Cougar encounter

L

luna

Joined
Nov 9, 2007
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I haven't posted here for a while, but I thought you all might enjoy the story of my bike ride today. I was out on one of my favorite way-back-country rides in the Oregon Coast Range today, an absolutely beautiful warm spring day, the first we've had after a miserable and wet spring. Part of the ride runs along a rolling and heavily forested ridge with a one-lane paved road. First up along the ridge, I scared up a pair of young (but still big) elk: a male with small, velveted antlers and a female. First saw them from about 50 feet away, and followed them at about that distance for a hundred yards or so before they ditched off the side. About half an hour later was a black bear, nosing up something along the side of the road. When he heard me (again, from about 50 feet away) he (and I) started. he ran down the road 100 feet or so and then took off into the bush.

I was pretty happy about all this wildlife sighting, and kept on down the road.
I was turning a corner down into a small dip, when at close range (again, about 50 feet) I saw first, an adult cougar, and then in the next instant the 3 cubs she had with her. At first I thought it was a pack of coyotes, but pretty soon figured out it wasn't that at all. I got stopped and halfway off my bike before she even saw me. When she did, the cubs started to leave, and she turned right at me and hissed and snarled, then hissed and snarled again and started to come towards me. I had my bike between us, and remembered what "they" say: make yourself look big, make noise and leave.
So I backed up, carrying my bike between us, saying "no no no no no" pretty loud (it's just what came out, probably because I have ill-behaved dogs). She stopped and just looked at me after the first few steps. I got so we didn't have eye contact any more, back around the corner, and then walked back up the road a few hundred feet and collected myself and tried to figure out what to do next. I figured she'd get the cubs good and gone, so wasn't much worried about her following me, but still I didn't have a whole lot of desire to ride back down there! On the other hand to get back to where I came from was a long way and a steep climb.

Fortunately, a few minutes later the only car on the road (I'd seen it parked on my way down) came by. I flagged them down rode along side of them while they honked their horn a lot (at my request).

Well, it worked out OK. I'm glad I wasn't looking at my gears, or my feet or trees, or whatever, because in another second or two, I'd have been right on top of her and it would likely not have turned out to be an amusing story.
I ride in this area a lot and this is certainly the most big mammals I've seen at once. I often see elk, and saw a bear in similar circumstances a couple of years ago. Guess I'll stay more alert than usual from now on for cats, especially around where I saw them, which is (in all truth) at the top of the Cougar Cr. drainage.
 
You're very lucky...what an experience! i have had many close calls with bears but never with a cougar...thats crazy
 
Exciting day and glad you made it thru OK. Maybe you should carry one of those air horns that attaches to a Co2 can?
 
Always carry a trailer hitch with you. :confused:

A man in AZ said that he was attacked by a cougar and slid under his truck. The trailer hitch knocked the cougar off of his back. Locals are making fun of him, but a cougar was killed not very far away.

Just for giggles, read the comments. We have more then our share of morons here.

http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1086&ArticleID=81991&TM=15470.18

http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1086&ArticleID=82082&TM=15470.18



.
 
wow luna, what a story. glad it worked out for the good....
only ever had one cougar experience
and never saw it
three of us were on horseback with gear for a long wkend camping trip.
we were 5 hrs up a canyon when a cougar screamed...
at the same moment we heard the cougar the horses had all three of us on our arses and were gone!
fortunately one pal who owned the horses and lived in the valley below, knew the canyon well. and we had one light between us(a reminder for me to always carry some of my gear on my person...)
we found them home in the yard after we hiked back down...
 
I had an interesting encounter while on a hike afew years ago. I never saw him but my dog stopped in her tracks and hid behind my leg and refused to go up the trail. It was one of those wet dewy mornings where the forest is silent. I sensed something in the brush following me along the trail and all the hair on the back of my neck stood up. I was never so glad to see a clearing before.

I did a podcast about montain lion encounters, their history of attacks in California and what to do if you encounter one along the trail. Listen to the podcast by clicking here. you can also check out my hiking blog at www.anthonysaudiojournal.com

Mountain_Lion_Podcast_Photo.JPG
 
Great story - mountain lions are just about the only thing living in this state that really give me the heebie jeebies. I would have stained my bicycle seat for sure.
 
Sounds like an excellent excuse to buy a Glock 29,or stop bicycling in areas where you'll be mistaken for prey.
 
Oh man, that would have been an uncomfortable ride home for me till I changed my shorts....


Thanks for sharing!
 
This is my 3rd cougar run in-in the last 6-7 years, and like everyone else who has responded here about one, they are always scary. For me, it is a mix of excitement at seeing them, because after all these years wandering around I've seen so few, awe at how beautiful and powerful they are, and just plain fear (not in that order).

In this situation, in particular, my instinct was not to turn and run, NOT because I was being thoughtful or brave, it was just plain scarier to turn my back on her, and luckily that worked. I was a lot luckier than the trailer hitch guy; my girl had bigger priorities than eating me, thank heavens. It felt very natural to hold up my bike as a shield too- I didn't have to think much about that!

I also thought about what I didn't have, and wished I had (even while it was happening). I like the airhorn idea, and am not opposed to the Glock 29 idea either (in fact I often CCW on rides like this, but just decided not to yesterday). The problem is deployment. This happened really fast. I think (but who knows?) that had I stopped to do ANYTHING but leave, I would have been worse off. Having said that, my first thoughts in the 10 minutes after were a) I need a bigger gun and b) I need to carry it where I can get at it faster. I wish I had had my revolver just to make a lot of noise with after she had left, so I would have felt better going past the spot where it happened, but that is just my psychology. I would go a long way to avoid orphaning 3 cubs like that.
 
Sounds like a scary situation! depending on your riding gear, a guy I knew wore a hi-visibility vest and kept his under that in a rig that was comfortable to ride with...I was never into bicycling so I didn't pay attention to his carry rig.

Better to have something and never need it then to not have it and eventually need it.
 
Me too post: I ran into a cougar on Saturday, while on a backpacking trip. Just got a quick shot of it on the trail maybe 50-75 feet in front of me, and then a few more fleeting glimpses as it took off running uphill. I'm not sure who was more startled - me or it. Exciting, yes. Scary? Not really, since it didn't hang around. It didn't look like it was fully grown yet, so a healthy fear of humans bodes well.
 
I've seen two mountain lions in the wild in Colorado.
One was a couple hundred yards away and ran away like a mofo when it saw me.
The second encounter a lion and I almost walked into each other in the twilight hours when I was strolling up a trail to the place I was staying at.
We both stopped at the same time, looked at each other and went on our merry ways. I'm confident tons and tons of lions have observed me, yet none have ever given me a problem.
No problems to report, though I'm pretty sure it was the lion that was getting peoples pets at night... easy food.
If I was a jogger or mountain biker lions would be a concern for me, but walking/hiking rarely excites the chase instinct in 'em.
I've seen over 40 bears, too. They all ran away from me except for the Grizzleys that were rather nonchalant of my presence.
Bipeds are by far the most hazardous critters in the sticks.
 
Cool story! That's the crazy thing about mountain bikes, you approach quickly and quietly.

The only time I ever came across a Cougar was at the end of the day and it was perched up high on a large [massive erratic] boulder. I was hiking along a noisy river, so it just didn't hear us coming. Everyone is so scared of Grizzly Bears [and rightfully so], but I once heard a stat: there are 1100 Grizzly Bears in the Pacific NW, but there are 30,000 Cougars.

Cougars generally pick easier prey, children, dogs etc, but @ almost 300 lbs [of solid muscle], an adult male would be a formidable opponent! Hell, a ferocious 15 lb household cat can be a formidable opponent.
 
The worst thing you could ever do to a wild animal is turn and run, it will trigger a attack almost everytime.

You were lucky, be prepared next time.
 
I know it's scary, but that's an awesome sight! I've had two cougar encounters when I was back in WA. Both times was on the eastern side of the Cascades; once while bow hunting the other when scouting before hunting season. The big cats scare the crap out of me, just because they are so calculating. Both mine encounters were surprises to both of us I think and both times they took off.

Thanks for sharing and it brings home that while you're out and about, always remain alert and observant of your surrounding area!

ROCK6
 
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