I wrote this survey question after watching a citizen rant on the local news. They interviewed a guy who was very upset about a puma seen in his neighborhood.

The camera took in a great panorama of the surrounding area – mountains, desert, tall grasses, with a clump of houses pushed right up against it all. In his case, the right answer would definitely be "You built your house in puma habitat."

In addition to that, it was fire season and many wilderness areas were burning with no rain in sight. Under those conditions, wildlife will be looking for an escape and they don't know anything about property lines. The guy didn't seem aware of any of that though. He was in crisis mode.

People have a natural fear of predators. On that level, the guy's reaction makes sense. In his haste to cry foul though, he completely overlooked his own culpability. When you build your home on the edge of wilderness, you should expect and maybe even feel privileged to see wildlife. His outrage at the thought of pumas roaming where children might be playing showed pretty clearly that he didn't consider his surroundings as anything more than a nice view when he bought the house.

Based on his needs, he choose a poor location to settle down. I wish him the best of luck in relocating to a more suitable habitat. The perks that come with his old house will be a great selling point for the right kind of buyer.