saltydad

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Men In Nursing- "A Few Good Men"

"Gardening is the purest of human pleasures." - Francis Bacon





"If by a liberal, they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind; someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions; someone who cares about the welfare of the people, their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, their civil liberties; someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicion that grips us; that is what they meant by a liberal, I am proud to be a liberal."
John F. Kennedy, September, 1960


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http://community.webshots.com/user/saltydad
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Bob

Thanks for posting Howard ,damn shame. I've been reading all the snipets about them when they come out. I don't like to post my political views too much, even in tiki hut but, if the Democrats would stop punishing legal firearms owners and hunters (ie: me) in the name of stopping crime and the Republicans would give the environment the slightest consideration despite the fact that it may cost a few bucks that are no doubt wasted elsewhere (no one bailed me out) it would be a better country.

island cassie

And I thought all the jaguars were in South America! Darn shame about this one! All the the wild cats are wonderful and should be treasured. In South Africa we had lots of wild cats of all sizes including leopards around the bbq - just breathtaking but you need to watch out for your dogs!!

lorax

Sad. But come on down, you can have some of ours! There's been a population boom in Jaguars in Colombia and Ecuador in the past few years, and they're starting to poach alpacas and pigs. I have a healthy respect for both them and the pumas.

island cassie

OK - I'll take half a dozen!!! When you see those eyes through the vegetation - your heart just stops!

lorax

eej. And so does the rest of you. And then you stand very still and look away from the eyes until the cat coughs and passes by you.

It's not like the Ocelots (blink and you'll miss them as they run in the other direction) - Jaguars here are not shy!

island cassie

Stop it!!! You are making me want to go bush again!

Chironex

I don't want to meet one unless I am wearing armor, or I am inside of something safe - like a tank.

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Scot

lorax

Scot, it's perfectly safe as long as you are completely respectful of the animal and its space! The only people that ever get hurt by big cats down here either freak out and run away or try to pet the nice kitty.

island cassie

Haha!! Beth you crack me up almost as much as mskitty!!

buzzwinder

Here kitty kitty kitty, I would love to see a big cat in the wild, not sure what I would do though. Probably just say COOOOOooolllllllll, then pooh my pants and get eaten. Saw a cougar once in Colorado from about 70 yards away while running a hill in Gunnison, but there where like 30 of us running with cars a trucks everywhere, I think it (the cougar) was just curious what the heck these two legged critters were doin' in his nieghborhood. It watched for couple minutes then just went away!

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Bill for my friend

lorax

See, and I live in dread of meeting a puma. The ones down here have a reputation for eating people first and asking questions later.

Tog Tan

It took me long time to get into this thread cos over here, it's the big cat's disadvantage to be seen. There are many poachers here shooting wildboar for the meat. If they ever meet a tiger( which they always hope ), it's a goner. It will get shot as the body parts and bones are very high in demand as traditional medicine. You can buy the carcass first hand off the shooter for as low as $600-800. Then you have to get a professional game butcher to 'take it apart' for another $300. After that the remains in the right hands can go as high as $6,000.

So, we are not scared of the big cats, they are scared of us. Nothing to be proud of. This is SEA and this is where Nat Geo get all the stories from for you folks to get all pissed off about the lack of wild life conservation.

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Tog Tan has sadly suddenly passed away 6/16/09. We will miss you Tog Tan.

Bob

Lorax, I was under the impression that the South American puma were kind of on the small side? Jaguars on the other hand....there were some areas(The xingu area ?) before the big kill offs in the 60's and 70's where the male jaquars reached ridiculous weightsand were reputedly ferocious.

lorax

The puma here are not as big as a North American mountain lion, no. They're about the same size as a German Shepherd. What they lack in size, however, they make up in agression and territoriality. In my experience, a Jaguar (and they do get big here) will only attack you directly if it feels you're threatening its kits. A Puma, however, will chew you if you happen to be in its territory and it notices, and regardless of how small it is, a cat the size of a large dog will still do some pretty horrid damage to a person.

For the Jaguars at least, here in Ecuador the forest people regard killing them to be extraordinarily bad luck - they are considered to be the first sign that the forest is healthy, and are generally revered as protectors. It's true that they are absolutely ferocious beasties, but they seem to have adapted to the people as though they are just another large carnivore to share the jungle with. My Huao friends normally leave a portion of their catch for the Jags, as is the custom - kind of a "propitiating the gods" thing.

Oh, and our word Jaguar? It comes from the Incan for "bloodied one."

Patty in Wisc

They showed a large mountain lion/cougar in a tree just NW of here, on the news. It was as big as a lion. There are a lot of farm animals missing & a prize horse was just mauled & half eaten. If I lived around there, no way would I even go out to the garden at night. They hunt at night.
There was a cougar spotted south of here few years ago & they shot it near Chicago. They just can't let something like that roam around highly populated areas with kids playing.
If I saw one I'd run..& it'd never catch me cuz he'd be slipping in my poop

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Got a lite?
Patty

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Patty in Wisc has sadly passed away 9/05/11. We will miss you Patty.

lorax

Running is about the worst thing you can do, actually - it forces the cat to think of you as a prey animal. A grown mountain lion or puma can run as fast as 60 miles an hour when it's chasing something, and they can jump 20-30 feet when they're running.

Patty in Wisc

Yeah, I saw that on History or Disc. channel. It is their instinct to chase if something runs. They said try to look big...hold a big stick in air. I don't think so, I saw footage of lions chasing & killing a elephant. Some mountain lions/cougars are just as big.

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Got a lite?
Patty

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Patty in Wisc has sadly passed away 9/05/11. We will miss you Patty.

lorax

If it's close enough to you, you can try hitting it between the eyes with your walking stick. That works on pumas here (although, admittedly it takes a lot of guts to smack a large, agressive cat with a stick....)

Bob

What's the option? I'd just look'em in the eye and say"P'SAW, P'SAW" while flicking my arms at them in a way reminiscent of a choreographed 60's music video, if they go away ... good,......... if they don't go away................