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Puma/ cougars will enter a enclosed porch, so I can only assume they will enter a dwelling if the smell of food is present, and they are hungery enough.
When the state of NH refused to believe there were puma/cougars here i encountered one on a elderly neighbors enclosed porch. That old geezer made fun of me and called me on the phone, telling me he needed me to come get a cat out of his garbage.
I wasn't ammused.
That same year in winter i saw 3 timber wolves the state at the time also refused to admit there was any of. The state has changed it's mind recently.
Puma/ cougars will enter a enclosed porch, so I can only assume they will enter a dwelling if the smell of food is present, and they are hungery enough.
When the state of NH refused to believe there were puma/cougars here i encountered one on a elderly neighbors enclosed porch. That old geezer made fun of me and called me on the phone, telling me he needed me to come get a cat out of his garbage.
I wasn't ammused.
That same year in winter i saw 3 timber wolves the state at the time also refused to admit there was any of. The state has changed it's mind recently.
The Conservation Department in my state used to routinely deny the sightings of cougars. Eventually cougar/vehicle encounters and photographic evidence became overwhelming. They still try to downplay reports but denial is no longer a viable option.
I tend to believe that the Conservation Department in my state takes the stance that denial and downplay of the existence of species once elimitated from certain areas of our country is their way of protecing them from protective farmers/ranchers and poachers alike. Of course, farmers and ranchers only ask for help protecting their livestock once before solving the problem themsleves.
If protectionism is the goal of the Conservation Department they would be ahead to respond to reports by those who have incurred livestock losses rather than to deny the plausibility of a claim, IMO.
I was told that it's because, if they acknowledge that the mountain lions or wolves are present in the state, they'll be required to "manage" them and most state DECs don't have the money or manpower to take on more. Also, an admission of a breeding population is usually followed by lawsuits from the wolf/lion huggers demanding more "protection" for the wolves/lions and the Feds grabbing more land for "habitat".
If I ever see a mountain lion or wolf on my property, or a rare plant or an endangered salamander, I won't be reporting it to anyone.
I was told that it's because, if they acknowledge that the mountain lions or wolves are present in the state, they'll be required to "manage" them and most state DECs don't have the money or manpower to take on more. Also, an admission of a breeding population is usually followed by lawsuits from the wolf/lion huggers demanding more "protection" for the wolves/lions and the Feds grabbing more land for "habitat".
If I ever see a mountain lion or wolf on my property, or a rare plant or an endangered salamander, I won't be reporting it to anyone.
The Feds are working on the biggest land grab in this nation's history (millions of acres of private and public lands) via the department of the interior, right now. Will it have an impact on hunting? It might.
I don't agree that federal land purchase is necessarily a bad thing.
Philosophically, I'm not fond of an extremely powerful, homogenizing federal government.
Practically, though, federal ownership tends to do a better job in keeping lands wild than private ownership. Private lands in mountainous or beautiful areas tend to wind up as resorts, tree farm monocultures, second homes, etc. It is no coincidence that the wildest and best habitats left in our country are found mostly on government-owned lands (state and federal).
The adirondack park is an example of a pretty good compromise, I think, at least for areas of high biological value. I've always felt that we as a society should concentrate our populations and development in areas of relatively low biological value to other species (eg habitats that are very extensive or have relatively few species), and focus our conservation efforts on high value lands. To an extent this is already considered, but we could definitely go further in this direction and work out an improved system to maintain ecological health.
The feds here in NH took over the National Forest as if it belongs to them to do as they please. Once it was your land and mine, but no more.
A ways back working for a B&B, we had a bear problem. F&G told me it was a raccoon. I knew a bit different.
The bears killed 17 chickens after tearing down what once a cottage, turned chicken house. The bears came on Fridays evenings when city folks came, and i was in a terrible fear some child with 5 cents as sold at the Inn to feed chickens would meet the bears face to face.
F&G brough up a small electric fence, LOL, then finally after it rained and I covered the tracks of the 2 bears with milk crates i called again, asking for help with raccoons.
The Fish cop took a look at all the milk crates and asked what they were I told him coon tracks are under each one. He took a look called me a fool and claimed they were bear tracks from 2 bears.
DUH.
So they came with a culvert trap and got the little one.
'Bout then the Inn hire a know it all gal for the horses, and she though I was barn help and my boss. Got that fixed in a moment, but behind my back she let out the poor turkey from their pen because it was cruel.
next morning , and my day off mid week the Inn called and told me to bring guns. Told me the turkeys were all out and all running around wounded. Told me they can't have children seeing that sort of thing and I agreed.
So not really knowing what I might find i grabbed a 308 rifle and a 12 Ga, plus my .44.
Ended up killing what was left of the turkeys. with the shot gun of course.
Later on horse back I saw the bigger mama bear and ran it off up the moutian, with a really stupid horse, and my .44.
Well aside from the 13 original states the others wouldn't even exist as American states without the Federal government. And it's not like the Indians were removed by private companies or individuals.
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Dept. of Interior Land Grab
