Texas Parks And Wildlife Has New Mountain Lion Regulations

Mountain lions have been all over the news this year in Texas. There was the story about mountain lions being sighted in backyards. Then the Texas Parks and Wildlife asked the community to chime in with ideas on changes to regulations regarding mountain lions in the Lone Star State.

New Regulations Regarding Mountain Lions In The State Of Texas

The new regulations that have been adopted in Texas regarding mountain lions have a lot to do with trapping them. According to a press release, these regulations are intended to encourage ethical hunting and trapping practices while still "providing flexibility for landowners trying to manage mountain lions".

The new measure bans canned hunts of mountain lions. If you're unaware of what a canned hunt is, it's when someone traps a mountain lion so they can release it later and hunt it or chase it with hounds. I find it incredible that there are people who do this. If someone told me they trapped a mountain lion, I'd tell them to keep it as far away from me as possible. My first thought wouldn't be, "Great! Let it out so we can chase it!"

The other change was the adoption of a 36-hour trapping standard. Many were concerned about the fact that some mountain lions are trapped and then left to die in the trap, which is absolutely terrible. I don't want to be friends with a mountain lion, but I wouldn't wish that on any of them. There are also regulations on the type of trap that can be used. You can find all of the info by following this link.

Mountain Lions In Texas; You Stay Over There And We'll Stay Over Here

Mountain lions, according to the press release, are actually pretty uncommon to come across in Texas. They do exist, and they are here. However, they prefer to be secretive. According to TPWD, they primarily exist in the Trans-Pecos, brushlands of South Texas, and the western Hill Country.

Hopefully, these regulations will find a way to let Texans and mountain lions live in peace... separately.