On Hunting, and Cougar Populations

Last year a hunter shot and killed a momma cougar in Oregon. The State spent thousands to feed and care for 3 baby cougars and then sent them to live in a North Carolina zoo. Not sure that I understand that use of funds.

1) Cougar populations continue to climb. Estimates are that we now have around 5,700 in Oregon, probably up 10x what we had 20 or 30 years ago.

2) I've never understood why cougar hunters who paid the state for the privilege of hunting cougars with dogs were replaced with professional, public payroll hunters who hunt cougars with dogs. Excuse me? Why is it okay for the taxpayer to pay for a public employee to hunt cougars with dogs, but it is not okay for private citizens to pay into the public coffers for the same privilege? If the act is wrong, is it better for us to pay someone to do it?

3) To increase the number of cougars killed, ODFW dropped the price for cougar tags from $50 to $10. Why did ODFW drop the price? Because we have too many cougars for the terrain to support. This pushes cougars into neighborhoods and increases predation on stock such as sheep and cattle. Despite this change, just 275 cougars are killed each year, less than 1 for every 100 tags sold. That means that $1,000 goes into state coffers for each animal taken. The money is used for wildlife management.

4) Frequently, when cougars are killed in neighborhoods, they are skinny, even starving. Yet it seems to me that some people would rather have cougars die of starvation, or 1,000 deer die to feed cougars, than for one person to legally take a cougar with a rifle. Don't understand that one.

5) Anti-hunters, who feel that it is cruel to hunt animals, for some reason are happy to threaten hunters with violence. I've never understood why some people are anti violence against animals, but pro violence against people.

6) It would be nice if all the people who decry the "slaughter of innocent animals," were vegetarians. But I doubt if they are.