Indiana woman shoots and kills a - wait; what? - a leopard prowling in her backyard

[Nova]

first rule of responsible gun ownership, know your target and make sure you see it clearly and for certain. I'm not downplaying the danger of having a leopard in your yard by any means, I just wish the woman was more responsible in her approach. This could have been anything, someone's pet dog, or even a child in her bushes for pete sake!

You may be right, but we don't know exactly what the woman saw. Just because she couldn't identify it as a leopard in the dark doesn't mean she didn't recognize its silhouette as alien and a threat. She knew something had been eating the neighborhood dogs and cats.

ETA according to the original link, she thought she was shooting a bobcat. She was wrong about the species, but she had correctly identified the target as a wild cat.

 

[SwampMama]

Also in Indiana......Alligators!

http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/news/local/marion_county/dnr-3-alligator-sightings-reported-in-indy

I drive past this pond every night on my way to work at the hospital.......

Also in my own yard (in my driveway), this gator!!

But he is just a baby maybe 3 and 1/2 feet. I didnt harm him, just took a pic and laughed. I go gator hunting with hubby and he drags in the big ones, over 9 ft long by himself while I take pics.

 

[Nova]

As I've said elsewhere, my 7-year-old grandson came in from playing in the backyard on Sunday and said, "Mommy, there's a bear in the yard next door!" (They live in suburban Boston and bears are not a common sight.)

His mother thought he was kidding, but sure enough: a bear had knocked down the wooden fence and was in the neighbor's backyard. Thank God little Henry saw the bear before the bear saw him.

How I WISH somebody had shot the damn bear! Well, okay, I actually wish their township had a decent animal control program whose people would have tranquilized and relocated the animal. But since no such program exists (What's up with that, Massachusetts?), I WISH somebody had killed the damn bear. I know I'd sleep better at night.

 

[wfgodot]

Snow leopard babies born in Boise. (ktvb.com)

 

[meanmaryjean]

Snow leopard babies born in Boise. (ktvb.com)

So thankful we're not discussing emus.......:floorlaugh:

 

[atm9533]

I'm thinking some knucklehead smuggled it into the country for a pet and then released it when it got to be too much to handle. If that's the case, I hope they're found and prosecuted.

That is exactly what I was thinking. I was reading to see if someone else thought the same thing before I posted it. Poor thing, maybe they could have tried to use a cage to catch it.

 

[STEADFAST]

Large predator animals "deserve" to be shot if they are threatening humans in human territory because THAT is nature, too. Nature isn't fair. Would a leopard hesitate to kill you although you may be incredibly attractive and it isn't your fault you are in his immediate area? I'm sure the leopard wouldn't look so attractive to anybody if he were chomping down on a loved one or a neighbor. I don't think it's reasonable to expect people who encounter a giant wild cat in their yards to go look up its exact species, kill-list position and personal history.

 

[wfgodot]

Leopard Shot, Killed By Indiana Man Did Not Belong To Wildlife Refuge. (huffington post)

---
Tim Stark, who runs an animal refuge located half a mile from where the animal was shot, told WDRB that the leopard wasn't one of his.

"To my knowledge, nothing's ever got off my property," said Stark, who had received calls about a large cat on the loose prior to the fatal shooting and had set traps in the hopes of catching it.
---
According to NBC News, officials from the Indiana Department of Natural Resources are investigating the matter with the help of federal agencies, in hopes of determining the animal's origin.
---

more at the link

"To my knowledge," hmmm.....

 

[LaborDayRN]

first rule of responsible gun ownership, know your target and make sure you see it clearly and for certain. I'm not downplaying the danger of having a leopard in your yard by any means, I just wish the woman was more responsible in her approach. This could have been anything, someone's pet dog, or even a child in her bushes for pete sake!

Very well said. This is exactly what I was thinking.

 

[Dewey2Me1MoThyme]

Is this the first documented case of a cougar shooting a leopard?

 

[Donjeta]

In the first article it was a woman who shot the leopard, in the second article it's a man. Is it still a leopard?

 

[wfgodot]

In the first article it was a woman who shot the leopard, in the second article it's a man. Is it still a leopard?

Large house cat, and was only grazed.