Re: The joy of actual numbers, was Democracy

On Sun, 10 Nov 2024 10:36:51 +0000, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

Lucky you to have the pumas.
 
Round here the deer are out of control and wander in an out of my back
garden
 
Every couple of years a licensed marksman comes along and cuts the herds
down from 100+ to 20 or so.

The cats help but they're outnumbered.

https://www.ktvh.com/news/how-deer-culling-went-in-helena-this-year

One difference is the urban deer in Helena are mule deer, which are more
aggressive than whitetails. People get upset when they or their pets are
attacked. The mule deer here stay in the mountains.

 

Bears would be interesting to have. WE used to. And wolves. But we
killed them all

We have two species of bears. The grizzlies are spreading which concerns
some people. The wolves have been repopulating nicely. They also are
controversial. Funds have been set up to reimburse for their losses. The
interest has waned somewhat but llamas were popular and the wolves found
them tasty. Wolves are indigenous while llamas aren't so I was rooting for
the wolves. I went on a pack trip with a couple of llamas, which didn't
endear them to me. A joke among the horse and mule people is 'How do you
pack a llama? Quarter it, just like an elk."

 

Have shit loads of badgers instead. Not the same as USA badger.

Badgers favor eastern Montana with its prairies and endless supply of
prairie dogs. They're rare but we do have wolverines.