Just ran across this one.

Yahoo News

Rick

I wonder what the daily rate is??

There are days I wish the animals at the zoo will get loose and come to my neighborhood. "There's a tiger on the neighbors car. Can I shoot it?"

Sevens

I am still laughing about this. That must be the worlds biggest coyote at "200 to 300 lbs"! These people wouldnt know a chicken from a cow if the supermarket didnt label the packages.

The recent novel "Shikar" is about a tiger that escapes in Georgia and develops a taste for the locals. A character based on Jim Corbett is called in to deal with the problem. Excellent read.

Now that is funny! Particularly in a city whose politicians are known anti-gun people. The Ohio Gun Collectors association pulled out of Columbus for meetings several years ago because of their anti gun bias. But of course deadly force is ok on an animal, just not the two legged variety.

Another reason to convince your wife that you "need" that .416 even if you're not planning a trip abroad.

I'm not lyin' still for this nonsense.



I'm layin' odds that somebody's lyin' about that lion.



These Ohio folks have already proven that they can't tell the difference between a Great Dane and a lion.



Don't they get the Discovery Channel in Ohio?

The lion killed and carried off a groundhog at the airport in front of several witnesses. They have him cornered there with zoo officals, the highway patrol, local sheriff's, etc. on the scene. Large male with a dark mane. That's the latest...

To give our wise skeptics on here credit, here is the latest on the lion story from WBNS televisions in Columbus, OH:



Lion Still On The Loose



What police thought was the lion who has been on the loose since Monday night, is actually a coyote.

Using a thermal imaging camera, police took a picture of the animal, and showed it to the eight people who say they saw the lion. The eight people said that it was not the creature that they saw.



Columbus police blocked off an area near Hamilton Road, and a van from the Columbus Zoo was brought in.



Earlier on Tuesday, Gahanna police spent the morning on the prowl and poised for a fight, just in case they ran into a lion on the loose.



There are three confirmed sightings of the lion, but police say she never surfaced Tuesday.



The first sighting came from a Columbus police officer around 8 p.m.; he saw the lion crossing Taylor Road near Taylor Station Road.



The second came from a courier, who saw her off Technology Drive.



The last confirmed visual was from some CSX workers who spotted the lion on the railroad tracks heading toward the airport.



Late Tuesday afternoon, police say someone reported seeing the lion near the airport. The search is now in the hands of the Columbus police with the possible sighting being near a pet cemetery on Hamilton Road.



The sighting has not been confirmed.



Gahanna Police suspended their search around 2 p.m. on Tuesday after searching the area around an abandoned brick yard. Someone reported seeing the lion, but police say it was likely a deer or a dog, and in fact, a dog was found behind a building there.



Lt. Jeff Spence of Gahanna Police says, "I'm the first one to be a disbeliever. I am firmly convinced it is some large cat. It is a bobcat? An African lion? I wouldn't rule out any possibilities."



Authorities are taking the reports seriously. The three people who initially saw the lion all had similar descriptions. They say they say a large cat weighing 300 to 400 pounds, with a long tail and a tuft of fur at the end of the tail.



The descriptions from Tuesday morning do not match the initial three descriptions.



Gahanna resident Jim is sure he saw the animal out his kitchen window. He says, "There is no way this could have been a great big dog. No. The legs were different. With his tail up in the air, it was a lion."



A whole crowd believes it was a lion up on the hill on Claycraft Road.



"You know how lions just stroll, that's how it was. It was definitely [a lion]. It was too big to be a dog and it wasn't a deer," says resident Tiffany Kelly.



In the Gahanna neighborhood near last night's sightings, the lion was topic one Tuesday.



Jane Alden kept the kids inside all day, explaining, "I'm not comfortable with it roaming around with all these woods around here."



Dennis Green of Gahanna chose to go outside instead. "We've got a wedding coming up and I've got to get the place ready," he says.



Another resident chose to mow his lawn. Coby Utterman says, "I figured an animal that size would be afraid of a lawnmower."



Everyone, both adventurous and cautious, are wondering where she is and hoping no one gets hurt, including the elusive lion.



So what are the laws about having exotic animals in Ohio? People at the Columbus Zoo say the state code is essentially silent.



"It requires no license or permit to really own an animal like that or to transport one across the state. You don't even have to live here, but just to driving through with an animal in your vehicle," says Don Winstel of the Columbus Zoo.



Officials with the state Department of Agriculture say tracking exotic animal in Ohio is hard to do since there is no registration.

This is now the second day the PD and Zoo folks have been messing around. The Lion killed and ate a groundhog on the Airport landing zone this afternoon. It is said to be a female (but I doubt that the average person would know here). The park and area around the airport is the city dump, an industral park and a golf course. The cover is very thick--- 30 years ago I used to rabbit hunt it. Anyhow-- I live about 5 miles away in another wooded area connected by railroad tracks and a couple parks. I wodered it the thing would end up in the "Natural Wildlife Reserve" behind my house. At any rate. I loaded some 350 Grain Barnes X's at 2400FPS for my .458. I dug it out of the safe and put it in the guncase, just in case I get unauthorized visitors in the yard!

Here's a picture of the "lion", which we now know was just a coyote. Also, here's an update on the story from Columbus' WCMH: Latest on the "lion"

Another fine case of the locals getting it wrong! Now I have some fine handloads to go play with at the rage this weekend!! Hope it does not rain!

Gentlemen,

You will be mazed of how little city dwellers know about wild animals.

Anytime one of them sees any animal that is not a cat or a dog, they think it is a VERY DANGEROUS creature. And as the story gets passed along, the animal tends to grow bigger and meaner.

Years ago, I had a call from a close friend on my mobile phone about 3 in the afternoon.

"Saeed, where are you?"
"I just finished from the sailing club, and on the way home"
"We need your help. Can you come to my house please?"
"Sure, can you tell me what the problem is?"
"Well, there is an enormous ape sitting on my car!"
"You bloody wimp. It is probably someone's pet monkey. Give it some food and call the zoo"

"It is NOT a monkey! It is a bloody big APE! It has very long teeth and looks really mean. I am not leaving the house. You just come and shoot the bloody thing!"

I was laughing as I drove to his house. When I got there, I saw this monkey sitting by the kitchen window. It did not look vicious at all. These are the ones people bring from India, and weigh about 15-20 pounds.

I asked my friend to give me some food to give the monkey. He opened the kitchen door a fraction to give me a lemon! I gave the lemon to the monkey, who snatched it from my hand, bit it, and threw it away.

"You see what I mean? He is a killer. Get your gun and shoot it!" My friend screamed from behind closed windows.

"Bring a rope and come out, we will catch it and take to the zoo"
"Not bloody likely mate! I am not coming out while that creature is still there"

"If you are not going to help, I will leave this monkey here for you to enjoy playing with. Why did he come here anyway?"
"I don't bloody know. Just shoot it and let us be finished with him"

"Ok Ok, I know why he came here"
"What made him come here?"

"To visit his relative living in the house of course. Now stop being silly, and bring something to catch him with"

By now the monkey is sitting on top of his car, which was a BMW 3 series estate. I went to my car, and got a towel. I threw the towel over the monekeys head, and held him by the back of the neck. He did not like that at all, and tried to bite my leg. I just held him away, and shouted at my friend to come and open the back of his car so I can put the monkey there.

He opened the car, and I threw the monkey in and closed the door quickly.

The first thing he did was shit all ove the place! Then he started biting the side of the car, taking chunks of plastic away!

"Look! Didn't I tell you he was a killer! What do we do now?"

I called a friend of mine who was the zoo keeper in Dubai, and told him we had a monkey for him.

The first thing he said was "If it is Walter, I don't want him in my zoo"

He came over and picked the monkey.

Luckily, the car belongs to BMW, as my friend who had it was their service manager.