Hooti Apparently woodcutters in India took to wearing the face masks on the back of their heads to deter Tigers. One guy took it off while sitting on a log eating and a tiger grabbed him from behind... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> Many tropical fish employ the same visual clue defence mechanism as do many butterflies. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
_________________________
These are my own opinions based on wisdom earned through many wrong decisions. Your mileage may vary.
We did have one mountain lion attack a few years back in our local mountains. Two girls were riding their mountain bikes, when a cat jumped one of them. She lived (another mountain biker did not), but she has sever facial injuries.
Then again we just had a fatal white shark attack on our local beaches too. These are extremely rare and I certainly don't concern myself with them. I figure if it's your time to go, it's your time.
Mountain lions are growing in population, at least here in California (where voters banned the hunting of them in 1992). I had only seen one in my life until I was 23... I have seen four since then (I am almost 26 now)... and I have been exposed to the outdoors my entire life. They are very elusive and since hunting has been banned they really have no natural predators... which makes them pretty confident. I have caught a mountain lion stalking me in deep brush once and it was pretty unsettling... luckily I had a handgun with me that time... just in case.
If possible, avoid very thick brush in wilderness areas. Always check your back trail, because as previous posters have noted cougars do stalk their prey... mainly because they (like most cats) have very small lungs and thus weak stamina... they can only sprint at full speed for short distances.
If confronted by a cougar, be as large as possible and make a lot of noise. If attacked, fight. Cougars don't like to pick fights they cant win, so act like a more vicious predator.
Registered: 02/05/03
Posts: 3293
Loc: Portland, OR
Yes. The internet confers immortality - at least until the server dies and the backup fails. Or the money dries up.
As for the face mask worn on the back of the head to deter tigers, as mentioned above, that's a great trick, because tigers are proved man-eaters. Cougars otoh are pretty much preoccupied with deer, and luckily for us, the deer population is ample to feed them.
Speaking of tigers, I saw some youtube video where a guy is sitting on an elephant in India, and the tiger jumps out of the grass onto the elephant. Sorry, no link.
_________________________
I've taken a vow of poverty. To annoy me, send money.
Yah that's a pretty popular video. I mean, the tiger jumps clear up to where the guy is sitting on his elephant and takes a good swipe at him. I can't remember if the tiger got him or the elephant, but it made me think twice about riding any elephants through the jungle in safety. Or maybe there's a new video out and I'm talking about a totally different video...
_________________________
In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous.-Aristotle
This topic certainly has an audience. I'm very late to the party, but thought I'd add a sighting in another area. In 1996 I through-hiked the AT (the first time). About the middle of Shenandoah National Park, I came across the Pocosin Cabin about noon. I once led trips for the Wilmington, DE, Trail Club, and we had used the Pocosin Cabin a number of times. There was no one there at the time, so I jogged over and had my lunch on the steps; bit of nostalgia involved. When I finished, I went back to the trail by the access trail and turned north. In a few steps (the cabin was still in sight) the trail turned a bit to the right, and there were bushes above eye-level, close to the trail on the right. Therefor, I couldn't see ahead until I actually started into the turn. As I did, there was a mountain lion crouching in the middle of the trail, looking squarely at me, one paw slightly raised. He was probably about ten to fifteen meters away (well before the access road crossing). I think that somehow, I had surprised him. I was so surprised that I essentially froze, and it was not until after he left that I remembered I was not supposed to hold eye contact. I just stared. But he didn't stick around to see how I was going to react. Withing about ten or fifteen seconds, he turned and took off toward Skyline Drive in a series of long, fluid leaps with his tail flowing behind. I could see him for the first three, but then I could just hear a couple more. By that time, he was very close to the drive. If he crossed it, and somebody saw him (or her) There would have been a very surprised driver. I believe that sighting was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen on a trail, and I've been hiking since the late 1940s.
It's only a couple miles or so from there to Lewis Mountain. I tried to report the sighting at the store, but the storekeeper could not get through on the telephone. I hustled, and managed to make Big Meadows just before dark. I found a ranger, reported and answered questions for long enough I couldn't really go looking for an appropriate camp site (the campground was full), so the ranger helped convince the lodge that there really was a room available for a "friend of the park" (it was a tiny one up in the eves that they evidently rarely rent out). But I never found out if they confirmed. They were skeptical, and when I stopped at the naturalist centre on the way out, they tried to convince me that it had to be a bobcat. They admitted that they had had a number of "sightings" reported, but that they had been unable to confirm any of them, and that they did not believe there were any in the area. I've seen several bobcats over the years (usually just a ball of generally yellowish fur going the other way very fast)but never one with a tail like that. Like another poster here, I grew up in Northwest Arkansas, and I remember the yowl of the "panther". We brought in the goats.
I was listening to the news yesterday and there is evidence that mountain lions are rapidly gaining in numbers and moving into areas that have not had them before. Arkansas etc. Has anyone had experience with them and what is their nature as far as human contact?
I've seen foot prints around my property, but I live in the boonies.
My neighbor owns a cabin near Deep Creek lake in Garret co. MD. It overlooks a field in which on 2 occasions he has seen, as described by him a black panther. He has owned the cabin for 30 years and has seen all wildlife there is to see in that area. I trust his judgement and have stayed at the cabim myself, I wonder if it could be a dark colored mountain lion he is seeing?
_________________________
"In the beginers mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few." Shunryu Suzuki
Sightings weren't uncommon in Northwest Arkansas when I lived there a few years ago (grew up there, never saw one myself). A neighbor shot one that kept coming after her chickens, didn't report it because you get into trouble for doing that. Nothing official, some that were reported were black and officially that type doesn't exist. Alice saw one here in Indiana when she was a kid, scared the heck out of her horse. A ranger friend of mine who worked in the Smokey Mountain Nat Park saw tracks when she was there, a lion stalking wild pigs, but was told not to follow up on it. Officially there's some concern that if the lions were confirmed to be in an area it might put a damper on logging operations, or so she was told, so reports are discouraged. I've seen bobcats and I think it would be very hard to mistake one for a mountain lion.
. . . but was told not to follow up on it. Officially there's some concern that if the lions were confirmed to be in an area it might put a damper on logging operations, or so she was told, so reports are discouraged. I've seen bobcats and I think it would be very hard to mistake one for a mountain lion. JimmyTH
Here in Michigan, the DNR has been extremely reluctant to acknowledge the possibility of cougars (we have no real mountains, so they could hardly called mountain lions). Off the record scuttlebut is that it would create a new management issue for the department -- endangered species and all that. . .
_________________________
Human Resources Memo: Floggings will continue until morale improves.
I had an interesting experience in Colorado about 9 years ago. I was walking down a rural road and I saw 2 dogs run across the road in front of me, chasing a rabbit. As they got about 30 yards from the road, I heard a yelp as a mountain lion jumped one. It freaked me out to know that I was about 45 yards away from a big cat. Needless to say, I turned around and walked back to where I came from.
_________________________
If you go hiking with friends, there are many plans to coordinate; if you go hiking alone, you can leave right now.
Cougars otoh are pretty much preoccupied with deer, and luckily for us, the deer population is ample to feed them.
While that might be the case in in some places, here in Colorado (Boulder to be specific), the cats dining habits seem somewhat different: there are far too many deer in town, so many that plants/gardens/small trees around the house are nibbled on constantly and my wife has had to beat the deer away from our shrubs on many occasions with a broom - they are not afraid of humans in the least. Although the deer are THICK, the most common cat incidents all seem to involve dogs. There were a spat of dog abductions in plain view of their owners several months ago.
I'd be thrilled if the local deer infestation kept the mountain lions adequately interested. Unfortunately, the cats seem to prefer organically fed Fido to deer.
I've installed several motion sensor lights on the back of the house and go out with the dogs whenever it's dark because the cats are right here in town and I live less than 200 yards from where the houses end and nature begins.
I'd be thrilled if the local deer infestation kept the mountain lions adequately interested. Unfortunately, the cats seem to prefer organically fed Fido to deer.
They'll adapt to whatever prey in the area is easiest. They don't do that here because they get hunted with dogs, so they tend to associate dogs with trouble as opposed to organically fed clueless local fido.
We get Great Horned owls here in our river valley (normal prey skunks and showshoe hares) that have adapted quite nicely to housecats, discovering that when fluffy is let outside to wander the neighborhood and take a dump in the neighborhood flower beds he/she is much less likely to keep situational awareness of what's above than a showshoe hare.... And once they do that the owl tends to go exclusively for cats.. and teaches it's offspring...
Registered: 02/05/03
Posts: 3293
Loc: Portland, OR
the most common cat incidents all seem to involve dogs
While I don't doubt that cougars eating dogs is a problem in Boulder, as you describe, I also expect that when a cougar eats a deer it is not considered an "incident".
the most common cat incidents all seem to involve dogs
While I don't doubt that cougars eating dogs is a problem in Boulder, as you describe, I also expect that when a cougar eats a deer it is not considered an "incident".
Are you kidding, it's Boulder.. If the cougar isn't an organic vegitarian it's probably a town wide full blown scandal..
Registered: 02/07/07
Posts: 3917
Loc: Ozark Mountains in SW Missouri
I hear reports of sightings at least a few times a year. Two of them were by friends whose word I trust completely. Both said it was not a bobcat, it was a mountain lion.
One of these sightings was on our property. A neighbor was coming home from hunting late one night and heard a rustle in a tree. He shined his flashlight up into the tree and saw a mountain lion sitting on a branch about 20 ft up looking at him. He said he turned off the light and kept walking and the cat stayed in the tree.
So they are here, that's for sure.
I'm pretty sure I saw one earlier this year in a hayfield a couple miles from our place. It was a few hundred yards away and the grass was tall, but it was too big for a bobcat and it too had a long tail. I was driving around a curve and didn't get a good long look, so I could be mistaken.
The bobcat I wrote about awhile back that's been killing our domestic cats is still around and still killing cats.
But I checked and it is legal to kill any wild animal that is threatening your pets or livestock here in Missouri, so I'll work a little harder on making a winter hat out of that bobcat now that it's cooled down here.
the most common cat incidents all seem to involve dogs
While I don't doubt that cougars eating dogs is a problem in Boulder, as you describe, I also expect that when a cougar eats a deer it is not considered an "incident".
Actually, there is an ongoing study and they (the wildlife biologists involved with the study) track these cats pretty intently - and consider deer kills to be incidents as well.
I wish the cats WOULD eat more deer, my garden would benefit from a few less deer around.
Registered: 02/05/03
Posts: 3293
Loc: Portland, OR
So, when you say the "most common" incidents involve dogs, are you saying that this ongoing study has found that cougars eat dogs more often than deer or any other prey? That would be a very interesting finding!
Our long-time Sponsor, BackcountryGear.com - The leading source for ultralite/lightweight outdoor gear:
Affiliate Disclaimer: This forum is an affiliate of BackcountryGear.com, Amazon.com, R.E.I. and others. The product links herein are linked to their sites. If you follow these links to make a purchase, we may get a small commission. This is our only source of support for these forums. Thanks.!