-----Original Message-----
From: John Michael <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, December 11, 1998 4:48 PM
Subject: Re: Is Altruism consistent with environmentalsim?
(snip)
The cougars
>apparently lose the natural fear of humans while feasting on domestic
>animals such as horses and dogs. My neighbours lost two dogs and a horse on
>two separate ocassions.
Why do you think cougars have a "natural" fear of humans? I would judge that
to be unnatural. One of the reason big fierce animals are so wonderful is
because they remind us of the fact that death can come so easily in nature.
I wouldn't give a hoot for a cougar or bear who was "naturally" afraid of
me, that sounds like a zoo animal. I fully expect a hungry cougar with the
opportunity to try and kill me and eat me. To do otherwise may be
"unethical" (I forget all the signs, so I put that in "." to indicate that I
don't really mean that the cougar makes a choice between right and wrong in
a cognitive sense). An "ethical" cougar is one who follows
ecological/evolutionary rules and one of those is killing and eating
suitable prey. Nothing in nature says humans aren't suitable prey for big
fierce animals. I've been a professional wildlife biologist for about 30
years and I've always thought that an appropriate death, in a few more years
hopefully ;-) would be to be eaten by a bear or shark or something.
In BC we have a good deal very good records on
>pepper sprays and the sprays have really been effective. However on the
>Alaska highway recently a bear was repeatedly sprayed as it munched on
>garbage at a roadside rest stop. The bear kept coming back after spraying.
>One variety on the market was pulled of the shelf due to ineffectiveness.
I guess if these pepper sprays give you the feeling of safety, they are
alright. However, I wouldn't depend on them to save my life.
Bissell
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