Hey T-Bone...better keep an eye open!

[MarvB]

Associated Press — Sept. 23, 2005
RAPID CITY, S.D. — A tracker for the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department shot and killed a mountain lion recently after the cat wandered into a Rapid City neighborhood the night before.

Residents spotted the lion in an area near the hospital, said Mike Kintigh, regional supervisor for the GF&P.

On Wednesday, tracker Jack Alexander pursued the lion with trained dogs, treed it and shot it about 6:30 a.m., said Kintigh.

The lion was about 18 months and weighed 100 pounds. Kintigh doesn't think it lived in the area but had been separated from its mother and was passing through.

Neighborhood residents said they were relieved the cat had been killed.

"I'm tickled they found him and got him," said Judy Welte, the mother of a 6-year-old. "I hope there aren't any more in the area, but we know they're around."

Kintigh said GF&P policy is to kill mountain lions that wander into city limits.

If the department were to tranquilize and relocate the animals, there would be few places where the lions could go, Kintigh said.

"We don't have any place to go with them. If they show up close to homes, anywhere I take them in the Black Hills, they're going to have the opportunity to do that again," said Kintigh.

The lion will be taken to a lab at South Dakota State University in Brookings to be examined.

The shooting comes just days after a mountain lion was spotted Friday on the eighth fairway at the Lead Country Club during a high school match. The big cat stopped for a bit at the ninth tee box before it ran into some trees.

It also comes less than two weeks before the start of South Dakota's new mountain lion hunting season.

The Game, Fish and Parks Commission approved the season last month as a way of reducing a growing number of mountain lions in the Black Hills.

Hunters can shoot lions from Oct. 1 through Dec. 15 in the Black Hills, but the season would end early if a total of 25 lions or five breeding-age females are taken.

hump

 

[T Bone]

Ha!

Thanks Marv, the first lion season ever in SD opens on Saturday. A Kalifornia pro-kitty group just filed suit to stop the season.

There are a bunch of them here. They aren't allowing dogs though. Thats the only real effective way to reduce numbers. That being said, I have one pinned down. The tracks have been consistent all summer in an area near my house, I'm guessing its a female from the size of track, stride and the consistent location....

 

[mtmiller]

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2005/10/04/news/local/news01.txt

 

[MarvB]

Interesting Craig, thanks for posting!
Sounds like their season might end up being a quick one at this pace...

T-Bone....you aren't bottling any lion milk these days are ya

 

[T Bone]

Got a couple inches of snow overnight....and I'll be dipped if I didn't get called into work (electric utility) in the middle of the night. As soon as I get off in a couple hours I'm gonna go stumble around in the fresh snow and stick a deer and/or cat.

 

[MarvB]

Tyson- I'll trade you your snow for our 85 degrees....still nothing moving during the day out here and only two weeks left in the general season.
Fuggin Kaliforny heat anyway (yeah, I know, it could be AZ!)

 

[mtmiller]

Running out of time Tyson.

http://www.sdgfp.info/Wildlife/MountainLions/MtLionseasonstatus.htm

 

[MarvB]

Interesting Craig...some of those females aren't to big are they.
Looks like the big male in the bunch (141#) was in Tyson's backyard

One more lady and she's all over T-Bone........

 

[T Bone]

Its done. 13 cats in total and the season closed because the 5 mature female quota was met. F&G is surprised so many cats were taken in such a short amount of time. Me thinks there are more cats here than they guessed.

I have only gone out once for cow elk and cats. I've been very distracted chasing the ditch parrots that live a couple hours drive to the east. In one day I saw more pheasants than I've seen in my whole life!

 

[mtmiller]

In one day I saw more pheasants than I've seen in my whole life!

Glad you are getting some birds. When I moved from SD to eastern MT folks told me how good the pheasant hunt was. They just don't understand.