I live among black bears I see them at least a dozen times a year and have a few close encounters (within 10 feet) each year... I always carry bear spray and have never had to use it. Bears are individuals and you have no way of knowing what their previous experience has been, with that in mind you never know exactly what they will do. At least they usually attack from the front with some warning behavior... the cougars quietly sneak up from behind.
Cougars attack humans??? Now that is rare. They're abundant in this state, and so are
people. I used the calculator one day to figure out that, realistically, humans have about a
25000% more likely chance of being killed by a Pekinese dog (yeah, that one breed) than
by a mtn lion. It happens, but at an extraordinarily rare frequency. The cougars have been
coming in right up the street from me for wild turkeys, and are starting to behave like bobcats in that respect. Don't think twice about them. I've been around them my whole life, just like black bears. Feel lucky even to see one time to time.
Of course one of the more recent couger attacks was up here where I photograph -- not a fatality, but pretty dang close...would have been if the wife was not beating on the couger as it had her husbands head in its mouth. Actually, it was infections that came closet to killing the husband. It happened right where I use to take my three boys hiking as soon as they could actually walk a mile or two (4 yrs old or so). Tasty little tid-bits they would have been!
But after watching the video of fellows dropping a bear and other game at 1000+ yards, I am a touch more worried about my fellow man that the wildlife!
That's 5000 deaths by Pekinese dogs in North America alone - my!Originally Posted by Drew Wiley
I live on Vancouver Island ... there were several cougar attacks this summer... the odds increase dramatically when you are in their territory. I agree it is wonderful to see them... I have been lucky (and down wind) that way too!
This little one treed by the neighbors dog... other neighbor lost a dog to the cougar a few years ago by the time we got to him much of his body had been eaten... carry bear spray.
Vaughn - that incident with the old man in Del Norte Woods is the only recent incident in
the whole state I'm aware of. There was a much publicized kill by a cougar on a jogging
trail above Sacto; but it turned out to be a homicide merely scavanged by a cat. I had a
three-legged crippled cat stalk me once, and know of several incidents where cats charged
people they thought were competing for the same prey animals. But yes, right here in the
SF Bay area five kids were killed by pekinese in one year. Add that to the fact that there
are over 500 ER incidents per year in SF alone for domestic doggies, and several fatalities,
and that makes cougars look pretty benign. But as Calif suburbanizes more and more into
their territory, nobody wants cougars getting habituated to humans by discovering pets
are easy prey, or by getting hemmed in without sufficient elbow room as on Vacouver Is.
Nonetheless, I was pretty pissed when cops shot a couple of cougar kittens hiding below
someone's deck the other day rather than calling wildlife or animal control.
Oh ... rambling on, but yes, Pekinese are considered a dangerous breed, esp to infants.
They were in fact originally bred as guard dogs with a temper. But per LF outings, I've
been charged numerous times by bulls. No red darkcloth for me, thank you. I've been watched at close range by curious bears several times, as well as wild boars (far more
dangerous than bears or cougars in my opinion). Truly wild cougars can be treed by a
chihuaua. But they do have a slow learning curve, as Vancouver Is suggests. But along
with wolves and black bears, we have some of the least dangerous big predators in the
world - and they all have lived alongside humans for thousands of years. I don't recall anything in recorded Calif Indian lore about cougars being a threat to men; rather, they
had a solid reputation for extreme secrecy. Grizzlies had just the opposite reputation.
"Nonetheless, I was pretty pissed when cops shot a couple of cougar kittens hiding below
someone's deck the other day rather than calling wildlife or animal control."
This is absolutely heartbreaking.
I live in rural Minnesota and the rare sightings of cougars were almost always considered mistaken. Then a cop car camera got some good photos. Holy Cow! The real deal! Later the DNR caught one, tagged and released it. How stealthy and shy of humans was this one? About a year later it was killed by a car in Connecticut. It crossed half of the United States without being detected (or at least reported). That also demonstrates how much of the USA is rural.Cougars attack humans???
That cougar must have had many snacks down the rural alley. I saw one in the campground at Sequoia Natl PK....and my mind started to visualize how easy the access is....and the children playing about. This one was the size of couple of St Bernards (healthy). Needless to say, I defected the tent and slept in my hatchback that night....having some metal around me. Not so sure that the spray could help.....if you have these gnarly teeth in your flash (pardon the drama). I think it would work on the bears, tho.
Les
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