It Is Rather Wild Out There
Ξ November 5th, 2008 | → 16 Comments | ∇ Uncategorized |
I have a wonderful friend who lives in California, in the LA area. His nickname is Boris (I am Zuka) and we have known each other since at least 2000. We see each other maybe two times a year when our trade show circles cross, plus maybe an extra visit here and there, but email is our main communication. A few years ago I had to be in Vegas for work, so I seized the opportunity to rent a little convertible Mustang and drove the four hours to stay a few days with Boris and his daughter in their lovely home up in the San Gabriel mountainside. Naturally while there I fell in love with his two dogs, his gorgeous home and how secluded the home was, being sort of up in the mountains and all.
Tuesday when I returned from Florida and checked my work email, there was terrible news waiting. Seems a mountain lion came down and grabbed one of his dogs until the other dog went up to save her. Unfortunately the second dog lost its life before Boris was able scare off the big cat with a few gun shots. Lilly is alive and healing after lots of work on the vet’s behalf, but Pumpkin did not survive. It is believed that she died on her birthday of a heart attack as she successfully distracted the mountain lion while Lilly got to safety.
Reading details of the ordeal had tears uncontrollably leaking from my eyes, but when my email to Kurt was replied to I sobbed at his story. I didn’t ask for permission so I won’t reprint anything here, but my heart broke knowing that Pumpkin gave her life on her birthday. Reading about her burial on the hillside ripped my shattered heart out. At my desk I sobbed uncontrollably for the loss of a dear pet. After gathering myself I went to look for a file in my CFO’s office and she could see that I had been crying. Attempting to explain the tragedy I found myself sobbing again.
One of the things that Boris said was that he felt as though he might have been able to prevent the attack. Perhaps trimming back the overgrowing brush, installing a light higher on the hill, etc. would have kept the mountain lion away from his property. Considering the land he lives on, I am all too confident that such things wouldn’t have mattered. The wilderness at the edge of his backyard brings deer, bears and a variety of wildlife. Mountain lions live in those mountains and the only way his dogs would have been safe is if they were in the home all the time (so unrealistic!!).
Boris has a daughter who is sixteen. She can shoot a gun. Pretty decent shot seeing as how she has been shooting in the desert since she was tiny. Any time she lets Lilly out she will have easy access to a gun because the mountain lions vanish at the noise of a round being fired. Knowing this 16 year old’s personality, she would aim far away from the cat if there would ever be another encounter. Personally I believe that Boris would aim for the cat, for the kill.
I believe in hunting. The deer in PA need to have their herds thinned by people who eat the meat and waste little. Growing up in a house where opening days of deer and turkey were school holidays, the built in masculine drive to hunt is appreciated and understood. Yet Boris chose to live in a very wild, mountainous area. Which has me kind of torn apart. Mostly because Boris and his neighbors could live elsewhere, yet they made conscious decisions to live at the base of a mountain and where else would the mountain lion hunt?
So, all of that is leading to me being curious as to your thoughts on people who move to the country and then complain about the wildlife. This is NOT about Boris because he hasn’t complained about the mountain lion. My question is about those who don’t like rabbits eating their gardens and about deer eating corn and coyotes snatching sheep and wolves taking cats. Well, yes, it is also about mountain lions taking dogs. But I am interested in whether or not you think the offending animal should be hunted and killed for fulfilling their natural need for food.
First one to say the dingo ate my baby gets slapped.
on November 6th, 2008 at 12:58 AM
First, I feel really bad about your friend’s dog. And the thought of you crying plunges me into the deepest pits of despair. But, no, an animal shouldn’t be shot for doing what is natural. I wouldn’t like it if someone shot at me when I went to buy milk, you know?
on November 6th, 2008 at 1:07 AM
I love/hate the contradictions within myself. I hate guns and hunting, but I love action flicks and red meat. And I can’t stand that we humans constantly encroach into the natural habitat of other living creatures with abandon, but I get pissed off when raccoons get into my garbage.
I really make no sense at all most times.
Oh, there is a HUGE billboard for Maker’s Mark in Times Square nowadays. I saw it today and thought of you. Aww.
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on November 6th, 2008 at 1:17 AM
That is truly the saddest, most bittersweet story I’ve read in a long time! I have tears. That is awful! My heart goes out to Boris.
That said, I believe hunting has it’s place, although I don’t think the mountain lion should be shot. It was doing what it naturally does, just as Pumpkin was doing for Lily.
I need to go sob now…
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on November 6th, 2008 at 1:17 AM
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on November 6th, 2008 at 2:06 AM
If a wild animal ever came at my dog I’d kill it without a second thought.
But I really don’t think in general people have the right to complain about these things. You can take measures to prevent them. Build fences and keep them repairs can keep some animals out. Gardens get eaten by bugs just as much as any other animal and that can happen anywhere (just ask our lettuce).
I never grew up in a hunting environment. My grandparents had cows that we ate for food, but never hunted. But I am pro-hunting things of abundance like deer and such. I don’t think it’s good to hunt endangered animals but a little deer hunting now and then never bothered me a bit.
I guess where I was going with this is that they know where they are moving and if they can’t handle the wildlife then maybe they should move to the city.
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on November 6th, 2008 at 7:49 AM
this is one of those things i feel strongly about. if you move into an area suitable for wildlife, you have to be prepared for the pros and the cons. the pros being privilaged enough to be allowed glimpses of the animals doing what animals do when not caged. the cons being that every once in a while something of yours may be damaged. at times the damage is minor. others it can be heartbreaking. however, this is the choice you make when you decide to live on the edge of the wilderness. the wildlife can’t be blamed for acting, well, like wildlife.
on November 6th, 2008 at 8:41 AM
Oh sweetie, I’m so so sorry. :-(
And, yeah, not a fan of the killing.
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on November 6th, 2008 at 10:10 AM
That is pretty heartbreaking. I think that if you are going to encroach on the wild, you have to learn to live with animals doing what comes naturally. I’m not a fan of guns or hunting, either.
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on November 6th, 2008 at 1:16 PM
If I had to hunt for my meat, I’d be a vegan. I don’t have the heart for it.
It’s not the animal’s fault we overbreed and encroach on their hunting grounds. We just need to be mindful of it and take precautions.
Sorry about your friend’s dog. It makes me cry too.
Finn’s last blog post..Don’t Give It Away
on November 6th, 2008 at 3:55 PM
my feelings are, we are all aware of our environemnt and it is appropriate to take necessary precautions. If a guy lives in rural “wild” environment he has to be aware that he will be a part of that wild environement. It means loosing cats to coyotes, it means cleaning up the trash when the bear gets into it. It means loosing roses to deer and lettuce to rabbits and possibly your house to wildfire.
Personally it is kinda cool that she went to a mountain lion.. i mean, it could have been a rattlesnake. much less glamorous. and to survive an attack like that? talk about bragging rights when you are sniffing around with other dogs “dude – you took on a miata in the road? I was hit by a frikin MOUNTAIN LION! check out THESE scars!”
and no.. it is not appropropriate to form a posse and “kill the beast” but.. it is appropriate to proect what you love.
that will be two cents please….
on November 6th, 2008 at 7:45 PM
That is SO sad.
I think if you choose to live in an area like that, you need to be ready to deal with the things that can happen and complaining about it is a sign you should move. However, if you know that it can happen and still want to live there, more power to you.
Poor Pumpkin and Lilly.
Oh, and I’m pretty anti-hunting in that I can’t do it myself and I don’t think I’d want to be with anybody who does, but as long as someone is doing it legally and not wasting… well, okay.
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on November 6th, 2008 at 9:10 PM
faiqa -
well, i just found out that the mountain lion attacked another dog three days after boris’ dogs and then was shot three days after that incident as it was crouching on another dog that it had killed. honestly, in this case i wholeheartedly agree that the cat should have been put down. it was so comfortable where people lived and there were plently of children in the area. i have no problem with the decision by the game warden.
p.s. crying makes the happiness all the better.
earl -
i love that you appreciate the contradictions that make you who you are. personally i find so much of my life is simply muddy gray, no matter how black and white i want life to be.
now about this maker’s mark in times square…how come there is no photo for me, waiting in my inbox. slacker!
sybil -
yeah, i know EXACTLY what you are saying. ((((hugs))))
robin -p
thanks, pretty lady.
sarah -
to be clear, boris never once complained to me. it was just a leap i made because of people who bitch about raccoons and all (sorry, earl!).
that being said, i would tear apart anyone or anything that had intentions of harming my boys.
heather -
amen! to all of it.
britt -
if a gator set up shop in your back yard and was attacking animals every three days, i would kill it myself just to prevent an accidental meeting with your children. don’t even doubt that for a moment.
adam -
you really aren’t a fan of guns at all? must be that i was a cop’s daughter, but i love them.
finn -
once while fishing i threw my rod down and sobbed about the poor fish dying. i support it, but if i had to hunt to eat i would be all about the cheese and veggies! (hell, i still struggle with eating eggs after an unpleasant experience as a child.)
kurt -
two cents? oh hell no. darlin, i’ll buy you a cold beer any time you are ready.
(p.s. i didn’t know you would read this. hope you are ok about me posting the story with links and all. love yew.)
courtney -
seems like we are all pretty much on the same page. live there if you can handle it. i, for one, could not do it.
on November 7th, 2008 at 12:31 AM
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on November 8th, 2008 at 7:53 PM
When I lived in the wilderness, we accepted the fact that our cats were not going to around very long. We killed rattlesnakes when they were near the house (two small children running around out there) and I am certain that if there was a mountain lion lurking close, someone would have shot it. But the rest we learned to accept. You know, the giant bugs and the spiders. Even the threat of fire. Which, sadly, that house burned down in the San Diego fires of 03. Thankfully my family didn’t live there anymore.
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on November 9th, 2008 at 10:10 AM
ginamonster -
only difference is that i would have kept the cats indoors so that they could be around longer. well, that and i don’t think i could move to someplace that expected fires like that. i’ll stick with pittsburgh. and never again move near a creek!
on November 9th, 2008 at 1:59 PM
Hello, My parents were allergic. Then, we got an indoor kitty. She used to stare outside at the outdoor kitties. Then one day she got out and we couldn’t get her to come back in. Since she was pure white…
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