Cougars

[BKP]

Interesting reading all the comments. I think that the hiker did the right thing. Lowering your profile height to pick up rocks has its own risks. If you have a lot of confidence in your aim, well ...
One of my neighbors "Dave Parker" managed to kill the attacking cougar with his folding knife while the cat was ripping his face off. He lost an eye. It was written up in Reader's Digest a few years back. Another incident involved a wounded cougar attacking a bicyclist in the evening, luckily a fellow working late happened by. He too would have been a goner. Can you imagine Dave having the presence of mind to reach up behind his head and cutting multiple cuts on the cougar's throat all while feeling his claws ripping your flesh. Luckily there was a Dryland log sorting operation nearby whose first aid attendant hadn't left yet. Around here most hikers carry a long walking stick with a nail driven into one end and the head removed and sharpened. And then there a those people like Brian Hawthorne who carefully, quietly snuck up on a cougar who was ready to pounce on a child at a logger's picnic. Brian kicked the cougar in his privates, which gave him a new agenda.

[Drew Wiley]

Seems like everyone now uses pointy trekking sticks; they sure take stress of the knees going downhill. But back in the 70's, pointy ski poles during the summer became a local custom when the Trailside Killer was still on the loose, and people would only travel in groups. No cougar is anywhere near that dangerous.

[Graham Patterson]

I don't think I'll try sneaking up on a mountain lion around here. If I was very lucky the cat would die laughing before it got me...

I used to work in the Berkeley Hills, and we received regular updates on where the last mountain lion meal was - which made early morning or evening walks to the car more interesting. I startled a few deer, but no cat...I don't think.

[John Kasaian]

I don't think I'll try sneaking up on a mountain lion around here. If I was very lucky the cat would die laughing before it got me...
.

Humor employed to deescalate a potentially dangerous situation is always a valid alternative. LOL!

[Tin Can]

Had a bear wandering locally at a Park area, last week

Fools rushed to get close

[Bernice Loui]

Mountain lions live in our "hood. Not an issue, they do what they do, we do what we do. Encounters remain rare and non-confrontational.

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/artic...l-16255313.php

They have been here long before we were and need their place to live and do their thing.


Bernice

[Drew Wiley]

I've already posted before how I deliberately got mtn lions to track me in order to get a close look at them. But I was accompanied by another person (a wildlife expert, in fact), and we were both armed. Beautiful animals, and I never needed to shoot at one. They were just curious, and that was how the whole game worked. No, don't run from one! - that just switches on their chase instinct instead.

[Alan Klein]

I've already posted before how I deliberately got mtn lions to track me in order to get a close look at them. But I was accompanied by another person (a wildlife expert, in fact), and we were both armed. Beautiful animals, and I never needed to shoot at one. They were just curious, and that was how the whole game worked. No, don't run from one! - that just switches on their chase instinct instead.

I once went for walk in NYC Central Park. At night. Not a smart thing to do, normally. But there were a few of us and one was an armed city cop dressed in civilian clothes. I was wondering at the time how any muggers would know he was an armed cop? How did the cougars know about your friend, the armed, wildlife expert?

[Vaughn]

Had a bear wandering locally at a Park area, last week

Fools rushed to get close

Saw the classic bear/tourist traffic jam in Yosemite while I had the 11x14 set up along the road last Thursday. On a big curve of the road, of course...a tourist stopped in the lane with flashers going. I had to warn vehicles approaching the curve to slow down. I messed up my last sheet of 11x14...distracted and forgot to close the dang lens before pulling the darkslide...oh, well, another ten bucks. Might give the image another go in the fall.

Alan -- I imagine that the cougars (and muggers) know us quite well. It is up to us to learn about them.

[Greg]

Here in Connecticut we have Mountain Lions. Sightings are very rare. Confrontations with humans pretty much unheard of. Confrontations with pets unconfirmed but probable. One of my trail cams captured one one night last year. At first it looked like a domestic cat, but then we noticed its size, and domestic cats don't grow that large. A while back a friend was walking her dog on the-rails-to-trails and all of a sudden her dog froze in his tracks. She heard a "hissing" behind a dense bush, and they both backtracked without turning around. Bears are the worst trouble makers... Recently one killed several hens and a goat and just left the dead bodies. Another one got himself into a car and the door slammed shut... the Bear completely trashed the inside of the car before exiting through a smashed windshield.