South Dakota Mountain Lion Public Opinion Poll

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Mountain Lion Management in South Dakota Appendix C Larry M. Gigliotti Comments from Public Meetings 23. I have ranched in this area all my life. Lions have increased by 10 times in the past five years! I don’t let my children go anywhere along day or night! Them lions are not afraid of people! You need to kill the lions that are close to people! Random hunting will not do this! 24. No out-of-state hunters. 25. If nothing is done about the lion population in South Dakota, not just the Black Hills, it is obvious that it is only a matter of time until some innocent child is taken by a lion. If they will come in a yard and take a small dog, that’s getting past time to take action. These people that don’t think these predators like lions and wolves are a problem is the same as saying our ancestors are stupid. They had to reduce these predators to survive or a lot of us wouldn’t even be here. 26. I personally feel we should kill them all and make it a safer place to live. One of these days you will have a picture of a lion carrying away a small child like you saw in the paper the other day when the lion ate the little dog. I have lived here in Fall River County 79 years and we got along fine the first 60 years without any lions. We can get along real well without them. 27. The argument or contention that the number of people living in cat country is directly related to the number of encounters and not the huge increase in lion numbers is false. Hunter numbers remain fairly constant over the years as sightings and encounters have increased tremendously in only 10 years. 20 years ago it was rare (very rare), 10 years ago it was expected. Presently it is uncontrolled. Deer populations suffer. Humans are in undue danger. A wildlife resource is unused. Hunters should have a chance to hunt lions. Hound hunting and trappers should be permitted to ensure that the season quota is met. Get after it before we end up like California. A Wyoming warden told me nine years ago that we better get after the cat population yesterday. 28. A mountain lion season is long overdue. I feel you will have a tough time getting your quota of 20 animals with the restrictions you have on the hunt! In some areas I have hunted for years, I have seen deer populations drop dramatically. In these areas, there have been frequent sightings and signs of lions. Problem lions have been showing up monthly, instead of annually. It is time to regulate the population of lions, just like you control other big game populations. Twenty is only a small step in the right direction. 29. I’m concerned about the pattern of mountain lions becoming more habituated to humans and frequenting areas of human habitation. They seem to be 34
Mountain Lion Management in South Dakota Appendix C Larry M. Gigliotti Comments from Public Meetings loosing any concern or fear of humans in the Black Hills area. It seems similar to Boulder, CO, 10 to 20 years ago, that development into attacks on humans and the death and eating of a young man (an extreme case, but nonethe-less, possible) – see the book “The Beast in the Garden”, by David Baron. Also, see the California study on the coyote’s stages of going from scared of human to being aggressive towards humans. 30. There definitely needs to be a season set up for the mountain lion, but if you do not allow hunting them with dogs, you are defeating your purpose to control the population, and instead are filling the coffers of GF&P by charging $10 per application. I have no problem with the fee as long as you would be able to hunt them with dogs, but seeing a mountain lion by walking the Black Hills is going to be slim and none. Again you are defeating your purpose by not allowing dogs to hunt with. 31. Shoot the lion if it kills cattle or if it threatens humans only! 32. There is a lot of lions in the Black Hills, and they do need managed and controlled. Need the use of dogs to hunt them. If a survey is taken statewide (Sioux Falls, etc.), will have just environmentalist answer surveys and not those people having problems. Use your heads. Lions have got to be managed. 33. I think we have a lot (too many), and that is why we see them getting pushed out to other towns like Yankton, SD. They are eating other things besides their normal habitat. 34. NO non-resident/out-of-state hunters. 35. If there is too many lions, yes they should be brought under control, but if there is an equal balance of lions, then leave them alone. I have waited for years to see mountain lions in this county and I do not want to see them leave. I do not agree on out-of-state hunters to be able to hunt them. 36. I think predators should be a part of South Dakota’s environment. They are an historical part of that environment and provide a natural control on their prey species. Lions should only be removed when they become a problem with human encounters or livestock kills. 35
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South Dakota Mountain Lion Public Opinion Poll

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