My B-I-L saw a mountain lion cross the road while his was on a bike ride in the foothills. i think it was two years ago.Originally Posted by reddesert
My B-I-L saw a mountain lion cross the road while his was on a bike ride in the foothills. i think it was two years ago.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
Meet Silas. I had him for a few weeks. Just like a BIG kitty cat!
It might be wise to say why you kept Silas from the wilderness.
It looks like he’s dreaming to be there.
Don't much care what the Sierra Club says...I haven't worked with mt lions but have worked with other large mammals and in those same mountains for many years and can only say I disagree. Biking/running in large predator habitat is asking for trouble (but we assume we're entitled, as humans, to do as we please), and running/fleeing from a cat is a mistake. Its possible someone might have been killed anyway but much less likely if both stood their ground and fought to the death, especially since death happened anyway and it may have prevented it.
I think the opinion has some degree of merit, but I think I’ll agree with the Sierra Club, the Wash. state Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, and Earthwatch scientists: these two men acted correctly from start to finish, dealing with an unusual situation where the rules had broken down.
BTW, what large mammals were you working with, and in which part of the N. Cascades? Very interesting.
In this case, with two people involved, there was an element of distraction. But there is simply no way to out-sprint either a cougar or a bear. If they want to catch you, you'd be the slowest species around.
This year is a bit unusual due to more people being out and during the week on the trails than usual (versus weekends), due to pandemic issues. In more normal years critters are bolder to be out and about up in the hills around here mid-week because relatively few people are around; so that is the best time for potential cougar sightings. But so far, I haven't personally spotted any in this area. Others have. And these coastal cougars are rather small, just like the blacktail deer they hunt, so that's another factor making them inconspicuous. Their relative abundance is made apparent by IR-triggered trail wildlife cameras, which routinely capture shots of them at night. Bobcats, however, don't seem to mind being spotted by humans. They haven't been trapped or hunted in this state for a long time, and frankly, are an important factor in ranching and farmland rodent control, just like coyotes. Bobcats also thin out the population explosion of wild turkeys somewhat, and perhaps cougars take a few too.
I’d say the two bicyclists would agree with you, even if “cougars are faster” probably had nothing to do with their final-option behavior. While their behavior was correct according to the wildlife specialists above, I’m sure they’d add that other choices would be correct too. There’s just no perfect answer here.
It just occurred to me that “working with large mammals” in the N. Cascades most likely means you’re not an ecologist or natural scientist, but a big-game hunter with a license, right? If so, I hope you can continue to share your experiences as an informative point of contrast. For it’s also helpful to know how large animals behave toward humans when they’re dying, severely wounded, being tracked, or made to feel deep distress.
Ironically, although the distraction due to a second person might have been what saved the other, it's also entirely possible the confusion involved is what set off a violent frustration reaction in the cat in the first place. Hard to know exactly what the cougar was thinking. It probably wasn't contemplating either of them as a potential meal at all. More likely, it was inexperienced, and was suddenly confronted with an unfamiliar situation that triggered some kind of strong emotion. Even ordinary house cats can throw a scratch or bite when frustrated over an unwelcome sudden choice. The difference is the size of the teeth and claws. Maybe the same cougar would have ignored a single trail biker. Maybe it was unfamiliar with bikes in general, and enticed by the whirring shiny wheels.
I'm not sure when the Sierra Club became an expert on these things. I would certainly never seek them out for their opinion on how to behave around cougars, but I suppose to the unwashed masses they would be considered experts.
I guess it would depend on who from WDFW said what. I missed or glossed over their comments. Care to repost? They have some good knowledgeable people and some other good people who overextend their expertise. If it came from their PR department they were probably just trying to make the survivor and the victim's family not feel too bad. Also, a publicly funded agency in a rabidly me-me-me country is never going to say "you shouldn't have been doing what you were doing where you were doing it."
Lets put it this way, two guys got attacked and one is dead. You can go on believing they did all the right things if you want, but how did that end for them? I take a different view that I think would have ended in a different outcome, if not prevented the encounter entirely. I don't claim to be an expert that anyone else should follow, I just know what I would have done and wouldn't have done and its based on my own extensive reading and decades in the field. I'm only my own "expert" and recommend that everybody become their own best expert.
The only large mammal I worked with in the North Cascades were elk, but I did plenty of other work with other species there. In other areas I've worked hands-on with wolves, deer and bear. But that's irrelevant, one need not do any of that in order to learn how to behave in the wilds. I learned more from careful reading than from actual encounters. I've encountered many bear and a few wolves and all ended rather boringly with them running away.
I don't hunt, but I'll eat it if you kill it.
Animals can also be unpredictable...
An older worldly lady told me of when she was in her "Hollywood" period, where she was out in the desert near Palm Springs, as a passenger on the back of a motorcycle putting along, when a large mountain lion started chasing them... They hit the gas, but at 25, 35, 45mph, the big cat kept up nicely... Seemed more interested in the bike... Got it up to 60mph when the cat finally broke off the chase...
They later figured the cat was not on the hunt, but instead mesmerized by the spinning wheels of the bike, and kept up to watch...
Steve K
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