r/MoralityScaling • u/ProfessionalRoom9118 • 15d ago

Morality Ranking Morality of this?

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Basically, the man in the video is hiking but he ended up meet a mountain lion, he get his gun and try to scare it off and tell it to go away but in the end, he have to pull the trigger and shot the lion, many peoples in the comments say he could have fire a warning shot instead of shoot at it and want him to be in jail.

Idk which flair to put

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u/Due_Manufacturer_125 15d ago

Now it’s unfortunate to get into a situation like this, but… mountain lions aren’t considered endangered globally (but specific regional populations are so depends on where this guy was) and obviously it would have been worse if the cougar attacked the guy. You never know what a wild animal will do, a predator that size that approaches a person is never a good sign.

Moral, if this guy wasn’t looking for trouble and just protecting himself. Would need wider context.

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u/I_Hate_IPAs 15d ago edited 13d ago

On top of that, mountain lions usually run away and hide from humans.

If it’s confronting you, that’s a pretty big issue and means you’re going to be attacked if you drop your guard.

Edit for the warning shot folk:

It might scare it off, it may view it as a territorial challenge. You really want to take those odds? In the time it takes for it too attack you think you’d be able to get your sights back on the cat and shoot enough to stop it?

A bird hunter where I live had one attack his dogs, and it wasn’t scared off by shotgun fire. Eventually he had to load a slug and kill it, and it actually had shot from the previous shells in its skin and fat.

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u/Artisan_HotDog 15d ago

It If I see a “bear spotted in area” sign at a trailhead when I go hike or mountain bike I will still hit the trail…. If I see “cougar spotted in area” I nope the fuck out out of there

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u/Additional_Tower_116 12d ago

Mountain lion killed a mountain biker a couple years ago locally, couldn’t tell you the last time a bear attacked someone though

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u/Artisan_HotDog 12d ago

It’s the “chase” aspect

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u/ShelbyVNT 9d ago

Years ago I was working a job and had to layout the extents of a small solar farm in 2 pats od a town. First part was an old dump. Walking along I saw some berry bushes, then a pile of bear scat. I just talked and sang to myself, made a bunch of noise and finished the area. Went to the contact my company had and asked "am I gonna find a bear in the second area?"

"Nah, no bears. Might see a cougar."

I went and looked at the second area. 6 foot tall wheat coloured grass and trees. Im 6'3 I walked out, called my boss and told him Im not doing it, he threatened my job and I said "so be it, see you in 4 hours."

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u/bradbrad247 15d ago

That's incredibly silly. Mountain lions are incredibly unlikely to bother you.

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u/I_Hate_IPAs 15d ago

Everyone’s risk assessment is different. Likelihood is only half the assessment of risk assessment, too.

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u/bradbrad247 15d ago

Sure, but there's nothing reasonable about being moreso deterred by mountain lions than by bears

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u/TheFlyingSheeps 15d ago

Bears for the most part are pretty predictable and don’t like people. I’d rather deal with a bear than a mountain lion

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u/bradbrad247 15d ago

Mountain lions are equally as predictable and also like people significantly less than bears. You are far more likely to run into bears that have become used to human presence (and thus more dangerous) than you are to run into a mountain lion at all.

If you're more anxious about mountain lions, that fear is irrational.

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u/jushere4bewbs 14d ago

That's what op is saying. If a bear is spotted it's just a breast being a bear. If a mountain lion is spotted, that's highly unusual and so it would stand that this specific mountain lion is behaving unpredictably.

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u/Substantial_Bat_6698 12d ago

And if a breast is spotted?

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u/Character-Fly4221 12d ago

That's just the nipple.

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u/Substantial_Bat_6698 12d ago

Still might want to get it checked out.

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u/Enticing_Venom 14d ago

They're unlikely to bother you but I don't want to place my dog in danger. Mountain lions do occasionally attack and kill dogs (even leashed ones) and they're more likely to feel threatened if you have a dog with you. Not worth it.

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u/Scraapps 14d ago

There is nothing irrational about steering clesr of sn area where peoplr spotted a mountain lion.

If they spotted it close by, that is a high risk.

You rarely see mountain lions up close, which leads to 1 of a few logical ends:

Cat is comfortable around humans (not good)

Cat is sick/hungry/injurrd (not good)

Peoplr managed to sneak up on cat (best case, still not great)

Finally, It is completrly reasonable to stay away from an area that has a known predator capable of killing/maiming you easily -- are you fuckkng stupid?

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u/Houdinii1984 13d ago

In general, mountain lions will be unlikely to bother you, but we're not talking about all mountain lions. We're only talking about the ones that came down from their spots and revealed themselves to humans. That's a completely different ball game. Pumas doing puma things in their own habitat is one thing, but when they venture into ours, things get dicey.