Will you interfere with people that interfere with nature?

I think I would not interfere, in hopes that while interfering with nature this hypothetical couple gets mauled by the cougar for ruining his dinner.

No, i’d probably get my phone & video the fuck out of it & see how many ”awwww’s” it gets on FB

@ForHatesSake they won’t necessarily endanger their life. It coud be between wild animals that won’t pose any threat to people who interfere. Suppose that they can successfully drive away the predator if you let them.

@ucme Awww’s? I don’t get it. What could be potentially cute in this situation?

@Unofficial_Member In the sense of ”Awww, poor little thing”
Sympathy not cuteness, should’ve been fairly obvious

This is a very weird scenario.

At what point is the conversation on the ethics of interrupting a mountain lion’s dinner supposed to occur? after the attack but before the deathstroke? Assuming you’re close enough to the deer and the cougar to “shoo away” the predatory animal, how are you going to have this conversation without them hearing you anyway?

Besides, I’m not getting at all involved in this fight.

As a general rule, I don’t interfere with strangers. Doing so is seldom effective or has a good outcome.

@Seek Suppose that you have just enough time to explain that nature has its own way while the deer is being attacked by the cougar, and the cougar initially ignore people’s presence while wrestling with the deer.

What if, lets say, I changed the question and now it’s between a crow and a mouse. Will you interfere seeing that no harm will come to you in the process?

Would I interfere with some random stranger in the woods shooing away a crow from a mouse?

No. I would question why I was seeing random strangers who don’t know how animals work in the wilderness, though.

I would encourage them to go try and pry open the cougars mouth to release the deer.

Yes, I would “interfere” and tell them to back the frack off. The cat needs to eat and Cougars main prey is deer.

I’ve “interfered” and put baby birds back in their nest, which works out fine as it is a myth that the parents will reject them. Most birds have a very poor sense of smell excepting vultures & seabirds. I have saved a mouse or other little rodent from my cats on occasion, but usually I do not interfere. nature is nature and wild life do what they do. I have also beat a Coyote off of one of my pet geese once upon a time and saved the same goose from a Bobcat trying to drag her over the fence.

However, protecting your own pets from marauding wildlife has nothing to do with interfering with a cougar taking down a deer as that is what cougars do. I live in Mtn. Lion territory and promised myself years ago that I would never report a sighting unless the cat was showing signs of aggression. Out here everyone wants to kill cougars and coyotes and I disagree with that philosophy if the animal is not a threat to humans, pets or livestock. I interfered the other day and saved my neighbors teenage kitty from being bitten by a small rattlesnake he was poking at under a rock.

He got lucky as the snake struck at his face but he jumped back in the nick of time. The other neighbors cat got bitten on the face last week and my guy got it a few years ago. I like rattlesnakes but yep, I will interfere and lop their heads off with a shovel if they are too close for comfort, which is the fate of the little viper from the day before yesterday. haha
He is now headless and tied up in a bag in the trash can.

Sorry dude, wrong place, wrong time for you.

Like @ucme, I would get out the cell phone to video, though rather hoping to film the cougar kicking those peoples asses.

That would not occur to me in that instance. The cougar’s life versus the deer’s? Not important to me.

I have, however, told people that they shouldn’t be feeding wild birds such as seagulls on the beach; that makes them unafraid of people and aggressive thieves of food.

First of all, no couple is going to be quick enough to prevent the deer’s dispatch, and I am just as unlikely to be in time to make any difference in the outcome through my interference But no I wouldn’t interfere. My view is that the couple involved is just another random circumstance in the saga of “shit happens”. In the balance, starving cat, or dead deer, the animals are playing the hand they’ve been dealt. The saps meddling in the affair are also playing their hand as they see it, and cannot be faulted for acting on emotion. They haven’t actually had the time to consider the cat’s welfare, but are faced with the gruesome preventable death of Bambi and reacted predictably.

No, we are all interfering with nature on a small part just camping there.

I would interfere to a point, telling them to stop. A friendly, ” hey, knock it off””

But I wouldn’t push it much more than that.

Those people who tried to “rescue” a bison calf in Yellowstone because they thought it was cold? Definitely interfere. And tell them they are killing the calf.

On the other hand, if one sees a housecat hunting birds, definitely interfere. Cats are the number one anthropogenic killer of birds.

@Coloma What an interesting story. I believe you can become a professional rattlesnake hunter if you want haha. Just imagine all those skins you can harvest ;jk.

1. Never intervene between the two that are fighting.

2. Never attack an angry animal.

3. The cat needs to eat as well.

@Unofficial_Member It’s birthing season for the northern pacific rattlers right now. August to October in the Sierra Nevada hills here.
They give live birth and the newborns are only like 3 inches long. Coiled up they are the size of a quarter, seriously tiny.

You have to watch your step. This little rattler was a juvenile, only 2 buttons on his/her rattle and only about 8 inches long, but I’ve come across a couple 3+ footers before, as thick as your wrist. Monster vipers. haha
I have only had to kill about 6 snakes in 25 years, the populations are more than thriving here. Snakes, snakes, everywhere.

When you live in an area like this you become an “expert” on everything fast. It’s a jungle out there. haha

In a world where anybody could be packing, no thanks, I’m not Interferring with strangers. I’d report the infraction to an authority.