[Editor Note: Welcome Oliver Van Peeples, who went from commenter to post-maker; look forward to wild posts from this hunter.]

I would like to solicit the board's opinion on the resolution of a topic that has come up a number of times since inception. I was at a party this past Saturday night, and a friendly conversation among men was being shared on the back porch. The topic of the Cougar was sprung, and there was much rejoicing in the form of laughing and back-slapping faces into beers.

But then, as I was telling a tale of my dastardly deeds with a 30-something cougar, an interjection was heard: "Dude, that's not a Cougar you're talking about, Cougars are 40+. That was a MILF!"

I know we all agree that Cougars can be younger than 40 -- there, he was wrong. But the guy had a point, how do you separate the Cougar and the MILF?  I for one, see a MILF as perhaps a teenager's Cougar -- a training Cougar, perhaps? Like a little lynx or something?  An ocelot?  In my opinion, the concept of the Cougar reaches breadths and depths that the acronym MILF wouldn't dare presume.

So your man Peeples speaks his word, and it is, a MILF is to a teenager as a Cougar is to us -- older prey. The difference is, a MILF is just a hot woman who happens to have children. She drives an MPV and goes to soccer games and argues with the coach. She does what her husband tells her and her head is flat to accept a beer.

Whereas a Cougar pushes her own Benz or Jaguar. She's a made woman, rich in character, money and talent. She doesn't need a man other than for amusement and pleasure, so you'd better excel at both if you're going to vie for the honor of her company.

FINAL WORD: A MILF is a manifestation of a horny teenager's dream; a Cougar is a grown man's fantasy.