Las Vegas Oct 2017 mass shooting

[Ironduke]

Normal cats would take one meal out of desperation and then hightail out of there. It's staying around humans that got me concerned. Doesn't really sound like healthy cat behaviour. Either way, has the game warden check this out?

Not sure. I was born in that region but only return for visits. The information I got was second-hand, but there were multiple photos proving the presence of a bobcat in town, and contemporaneously a photo of a dead dog in the same town with all the tell-tale signs of a bobcat attack.

Everything else I've said regarding the bobcat is speculation. I'm not sure what the current status of the bobcat is, or what steps have been taken to address the issue.

[Officer of Engineers]

The bobcat may have been rabid, it may have also been starving to death.

Normal cats would take one meal out of desperation and then hightail out of there. It's staying around humans that got me concerned. Doesn't really sound like healthy cat behaviour. Either way, has the game warden check this out?

[Ironduke]

It was an extremely long, cold winter. Geographically, we're talking about the southern part of the Canadian Shield that dips down into the Upper Midwest.

The bobcat may have been rabid, it may have also been starving to death.

[Officer of Engineers]

The bobcat invaded the town from the forest, killed a dog and some other wildlife in town, due to a lack of prey animals. It may have since then returned to the forest.

Doesn't sound like a normal cat. With this many humans around, they will go out of their way to avoid any interaction. They're not coyotes with no fear and all the cunning. This sound like some diseased animal. I get the game warden up to destroy it just in case.

[Ironduke]

I just thought that the shotgun would combine and even exceed the benefit of a pistol or a horn. She was considering a pistol after all:)

If you're a man, know how to handle a shotgun, can safely fire it single-handedly in the air while you're holding the leashes in the other hand, and you're in an environment where carrying a shotgun may be necessary (e.g. the forest), sure, you have a point.

Walking your dogs in town in a neighborhood filled with children, families, and elderly people is not a shotgun-toting environment.

The bobcat invaded the town from the forest, killed a dog and some other wildlife in town, due to a lack of prey animals. It may have since then returned to the forest.

[Ironduke]

Could be just that. You're too nice and the dog is trying to protect you. The lady might have always protected the dogs since they were puppies, hence they know she could take care of herself. You? Not so much.

But yeah, a dog like that and a bobcat? It's a fight the dog will lose.

I am quite firm with the dog in the correct manner when it misbehaves or I want it to do something - it does exactly what I want it to, when I direct it to do it, with no delay. My orders are obeyed. If I give an order, it does that thing, and when I say no, it stops doing that thing.

Because the dog follows orders and is unquestioningly obedient, I indulge it with dinner, scratches, massages, and play time.

But when it sees another dog, when I'm with it, it loses all control. The dog acts very rationally and obediently otherwise.

[XLAdept]

I just thought that the shotgun would combine and even exceed the benefit of a pistol or a horn. She was considering a pistol after all:)

[Officer of Engineers]

I'm nothing but good to the dog - I feed it all the time, cook the dog dinner, scratch/massage/play with the dog for an hour or two a day when I visit, and I've never cultivated any aggressive instincts in them. So why this dog acts like that when I'm around is beyond me.

Could be just that. You're too nice and the dog is trying to protect you. The lady might have always protected the dogs since they were puppies, hence they know she could take care of herself. You? Not so much.

But yeah, a dog like that and a bobcat? It's a fight the dog will lose.

[Ironduke]

How about a shotgun? With no shot it could be discharged into the air and with a shot a good chance to pepper that cat!

Some people and guns is just simply a no-go. Not an option, and I don't need to explain why. :-)

In my opinion (in an ideal Absolut™ world), nobody should ever have to carry a gun unless they intend to use it with lethal force, and the use of that force is necessary and proper.

[XLAdept]

How about a shotgun? With no shot it could be discharged into the air and with a shot a good chance to pepper that cat!

[Ironduke]

He would spray other dogs? Yeah, tell him that's an instant lawsuit.

She might. She wanted to get a pistol to defend against bobcats.

The dog is the most gentle, nicest dog in the world. And as far as I know, this nice, gentle 25 lb. dog only tries to attack other dogs when I visit and walk them. I'm a big, strong guy, I think the dog thinks I have its back, and it can attack/kill/get away with anything when I'm walking it. I really have to hold onto that leash, the dog is practically pulling my arm of out of its socket when it sees other dogs.

I'm nothing but good to the dog - I feed it all the time, cook the dog dinner, scratch/massage/play with the dog for an hour or two a day when I visit, and I've never cultivated any aggressive instincts in them. So why this dog acts like that when I'm around is beyond me.

When she walks them, this dog is very well behaved, as far as I know.

[Officer of Engineers]

He would spray other dogs? Yeah, tell him that's an instant lawsuit.

[Ironduke]

I'm more worried about an accidental use of bear spray than I am with the use of an air horn in this situation. They're nice dogs, but one of them has a tendency to attack other dogs, and I don't want a lawsuit over another dog getting bear sprayed. It's the nicest, most gentle 25 lb. dog in the world, but its got some serious fight in it, and just wants to get into it with other people's dogs. It picks fights with dogs 5 or 10 times its size.

I'll order this person some bear spray too, though, and admonish them about its use.

[Officer of Engineers]

The air horn is not for if you happen to just see a bobcat sitting there minding its own business.

That's the only time you can use the airhorn

The air horn is for if the bobcat is coming at the dogs, is a second away from sinking its teeth into the dog's neck, and you have absolutely no time to evade, take the dogs home, etc.

Too late, flight or fight mode. 50-50 chance the cat finishes the kill or runs away.

Edit: And a bobcat can do serious damage to a man.

[Ironduke]

Matt, airhornes are not a good idea. To an animal, fear and anger are the same thing. Yes, you could scare the bobcat off. You could also as easily spook an attack.

I don't know about a pistol though. The person needs to be really train to act in such a situation. Else, I agree with you.

I suggest bear spray.

The air horn is not for if you happen to just see a bobcat sitting there minding its own business.

The air horn is for if the bobcat is coming at the dogs, is a split second away from sinking its teeth into the dog's neck or has already grabbed the dog by the neck, and you have absolutely no time to evade, take the dogs home, etc. A last case resort in the event of an actual incoming bobcat ambush/attack in progress.

Bear spray would be a good idea in the event the bobcat gets deterred from committing an intended attack/attack in progress, and comes back for a second round. By which time it's no longer an ambush situation - you're aware of the bobcat and have reached for the secondary option.