much of a threat is this cougar going to play in this small town?

Should we count this as a success story?

If you have answers please share them on social media.

Here are some already posted responses from Facebook:

Marsha Craft  — “We have entered their habitat. However, it could have been relocated rather than killed. If it had stalked people that is one thing, but I didnt read that.”

Jeremy Johnson – “Cougars claim a lot of territory, then defend that territory. Older stronger cats push younger cats out into cities because all of the wild lands are claimed. The state took 165 cats in the last few years. That means we pay taxes for ODFW to hunt them instead of making hunters pay to hunt them. If you look into it cougars are in the news a lot lately. Mountain Lions also kill 260,000 deer/ elk every year, so why don’t we care about the poor little deer and elk ??”

Jeanie Rinker Munster – “He lives here, we all have to eat! If left alone there shouldn’t be a problem.”

Carol Schriner — “Why, it left..it wasn’t after people. It was after birds or eggs….most likely”