"Say, I've found a perfect spot to catch us a bear."
"How can you be sure?"
"I saw a sign that said Fine for Hunting."
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Posted on 04/16/2006 7:33:43 AM PDT by george76
Actually, that question can be reversed and be just as true. If a mountain lion attacks you in the local park in the middle of a major established sub-division the way you worded the question is accurate, but the key thing to remember here is that there is a reason why it's called a mountain lion, and not a mall cat or a lounge lizard.
I love animals. But large predator animals, no matter how 'endangered' need to go. Especially gators--not a big problem in the mountains, of course ;-)--but they're EVERYWHERE here. Make 'em all into ugly shoes and handbags and then destroy the DNA. They should have died with all the rest of the dinos.
Oregon has seen a sharp increase in the cougar population due to a law that banned sport cougar hunting with dogs.
The cougar are now becoming problematic. The state will now HIRE professional hunters, with dogs, to do what sportsmen paid to do previously.
The same problem has occured with bears. The state has been paying professional hunters to kill bears since the law came into affect.
In truth, this is what I would like to do. Maybe I'll just buy a gun when I arrive and give it to my bro as a departing gift. Packing it in the luggage wouldn't help my flight any.
I'll be calling my bro in CO later today and discuss it. First I have to pay a call to some royalty in our family. My uncle is king of the rednecks and I need to pay my respects. He's also an ex marine and he could probably kill a mountain language with harsh language. ; )
Have a family discussion. Explain that fighting back is good.
Hit the predator with everything and anything handy. Try a rock or just your fist to their nose if they come that close.
Do not let the eco-nuts keep you out of our public lands. They try to convince us that it is government land aka no tresspassing "wilderness."
Forest land and BLM you can carry a weapon, but generally not in a federal park. Get some good range time and/or training if needed.
Bear Pepper spray can work sometimes...sometimes not.
Making noises (loud whistles) can sometimes be effective.
Have a buddy system for the kids and/or an adult near by. The kids will learn alot ...so go.
When we camp and hike, we are going to have a group of 12 or more with us. We'll need to discuss how to protect the children because I know we'll have at least another four on top of the 12 adults.
Sadly, in this area there have been several Mt Lion attacks that I recall now. We passed a memorial on one hike with just adults last time. Again, young child, about 9 or so.
IMHO, we should capture the mountain lion, train them to seek out suicide bombers, deploy them to Iraq, and take appropriate action in stealth.
"Say, I've found a perfect spot to catch us a bear."
"How can you be sure?"
"I saw a sign that said Fine for Hunting."
The best thing to do is to keep the kids close to you. If they wander away, they will be more likely to be attacked if a lion is stalking your family.
However, your actual, realistic odds of ever having a problem with a mountain lion in Colorado are somewhere on the order of one in a billion. If you'd like to worry about something, I would worry about getting into a car accident on the way there, or sunburn. My total mountain lion experience in 30 years of living and hiking in the area is that I once saw a footprint.
Buy a locking case, declare it and any airline will let you fly with it in the baggage compartment.
If each person has a whistle and a small, metal mirror as well as a personal water bottle...it could make getting lost less stressful.
When I go for a day hike, I always bring enough food, clothing (even small wool hat and gloves) to spend the night (rain pants and jacket, too). Some say that it is excessive, but my stuff would be helpful if one were to twist their ankle and can not walk.
Colorado can get snow and cold rain any month.
Using your brain will be the best piece of equipment. Turning around, not going for the peak late in the day with weather coming in...has saved many lives.
As long as there are wrong opinions like yours on one end of the spectrum, there will be wrong opinions on the other end. Elimination of cougars and other predators would be just as wrong as demanding cougars are never hunted or controlled. The right answer is something in the middle. A healthy population of sport hunters, and a healthy population of cougars who are regularly pursued. The ones who survive, remain wary. And that's the way it should be.
Below are the great pictures of the pack mule killing a cougar which attacked.
http://www.blackbearheaven.com/horse-kills-cougar.htm
I wouldn't exactly call the recovery of the wolf population an "explosion."
Thanks for the post and your comments, they're right on.
Oregon just announced they were going to start killing Cougars with wildlife officials and contract hunters because of the increase in numbers.
They have been having problems with them since an initiative was passed about 12 years ago banning hunting them with dogs. Their numbers have increased from an estimated 3,000 to over 5,000 and they want to reduce their numbers back to what they were.
The main problem has been Cougars adopting territories in populated rural areas because of the increase their numbers, they are very territorial. As they have been forced into these rural inhabitated areas, they have started killing livestock and pets. Fortunately there has been no attacks on humans but they're afraid there will be.
While I think you're right to be prepared and to think about this, and I know you've been given advice already, I would quibble a bit on the detail of 'ahead' or 'behind'. I ride frequently through cougar country on my horse, and while I've never seen one, I'm told if there was ever one around, he'd be tailing behind me and just out of sight. IOW, they'd likely be tailing you. Just keep the kids close, both for cougar threat and other risks.
In bear areas, encourage the kids to make a lot of noise and talk loudly where rounding corners where a bear may be surprised. In areas where there's heavy cover, bears are likely to be walking right down the trail looking for berries.
That said, go - and have a good time. Most of us spend years in the woods and never see a big predator, in areas with a healthy population of hunters they are still wary.
That's a deceitful number considering A. The population of Colorado is well under a billion and has plenty of documented attacks (the high school senior killed while jogging in Idaho Springs, the medical student attacked by a pair near Poorman, etc.) and B. The fact that mountain lion exposure is a cumulative risk i.e. the more time you spend in lion country the higher the probability.
My total mountain lion experience in 30 years of living and hiking in the area is that I once saw a footprint.
I live in the mountains a couple miles from this attack and I see tracks all the time probably once every 2 months or so. Neighbors have had their dogs attacked. Check out the lion log in the Gold Hill store for more info. They've had them fighting in the streets up there.
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