Who POed the cougars?

[s1m0n]

Man, I gotta get out more. Though in my case, cougar hunting would involve hanging around posh senior centers. :lol:

Back when I was working in the seniors housing sector, the management at one Lutheran-run co-op told the tale of a fact-finding visit they received by a small party of Benedictine or Franciscan (I forget) monks. These gentlemen were getting on, themselves, and its no secret that plenty of such orders aren't getting any younger, so they were researching options.

It's also no secret that in most seniors residences, women outnumber men by a large margin, so when a group of four or five distinguished looking grey and white haired men in civvies showed up, the news ran through the halls like wildfire, and women who hadn't come down to lunch in weeks suddenly converged on the dining room, all wearing freshly-applied lipstick!

[s1m0n]

Good point. Princeton, BC isn't far from being backcountry, though. It's a town of 2500 in a valley on the inland side of the cascade mountains.

[Lambchop]

Well, I'm certainly feeling a little uneasy about this.

Wondering what on earth one would do by way of attack prevention, I found this interesting document . . . http://www.britishcolumbia.com/informat ... .asp?id=11

I don't know about you, but I see a contradiction between making oneself look larger and the fact that cougars prey on 600 pound moose. Wouldn't that make one appear more appetizing? There would be a little something left for later.

[Redwolf]

Though they may be capable, in some circumstances, of taking down a moose (almost always because they were a) desperate and b) able to get the surprise drop on the moose), deer and rabbits are their usual prey. As solitary hunters, their instinct is to avoid prey that appears threatening or that actively fights back. Most adult humans can out-chutzpah a cougar without too much trouble. As with the moose, it's when they can take you by surprise that you have to worry about them.

I think that site brings up moose more to make sure that people respect the cat than to intimate that moose is its usual or preferred prey.

Redwolf

[Denny]

Man fends off starving mountain lion with chainsaw

Wielding his chain saw as a weapon, a Colorado man says he fought off a starving mountain lion that attacked him while he was camping with his wife and two toddlers in northwestern Wyoming.

Dustin Britton, a 32-year-old mechanic and ex-Marine from Windsor, Colo., said he was alone cutting firewood about 100 feet from his campsite in the Shoshone National Forest when he saw the lion staring at him from some bushes.


no, I'm not disagreeing with Red....I just found this
note: "Authorities say the lion was in poor physical condition and appeared to be starving. "

[s1m0n]

I think that site brings up moose more to make sure that people respect the cat than to intimate that moose is its usual or preferred prey.

Moose kill far more humans each year than cougars, although the victory is usually pyrrhic--the moose, human, and car all die together.

[Redwolf]

I think that site brings up moose more to make sure that people respect the cat than to intimate that moose is its usual or preferred prey.

Moose kill far more humans each year than cougars, although the victory is usually pyrrhic--the moose, human, and car all die together.

I remember Mythbusters doing a show on that once (or rather, on the theory that, if you speed up as you hit the moose, you can catapult it over your car rather than ending up with it in your lap. Unfortunately, the concensus was that, no matter how fast you're going, you're going to end up squashed).

I never realized just how big moose are until we visited Alaska. That would be like hitting a stone wall!

Speaking of cars, a few months back a fellow here in the Santa Cruz Mountains had the unique experience of having a cougar jump over the hood of his car while he was driving along one of the backroads early one morning. Evidently the cat was in pursuit of something and couldn't be bothered to wait for traffic!

Redwolf

[The Weekenders]

Man fends off starving mountain lion with chainsaw

Wielding his chain saw as a weapon, a Colorado man says he fought off a starving mountain lion that attacked him while he was camping with his wife and two toddlers in northwestern Wyoming.

Dustin Britton, a 32-year-old mechanic and ex-Marine from Windsor, Colo., said he was alone cutting firewood about 100 feet from his campsite in the Shoshone National Forest when he saw the lion staring at him from some bushes.


no, I'm not disagreeing with Red....I just found this
note: "Authorities say the lion was in poor physical condition and appeared to be starving. "

Bruce Campbell would be so proud.

[Redwolf]

My guess is that the reason the cat was starving was that he was either elderly, crippled or ill. That's often the cause of wild animals preying on humans...compared to their usual prey, we're slow-moving, unwary, and (usually) relatively defenseless.

They've found that to be the case with "man-eating lions" in Africa...almost always, the cat is either elderly, ill, or injured (and usually cast out of its pride as well), so, unable to hunt its regular prey (or to intimidate other predators into giving up theirs, which is more often than not the case with lions), it turns to something relatively small, slow, and weak.

Redwolf

[anniemcu]

There seems to be some thought that they were all from the same litter.

That would be my guess.

[Lambchop]

I really dislike feeling like a snack food.

First it was the sharks. Well, ok, stay out of the water.

Then it was the alligators. Well, ok, stay away from the water.

Then it was the pythons. Well, ok, stay away from the swampy land next to the water.

Now it's cougars. Well, ok, stay indoors. Or carry a chainsaw.

What's next? There isn't anywhere else to go!!!!

[s1m0n]

What's next? There isn't anywhere else to go!!!!

Go where the collie sends you.

[cowtime]

What's next? There isn't anywhere else to go!!!!

Go where the collie sends you.

That reminds me of the Far Side cartoon showing a sheep opening a door(their party is going crazy) and says something like - thank God, the border collie is here

[dwest]

The Chainsaw Cat Killer ran from the cat at first, that almost certainly triggered the cat's pursuit response. That triggers most large terrestrial predators. Poor kittty

[s1m0n]

The Chainsaw Cat Killer ran from the cat at first, that almost certainly triggered the cat's pursuit response. That triggers most large terrestrial predators.

You're supposed to stand up to brown bears and run from grizzlies*. Or vice versa. I can never remember, and I hope to never have to.

*Even though a grizzly can outrun a horse if it feels like it. Maybe it's 'back away from without making eye contact' rather than 'run away'.