Submitted by willynillyslide t3_10ekqjh in vermont
[deleted] t1_j4tbytj wrote
Reply to comment by thomaschazzard in Vermont listed as possible future habitat for mountain lions by willynillyslide
I think I speak for everyone in preferring the big kitties to wolves.
Wolves are cool too, but they are way more likely to come into conflict with humans.
endeavour3d t1_j4u3euj wrote
cougars attack and kill humans orders magnitude more than wolves ever have, wolves tend to avoid humans for the most part, if anything, they attack dogs and cats, but so do coyotes generally.
-for the people downvoting me, have you ever actually looked up the statistics? It's far more likely they'll attack each other than another person.
Cougar: >A total of 126 attacks, 27 of which were fatal, have been documented in North America in the past 100 years.
Wolves:
>PAST 100 YEARS; reintroduction in the lower 48 in 1995 Fatal United States (lower 48): 1 (pet wolf) United States (Alaska): 2 (1 predatory, 1 rabid) Canada: 2 (1 predatory, 1 captive) Nonfatal United States (lower 48): 3 (1 brain damaged, 2 captive) United States (Alaska): 7 (3 predatory, 3 rabid, 1 agressive) Canada: 15 (10 predatory, 2 agressive, 1 captive, 1 rabid, 1 provoked)
>EVER RECORDED Fatal United States (lower 48): 14 United States (Alaska): 2 Canada: 5 Nonfatal United States (lower 48): 12 United States (Alaska): 8 Canada: 21 (2 in Arctic Circle)
https://pounceconservation.weebly.com/how-common-are-wolf-attacks.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America
https://wolf.org/wolf-info/factsvsfiction/are-wolves-dangerous-to-humans/
[deleted] t1_j5uhbz8 wrote
27 fatalities for cougars, 21 for wolves. That's a very small difference. There are also about twice as many cougars in the US as wolves, so that seems to be mostly related to their population difference and possibly variance.
But there's just one flaw in that logic: unlike wolves, cougars live very close to humans out west, especially in California and Colorado. There are urban mountain lion populations in Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Millions of people hike in foothills where mountain lions live, and while sightings are common, attacks are extraordinarily rare. When they do happen, it's typically a juvenile lion that tragically mauls a small child who wandered too far away from their adult humans. Cats are ambush predators. They generally only pick easy fights, and humans aren't easy prey.
Wolves live nowhere near people, for the most part. Eastern coyotes are also wolf hybrids, and are closely related. My aunt was actually attacked by a coyote pack in MA. Packs of coyotes have killed small dogs being walked by women. They are far bolder than mountain lions. Also, just look at what a huge political issue wolves have become out west, now that the wolves aren't on the brink of extinction anymore. Ranchers want to kill every last one of them all over again, because wolves have no fear of humans.
I suppose no one is really that objective about this topic, though. Mostly comes down to whether you like domestic cats or dogs more. Either wild variant will kill you if you pick a fight with one, without a stick that goes boom. At any rate, nature needs another apex predator around here. If nature picks the big doggos, so be it. I'd just prefer the big kitties.
ninjamansidekick t1_j4tynoz wrote
Coyotes cause enough problems, I imagine a pack of wolves would cause similar problems on a larger scale.
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