Help getting over my fear of mountain lions?

Ditto on the dog. They'll keep lions and bears away unless its a sow with cubs then shoot the dog and run like hell. The story of the two old guys in Alaska going in to the bush, The onle gun they had was a .22 rifle, when asked how that was going to protect him from a bear attack he said " He'd shoot his buddy in the foot and run like hell. My dogs also keep elephants away cause we don't have an elephant within 100 miles . Have another hit.

Stickky said:

Just be aware of your surroundings. I agree on the dog, it helps to have a k-9, but in reality, if the cat wants you , its gonna get you. Like that hunter above, I really hope that cat got him.

StickKy

Click to expand...

the dog is to warn you, the gun is to save you!

Wear an aluminum foil hat maybe that will freak out the cats!

thingshappening said:

I keep reading stories about lions attacking from behind, delivering a lethal blow to the neck.

Click to expand...

In parts of India farmers wear masks with big eyes on the back of their heads, apparently it's something to do with tigers preferring to attack from the rear, the element of surprise and all that.

I'm going to suggest a Chuck Norris mask, what mountain lion is gonna mess with Chuck Norris???

Re: Help getting over my fear of mountain lions?

I think a healthy fear of cougar is jist fine...and I only walk,to and from my vehicle. Fuck that bull shit you ain't gonna catch my ass walking around in fucking cougar country fuck that! lol

I would suggest watching "Continental Divide" with John Belushi. He was attacked by a cougar at camp and bit back. I don't think it was on its neck though.

dont go camping and chances of meeting "dangerous" animals are slim to none......

^I gotta get out into nature. The most beautiful places can not be seen by car.

STFU said:

Go hiking with a dog.

Click to expand...

Definitely, although if the poster didn't have one already and hiked without doggie that'd be sad . For the dog I mean.

Dog'll be able to sniff out any mountain kitty cat. Just about any breed that can handle a hike will do I reckon!

Stickky said:

Just be aware of your surroundings. I agree on the dog, it helps to have a k-9, but in reality, if the cat wants you , its gonna get you. Like that hunter above, I really hope that cat got him.

StickKy

Click to expand...

Cats are hunters too.

Too bad they aren't at the top of the food chain.

Cats have wanted lots of folks they never got.

Why would you even want to get over your fear of mountain lions? Surely everyone in their right mind is afraid of mountain lions. If even one got lose in Scotland id be concerned.

I think everyone elses advice is right, gotta take a friend, and maybe pepper spray, an a baseball bat

Or, move to Europe, we have very small wild cats that run away.

I have walked up on three of them in the last twelve years. Very anticipatory experiences!!! In each case I was closer than I wanted to be, but; a.) they all saw me first, b.) we never made eye contact, c.) they all three left upon becoming aware of me. (THANK GOD) One was at twenty feet, basking on a rim-rock in the sun. Each instance I had a dog with me (not by my side, but within a hundred yards) And each time I was left with severe goose-bumps and hair standin' straight up, wonderin' "What do I do, now?" The answer came to me as I quit shaking..keep on looking for arrowheads because if that cat wanted you, he would have had you. Answers...cats choose their encounters, cats avoid encounters and don't look back, cats WITH KITTENS probably don't play by these rules! Makes you appreciate human frailty.

I am very afraid of puma up here. I'm 5'1", hobble, have plenty of tasty body fat and can't run for shit. Now that my husband is training for this year's NorCal Tough Mudder I'll be going out more with him again. I damn near always have my dog, but I've also begun taking my pepper spray (capsaicin, NOT mace, it's gotta be strong enough to stop a bear) and a short knife in my pack. I like the mask on the back of my head idea, I just need to figure out how to make it also be a hat.

you do not want to be afraid of mountain lions or bears. had a wildlife expert explained it to me once. he said "never fear a cat or bear. that way, you are relaxed when you get between a sow bear & her cubs. the mauling you are about to receive will hurt LOTS worse if you are all tensed up..."

armedoldhippy said:

you do not want to be afraid of mountain lions or bears. had a wildlife expert explained it to me once. he said "never fear a cat or bear. that way, you are relaxed when you get between a sow bear & her cubs. the mauling you are about to receive will hurt LOTS worse if you are all tensed up..."

Click to expand...

Yogi snack!

Cougars would not be the subject I was expecting for my first post here. Way back on OG, my first post was about manatees, but in a much more unusual (and unsavory) context.

I know a lot about large mammals of North America, especially dangerous and mysterious ones. Cougars are of special interest to me. I'm quite relieved that we don't have to worry about considerably more dangerous cats, some of which attack in groups. Cougars are plenty to deal with, thanks. One of my primary goals in life is to never be eaten. Well, I don't really give a fuck about that, so change that to.....mauled to death, which often precedes, well, being eaten.

There is little you can do to deter a cougar encounter - it's much different than dealing with bears, even though they are also very clever and will stalk you and hit silently from the rear, just like a cougar. But, stalking bears attack from the ground like a linebacker, while cougars may fly at your ass from a ridge, slope, or tree. That fucking sucks.

I was pleased to see the hat with eyes on the back idea - that is one of the few things you can do to passively deter an attack, or delay it enough to increase your odds of not being shredded like taco cheese.

Protection around the neck area has helped a few people. Coat hood, high backpack, etc. If you're involved in a lawsuit or worker's comp claim, wear your C-collar into the woods. I once saw some poor old sod, run over by a lady who was texting while driving, on a stretcher sporting one of those new generation, tall cervical immobilizers with all the plastic on it. First thing I thought was how much that thing would fuck with a cougar's kill strike.

No matter how many sinister eyes are on your hat or insurance fraud gear is wrapped around your neck, there is no substitute for awareness of your surroundings. Know what you're walking into, walking by, and, especially, walking beneath. The difference between survival and death, or minor injury and disablement/disfigurement, can be a tiny blip on the clock. The sooner you are aware of your predicament, the better the odds. I'm pretty sure this applies to non-killer cat-related shit, too.

If confronted by a cougar, never run. You'll lose. Teach hiking children not to run, for that can make everything go to shit in a big hurry. Never take your eyes (uh, lookin' eyes, not the hat ones, stoners) off a cougar - maintain eye contact at all times. Many have looked down for a second to draw a knife, then looked up to find the cat has advanced half the distance to the goal line in a fraction of a second. They respond instantly to the slightest show of vulnerability.

If things get physical, that's a troublesome situation. If the cat is menacing, things are very likely about to get physical. The only way to deal with them then is with decisive aggression. Gun, blade, pepper spray, rocks, blunt object, or, if you're a real badass, martial arts or a perfectly timed punch to the face. If a giraffe can kick a fucking lion's head off (yes, this is documented), perhaps you can kick a mere punk-ass cougars head off.

I prefer guns for defense from everything from killing-machine cats to two-legged ghetto goblins. Sometimes that ain't gonna hang, like when hiking in Alberta, BC, and Vancouver Island recently. They don't seem to care for 10mm hand cannons there. I'd probably move to Canada were it not for the gun and free speech restrictions. Both my girlfriend and I enjoy the wilderness more if we can blow lots of big holes in any organism that needs it.

Even if you have a gun, though, it can be complicated to defend yourself against an animal that has latched onto your back, neck, and head with fearsome effectiveness. Serious injuries rack up fast in that situation, and things get ugly fast. Using a firearm might be near impossible with such close quarters and utterly dreadful positioning.

A medium, double-edged combat dagger is a lightweight insurance policy and has saved a few people's bacon from a cat that was seemingly Velcroed to their back and turning their head into chop suey. When you don't have the luxury of enough warning to shoot the fucker in the face, or if you need to help someone who is being attacked, a knife is cheap, easy insurance.

Bear spray has proven useful in a few cougar encounters, but in at least one the cat kept coming back. Spray ran out at trailhead parking lot and terrified recreationers were able to get in vehicle. The bigger the can, the better.

Shocker-type cattle prod thingees will repel just about anything. They've become amazingly compact, powerful, and inexpensive. I like the one integrated with a flashlight. And just think of the rush you'd get fighting a large predator at arm's length! It's a great all-around primary and backup weapon, especially when more effective means are not on the menu. Works on rapists and rats, otters and cats....whatever's hasslin' ya at the moment.

If you're silly and ignorant enough to waddle into cougar country with no means of defense, you'd better hope there's some sticks and stones around when the shit hits the fan. You can be like the chimps in 2001: A Space Odyssey, only now with 100% more mountain lion attacks! A nonstop onslaught of noise and aggression is your only hope, and you'd best be moving toward safety, eyes on cat the whole time, while the drama unfolds. If throwing sand in its eyes is the best you can do, then do it.

If things really get grim and intimate, eye-gouging and nut-squeezing are the "help me, Jeebus" last resorts.

Yes, they will go for the junk and belly first. You know when you BBQ some ribs, and there's that nice piece hanging off the backside, begging to be scarfed down first? That's the junk. Predatory cats don't have BBQ, so they make do with your sexual organs. You may want to wear an athletic cup simply out of spite.

They're also capable of doing all that soft-tissue insult after rendering the victim paralyzed, but conscious, from cervical spine injury. That's certainly a novel and action-packed way to shuffle off your fuckin' mortal coil. It's said that Wolf Creek killer in Australia paralyzed some of his victims with a neck injury to facilitate sexual assault. Creative and effective, if nothing else.

Few are harmed by cougars, period. Of those, few are adults, whether alone or in a group. Group is always better, but alone is little risk. The bigger you are, the less the risk. It is extremely rare for adult humans to be attacked by cougars. Children and small adults bear the highest risk, with small children considered the tastiest morsels. Captive cougars that do nothing when adults walk by will crash into the cage walls trying to get at a 5 year old child.

A cougar will snatch a child right out of a line of adult hikers, but children without an adult within 20' and in line of sight are especially at risk. Some real ugly stories attached to that one.

Unlike with bears, people who assist a victim being attacked are rarely harmed and generally successful. Running off to get help is never a good idea unless help is kick-ass and very, very accessible. Cougars tend to get tunnel vision and focus on their chosen prey with epic singular intensity. They often return after being repelled, even running between a rescuer's legs to get another crack at a child. Bears, especially grizzlies, are more prone to go soccer hooligan on all your asses, kicking the shit out of anyone who participates.

They also have awareness of being harmed, much more so than bears, which can eat most anything. Cougars are very specialized, living almost entirely on things that have hooves and antlers. If you can convince a cougar that it will be harmed by pressing the attack, your odds go way up, for the cougar is at a great disadvantage as a hunter when injured. Again, I prefer to convince it of imminent harm by shooting it in the face.

Lone adults who go zipping by - bicyclists and trail runners - are at highest risk among adults. The ones who wear earphones are at the front of the buffet. I consider wearing headphones when at the mercy of anyone's hunger or incompetence to be a bad idea.

If cougars were seriously inclined to fuck with people, the results would be very ugly for people, and then for the cougars, which are very easy to tree with dogs and shoot. Single cats on the other side of the world have killed hundreds of people in years-long reigns of terror before being taken down. Cats have killed an astounding number of people, but are not a significant threat in North America. For some reason, the plentiful cougars in Arizona are especially well-behaved.

Cougars are not endangered, though many say they are. Their numbers are very healthy and continue to grow. Areas where they are not hunted have seen and will likely continue to see an increase in human-cat conflict. In many areas in BC they are becoming a serious concern.

All that said, I like cougars. Truly awesome creatures, and little threat to humans. They likely create a net gain for human safety by controlling the deer population - hitting a deer with your car is a much greater threat than cougars. If I had to harm a cougar in self-defense, it would be done respectfully and regretfully. In fact, I'd much rather shoot a person. No, I don't value cats over people at all, but shooting a cat that's merely doing cat stuff is a shame, while shooting a human scumbag who's doing something fucked-up enough to deserve being shot is, well, not a shame.

I've spent lots of time in cougar country and tracked many, but have never seen one. I hope that changes soon....within reason.

The best way to survive your adventure in cougar country is to check your tire air pressure before leaving home. Yes, properly inflated tires actually kill cougars! Uh, no....but, tire failures harm many more people than cougars do, even when adjusted for exposure (almost all are subject to death by tire failure, relatively few are exposed to death by hungry cat). But, if your unlucky cougar number does come up and you're not ready, a real suck-ass result is a distinct possibility.

So goes what's likely to be ICMag's definitive post on the cougar.

That's a pretty good first post. You've got me chuckling.

bunch of pussies if you ask me. if it werent for wild and beautifull potentially dangerous animals . the woods wouldnt be so fun. never been stalked by a cougar ,mountain lion i know of . only seen a few over the years. have had run ins with bears and horny moose tho when i lived in maine. moose in season are outright raging mad

I hunt mule deer. The only cougar I have ever seen was headed away from me as fast as possible. They want nothing to do with us for the most part and neither do black bears. That said one should worry much more about a bear than a lion. A grown man may be able to fight off a cat, not so with a bear. Just my two cents.