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Mountain-lion attacks [ENVIRONMENT, Aug. 24] seem to happen on and around the land where the animals once wandered. In the absence of their usual food, they prey on whatever they can get for their survival. What can be done to keep mountain lions from roaming on developed property? This is an interesting question when you consider whose property we're discussing. We have forced this on the big cats in the name of progress. Don't human beings kill in order to eat? Whether we are meat eaters or plant eaters, our food died in the name of sustenance. Someday children will ask, "What is a mountain lion?" They'll have to rent the video. CHARLES REILLY Philadelphia
Mountain lions have nowhere else to go (we took care of that); they have nothing else to eat (we took care of that too). What options remain for them? Not surprisingly, other creatures don't think we are superior just because we can think and speak. Our superiority complex has led to destruction. JESSICA GLASS New York City
MOTORCYCLE PERSPECTIVES
Robert Hughes masterfully captures the spirit of motorcycling in his review of the museum exhibit of the big cycles in New York City [ART, Aug. 17]. As a 43-year-old emergency-department physician, I took a giant leap six years ago and made the transition from piecing bikers back together to straddling my own BMW R1100 roadster. These wonderful machines offer an escape for the soul and spirit, a place to relish life's victories and reconcile its defeats. But Hughes is correct: you'll have little use for one "unless you are prepared to go somewhat out on the edge." BOBBY MITCHELL, M.D. Douglasville, Ga.
As an artist whose soul feeds on beauty, I was delighted to see your piece on the motorcycle exhibit. My son owns a motorcycle dealership, and I visit him and his shop frequently, for his machines make me feel good. I am always overwhelmed by their design; they are true works of art. Thank you and the Guggenheim Museum for validating my taste. ELEANOR K. PRAGER Palo Alto, Calif.
I think motorcycles are Japan's revenge for the atom bomb. Since 1945, bikes have killed or maimed more Americans than Japanese were killed at Hiroshima or Nagasaki. MARIO G. SEMERE Los Angeles