Should these large cats be released into our own backyards ??? Sep, 2003 hunting from a 19 ft. high tree stand one evening and looking out over a 200 yrd, pasture, I witnessed a large tan object with a redish back troting out of the woods and into a small patch of trees, then over the hill and out of sight..... all happening in the time it took you to read this. I was'nt real sure what I had just saw but i knew it was'nt no damn deer!!! I had to play it back in my memory, and dusk was setting in so i tried to make a possitive identification in my mind by the was it was trotting and the length of it's tail..... there was no dout in my mind, it was a mountain lion !!! this was the first time I ever saw a large cat, and did not know they where in this area i had just moved into... I heard in the 1960's there were not many deer in south carolina so the state released a large number of these herbivors into our backyards. now at the turn of the century the deer population is so strong the state has a new problem !!! so there answer to cut back on the deer was to release several of these carnivors into our backyards !!! ??? I think these large cats should have been left where they were, and left alone! and just up'ed the number of deer taken by hunters..... I've seen this moutain lion three times now in three years. 3 months after the first sighting i witnessed the cat at approximatly 8:30am as i was driving. about 50 ft. in front of my truck the cat ran across our street, the road is about 20 to 24 ft. wide. that cat was running so fast all four paws only hit the pavment "ONE TIME" !!! and it was gone..... I'm tellin you right now , if that thing were to attack you, you'ld be knocked to the ground and a 500 lb bite to the neck / throat to snap your neck, or over the face covering nose and mouth, and never knowing what the hell just hit you !!! after the second sighting i decided to buy a taurus 454... I honestly feel these large cats have the right to hunt where they now have been placed by our state, but when it comes down to my life or our childrens lives being placed in danger, """I'm takin the big cat out with as many rounds as it takes to stop it""" !!! I'm telling all of you that hike, camp, or walking your own property to beware and fight this thing with everything you got inside of you, and you have a good chance to live..... walk with a good hard stick, something easy for you to swing and heavy enough to hurt when hit with... if you do not have anything to use for a weapon use your fingers or thumbs to gouge the eyes, a cat hates to be hurt and will not risk injury for a meal or for the next hunt..... hunting season winter 2004/2005, same tree stand, same wood line, same cat.... only now he's bigger... what will the state do for us next ? sorry for any typo's..... Attn; Fish and wildlife services South Carolina. To whom it may concern, my dog has been missing for 6 months..... R.Guyer1