Nature Scorned

Re “Hunter Kills Cougar After Sheep Is Mauled,” Jan. 28: It appears that cougar baiting is alive and well in Trabuco Canyon. Just what is the motive of these people who keep free-roaming and unnecessary livestock in what is known cougar country? Is it their wish for the extermination of this wild cat?

Perhaps in the near future, when shopping centers, mega-auto dealerships, roads, freeways, subdivisions and apartment complexes completely surround Cleveland National Forest and the last cougar has been killed, we’ll see fit to add an image of the cougar to go alongside the grizzly on the state flag. An absolutely sickening thought.

Denise Hildebrand

Newport Beach