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Got a problem? Blame it on the cougar
Published Sunday, June 15, 2008
Lions, tigers and bears. Oh my! The line from the screenplay of “The Wizard of Oz” conjures up all kinds of wondrous childhood spooks.
But mention the possibility of a cougar sighting in downtown Natchez and the flying monkeys of speculation, cynicism and a little silliness are sure to rear their hairy heads.
Last week, our newspaper reported that two local women believe they saw a cougar walking in a field along Briel Avenue.
Skeptics immediately pointed to the impossibility of such a sighting. No cougars have been seen in Mississippi in 100 years, they said.
They must have been mistaken, others said. Perhaps it was a dog or some other creature, these folks speculated.
Let me say that if these women said they saw a cougar or some other kind of big cat, I believe them. Neither of the women was seeking any kind of publicity by letting folks know of the sighting.
In fact they only told a few neighbors to alert them and a neighbor told me about the sighting. I alerted our newsroom and a reporter interviewed the witness.
Now, I could understand being overly skeptical if the women had come to the newspaper or called a TV or radio station immediately to report what they’d seen. That surely would have been a sign that they were seeking attention from the sighting.
But in this instance, that’s not the case.
Nope, these women really believe what they saw.
Lots of others apparently believe what gets sent to their e-mail inbox, too. In the last couple of weeks photos of a monster-sized cougar allegedly struck and killed by a vehicle in Amite County have made the circuit in the area.
No one in Amite County seems to know anything about the cougar sighting. Further, a Web site specializing in debunking or confirming outlandish stories and urban myths, Snopes.com, reports that the Amite County cougar is actually a mountain lion from Arizona.
Perhaps a few of our online readers had the most fun with the cougar story.
Collectively they had a number of suggested uses for the animal. One sought to have it captured and taken to Danny’s Lounge in Vidalia, under discussion by the town leaders after a growing number of complaints there.
One suggested the police and sheriff department train the animal for crowd control.
Still another sought to blame the cougar for the missing sign at the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce building on Main Street.
Of all of those absolutely ludicrous ideas, I think I like the latter best. The mystical cougar can be blamed for all of our problems.
Problems with the public schools? The big cat has corrupted the minds of our students.
No homework? Easy. The cougar ate it.
Underage drinking? My cousin saw the cougar buying liquor for a group of teens at the liquor store.
Natchez Regional Medical Center’s financial woes? The cougar scared the last three or four CEOs provided by Quorum Health Resources and that prevented them from thinking clearly at the office.
Lack of manufacturing jobs? It’s simple: The cougar scared off International Paper, Johns Manville and Titan Tire. Titan’s CEO Maurice “Morry” Taylor, whose nickname was “The Grizz” just wasn’t enough against the cougar.
Yes, the cougar excuse is perfect. All you have to do is click your ruby red slippers together and say, “There’s nothing like cougars.”
And, of course, follow the yellow brick road.
Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.
Comments
Posted by free_radical (anonymous) on June 15, 2008 at 1:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
umm, what?
Posted by freedom42 (anonymous) on June 15, 2008 at 8:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks for the laughs Kevin! And so true, we are always willing to blame anyone or anything for our troubles.
Posted by kpage (anonymous) on June 15, 2008 at 8:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Har Har Kevin! Fun read!
Posted by straightshooter1 (anonymous) on June 15, 2008 at 9:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yuk! Yuk! YUK!
Here come the cougar! Here come the Cougar!
thanks Kevin, I needed that
Posted by ncogg (anonymous) on June 15, 2008 at 9:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
LOL!!!
Posted by grrbrts (anonymous) on June 15, 2008 at 10:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I thank you Mr. Cooper, for spreading the word (Cougar Awareness). The very same day, that the article about the sighting was published, I found and pictured, a trail of tracks that lasted for nearly a mile! I have reported them to MDWFP, via e-mail and regular mail. The tracks were found along a long trail/drive, off Sedgefield Road. I lost site of the tracks, when the trail turned to gravel. The tracks were heading out to Sedgefield Road. I have not received a response from MDWFP, as of yet, but with this being a weekend, this may be the reason. From what I have learned, both the bear and cougar tracks, are difficult to tell apart. The tracks should remain there, at least until a rain.
Posted by kpage (anonymous) on June 15, 2008 at 10:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You know better than to report that kind of stuff, grrbrts!!! According to them, you don't know what you're talking about! THERE ARE NO BIG CATS IN OUR AREA!!! Haha, grr! You know I'm being sarcastic. I believe you.
Posted by lilredhead (anonymous) on June 15, 2008 at 12:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
grrbrts-- You should try to make a casting of a few of them. I have seen the mixture 9or some that would work) they use in the crafts section at Walmart. I hope they come check it out. Good luck and keep us posted.
Posted by freedom42 (anonymous) on June 15, 2008 at 5:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
grrbrts, the bear prints would show claw marks, the cougars wouldn't as they retract their claws like house cats. Also the bear hind paws are longer and look similar to a humans foot print. I looked this up in a wildlife book, which shows the prints of all American wildlife. Hope it helps. Do make castings if you can. I know we have black bears around, and a cougar would not surprise me at all.
Posted by OldGrandDad (anonymous) on June 15, 2008 at 7:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Directions for making a plaster of paris cast of tracks are easily available online. I've found them before. It involves making a small cardboard circle around the track (like a 1" high dam) and pouring your mixed stuff in and then letting it dry. They say it takes about 30 minutes.
For years the old country store at Pond has had a cast of a bear track in their store. Its a nice way to preserve a record of a bear or whatever passing through. I've got some plaster of paris waiting for another bear track to appear in my own creek one day. The first track got washed away.......
Posted by starla (anonymous) on June 16, 2008 at 6:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Lol! Let's not forget that wacky cougar helped those two inmates escape from CPCF!
Posted by kpage (anonymous) on June 16, 2008 at 8:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Remember back in the 70's...KISS had a song called "Plaster Caster". Hahahaha!
Posted by free_radical (anonymous) on June 16, 2008 at 6:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
LOL @ kpage!
Posted by Yeahuhuh (anonymous) on June 17, 2008 at 8:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Lions and Tigers and bears , OH MY.
There is a bear currently in the Sedgefield Road area. I got the plaster, and you don't even have to make a paper ring. Just pour it in the track.
I still don't believe the cougar sightings were cougars, but I want to believe. Word on the street is one of the ladies says now she just saw a big cat and never claimed it was for sure a cougar, and the whole thing got blown out of proportion with the publicity.
Who can know about anything really. Just because you read something in a paper is not proof. It has morphed into cougar humor, cougar law enforcment humor and cougar fear philosophy and cougar fear philosophy humor.
People should spend more time learning about McCain's ties to the pro-war PNAC and signing documents with folks who were encouraging biological weapons that targeted folks based on their race.
Maybe if we have to we can get a grant to make a cougar bomb that doesn't hurt housecats. He,he!
Posted by kpage (anonymous) on June 17, 2008 at 8:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Like Charlie Daniels says in one of his songs..."there are some things in this world just can't explain".
Posted by fire39212 (anonymous) on June 17, 2008 at 12:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wonder if the stuff you gett o make kids hand prints would work?
grrbrts do keep us posted please....
Thanks for the artical Kevin
Posted by freedom42 (anonymous) on June 17, 2008 at 1:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The cougar is a lot more fun to talk about than McCain.
Posted by waterbourne (anonymous) on June 17, 2008 at 2:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
There is one possibilty that on one has mentioned, and 99% of the time it's what has happened, when you have an exotic animal loose in an area where that creature is not indigenous. Somebody with a lot of cash buys that animal on the black market as a pet and finds out over a short period of time thay can not handel it or it escapes. Since it is illegal to own said animal they do not come foward to report the loss. (drug dealers)
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