without canine assistance, there would harldly be ANY, repeat ANY mt lions killed. And those populations would be so enormous that all other wildlife including hikers would be decimated.

Yeah...you're right about that, Ryan. I'd like to apologize to all other users of this Forum who have been impacted by my role in this shitshow. Ron's posting behavior may be over the line, but it was my choice to respond to it the way that I have, and for all other users, it has only doubled the negativity that Ron projects.

I’ve got lots of other views on what constitutes ‘harassment’, ‘stalking’, making physical threats towards others, seeking & posting of personal information for vindictive purposes, personal privacy & avatar names…but they are separate issues from the simple fact that my response to Ron since last Fall has negatively & selfishly impacted others here. I will save those views for other threads, and allow this one to focus on the regret I have for my role in increasing the negative experience for others.

Any criticism that has been leveled regarding this kind of sh#t getting waaaay out of perspective, is well-deserved. I appreciate this Forum, and almost all of the people who contribute to it, even the harshest detractors have something to teach me about interacting with others in this world. Most reasonable persons would say it’s pretty silly to hold an internet forum in such regard, but it’s just plain true.

Folks on the right tend to equate rational thought with belief. Then again most on the right have faith based beliefs that they hold sacrosanct regardless of the fact that a belief based on faith is not a belief based on rational thought.

California wildlife officials confirmed Friday that a mountain lion they shot and killed is the same one that attacked a 6-year-old boy on a hiking trail.

DNA testing on the slain mountain lion was completed late Thursday as results also determined the big cat didn't have rabies or any other diseases, said Lt. Patrick Foy, a California Fish and Wildlife spokesman.

"Yes, indeed it was the cat. We are 100 percent certain," Foy said. "Our primary concern was that it may have rabies, but it did not. It was pretty healthy."

After four days of scouring rugged terrain, searchers and dogs surrounded the 74-pound, 2-year-old mountain lion in a 70-foot tree Wednesday before killing it about 130 yards from the attack site on a trail near the Silicon Valley city of Cupertino. Officials defended the decision to kill the juvenile cat instead of trying to bring it in alive because it was deemed a threat to public safety, said state wildlife spokeswoman Janice Mackey.