In fairness to the authorities (and even though I am a defender of liberty I am always the man who tells it like it is)....
Just suppose the mountain lion DID maul a child. Lawsuit city, baby. Punitive damages even. One of those whore bay-area firms would be on it faster than Alicia Resse stopping the "COPS" crew.
As is, you incur the wrath of some people, but life will go on.
I agree with GL in that I can't believe an alternative to deadly force couldn't be found. Often times you hear about a loose animal and it seems that no one ever seems able to aim the tranqhilizer gun correctly. Yet they seem perfectly capable of putting a .22 right between the eyes at 100 yards in a cross-wind at night.
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