Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Wildlife

Baby mountain lions photo from Wikipedia
This morning I was driving into work, and I saw three helicopters hovering, stationary, over the downtown Santa Monica area.

According to the radio, a mountain lion is trapped in a courtyard of a commercial building in the 1200 block of Second Street.

Fish and Game are on the scene to tranquilize it and transport it back to the mountains. It's a young lion, probably an adolescent. Just coming into town to hang out on the Promenade, I guess. Maybe going to the Apple Store?

SAD UPDATE:
They killed it. 

10 comments:

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

That is sad. Very sad.

I have some happy baby ducks, though.
~

Anonymous said...

We keep encroaching and the wild animals try to adapt ( to their periI I'm afraid). Glad the animals don't have guns. Wonder why they didn't shoot with a tranquilizer and relocate The poor thing?
Interesting place you live; beautiful landscapes, drugs and wild animals. Definetly not that way here in Northern Indiana.

ALBUG

M. Bouffant said...

Murderers!

Lynda said...

Oh Damn. Sometimes I just hate humans. :(

Cassi said...

Wow --why would they kill it instead of tranquilizing it?!

Briget said...

Humans are so f*cking stupid. I suppose they did it because it was expedient; cheaper; take your pick. I'm disgusted.

Glennis said...

If you read the linked story, they attempted to tranquilize it but it didn't work. They killed it because it was trying to get out of the courtyard. The area is a very urban block downtown with pedestrians and retail stores and businesses and traffic - if it had gotten loose it would have been very difficult to catch and might have run into traffic.

I am sad they killed it, too - at 90 pounds, you'd think they could have managed to subdue it like a large dog.

Karen (formerly kcinnova) said...

So sad that it ended badly. Firing water hoses at it? That was supposed to subdue it?!? Nets, better tranquilizers, calm heads would have helped.
Of course, I have never met a mountain lion in the wild or in the city. It surely would have been disaster if she had gotten loose.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

What a sad end to the story. Occasionally, we'll have a black bear wander downstate, and coyotes have established themselves, but a cougar is quite another thing entirely.

cactus petunia said...

Some days I'm embarrassed to be associated with the human race.