“Scariest animal” - are you kidding? Quick statistics on Wikipedia list 125 attacks (27 fatal) in 100 years in all of North America. I would worry about snakes or something (by that measure about 10000 times more dangerous). By the way, it’s probably not legal to shoot at the wildlife (certainly not in a park).
Required reading, The Track of the Cat. Who’s hunting who? Never saw the movie, but the book SERIOUSLY creeped me out as a lad. By the same author as The Ox-Bow Incident.
Yes and no. We have had a lot of them. None for a few months though. Just got to make sure that you have an escape route, and not get too close.
I met a guy who was fly-fishing a local stream when he was attacked by a beaver. He managed to eventually get a good hold of it and hold it under water long enough for it to die, but he was bitten multiple times. Turns out it was rabid. I guess you do what you gotta do.
Did you read the part of the OP where he says he saw cougar tracks within a hundred yards of his house? He’s not talking about something with lightning strike odds; a carnivore that stalks and pounces is currently living, or recently passed by, his dwelling.
You’re a fool if you think this.
The only animal I’m afraid of in the mountains is homo sapiens.
Mountain lion attacks are very very very rare.
Animals don’t have compunction toward their prey so you are correct about that.
See my previous post. It is still lightning strike odds.
Still lightning strike odds. Do your homework and stop being all atavistic fear about a non-threat.
Still not advisable to play golf during a thunderstorm, is it.
I, for one, am going to definitely be more alert as I know there is a cougar about. I’d be a fool not to be.
Sure, it could be miles away by now. Or it may be just behind my house.
I have been struck by lightning twice in my life. I do pay attention. Bawahahaha
N/W Arkansas mini-mountains, many mama black bears with cubs. Those, snakes & brown recluse spiders are the scary ones for me.
Have seen 4 mountain lions in N/E OK and N/W AR since 1959. Not close & not scary but I was not camping out either.
Same time frame, hundred + black bears. Mama & Cubs = DANGER…
Other states & countries = different dangerous critters. Oh, and some cows and bulls = danger that most don’t think about.
A cougar will normally avoid humans; they know humans are dangerous. If lightning strikes, so to speak, by looking large and making noise you can intimidate them into running away.
Bulls, and momma cows with new calves, kill about 25 people a year in the US.
Momma anything is good to stay well back from.
Thanks for the sage advice.
The time I saw a mountain lion’s eyes in the dark (reflected my flashlight), I was chasing it off my property at 3 a.m. wearing nothing but a bathrobe and a pair of rubber boots.
It may be angrily given but it is still the right answer.
When I spotted the cougar that killed my llama (also 2 goats), it was shortly after I’d returned from town and after dark. I’d run the little dog outside for a quick pee. I usually put him on a leash after dark, but I was in a hurry after being out all day. We came back inside and flopped on the sofa for a 5-minute break before moving on to evening tasks.
Something set off the motion sensor light about 3 minutes after our flop. I reflexively looked to see the deer/raccoon/skunk that had triggered the light. It was the cougar, strolling nonchalantly 20 feet from my house down the driveway, walking directly over the spot where my little dog had peed. I realized the cougar had been only a very short distance away while we were outside.
Our area is lousy with cougars and while I don’t especially worry about being attacked, livestock and pets are also vulnerable. We have had cougar attacks on people around the area. Rare, but they do happen. One in Bend was just tracked and put down for being a potential threat to humans. Any predator that becomes habituated can present a threat.
I think you are wise to be watchful.
If a cougar runs away, does it say, “Exit, stage left!”?
Rural cougars aren’t generally all that dangerous; they can’t run very fast on rough terrain in those heels.
I love me some Moose Tracks - vanilla ice cream with peanut butter cups and a fudge ribbon! What are the ingredients in Cougar Tracks? Rocky road with C cups and a bathrobe sash?