How dangerous are mountain lions?

That is an amazing story about the man killing the cougar with his knife. Does anyone know the effectiveness of bear spray on a cougar?
 
Originally posted by coyotlviejo


Maybe you could paint a face on one of those sun-protector baseball cap thingies that hang down over your neck.
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I don't remember seeing one of those, but it sounds like what they did in India. They claimed that it worked really well.
 
Originally posted by kb0rrg
That is an amazing story about the man killing the cougar with his knife. Does anyone know the effectiveness of bear spray on a cougar?
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I don't have any real data, but FWIW my cat runs whenever anyone takes out any kind of aerosol spary. She's terrified of umbrellas too (I guess because they get so much bigger so quickly), I wonder if the same thing would scare a big cat.

I think a can of WD-40 & a lighter would make an excellent deterent if you see the cat. Animals have a natural fear of fire and a 3' flame should scare 'em off. I don't carry WD-40 when hiking, though, and I doubt many would.

From watching my pet cat hunt (bugs) and fight (me), I would be very reluctant to want to fight a full size cat. She tries to wrap her arms around her enemy (my hand), using the claws as anchors, while biting and, if not standing on her back legs, ripping with them. It would be very difficult to defend agains this if she were my size.
 
re: question above

When I lived in cougar country and had some stalking horses in our basin I exchanged emails with the bear spray guru about keeping some on hand for family members who don't like carrying a gun. He said that zoos keep it to use on their big cats. FWIW
 
Heck, I'm a Montanan but I feel no need to worry about lions. I do carry bear spray, and I keep an eye on bluff tops and tree limbs (that's where lions attack from), but then I am looking around all of the time anyway. Griz ARE worth worrying about. By the way, I don't carry a gun ever, though I do like my BMF and my Bowie's. I guess I don't carry the BMF or Bowie's much now that I have the bear spray. Too much stuff to haul, eh?
 
Brothers & Susters of Wildlife,
golok et alia,

Selamat! Apa Khabar?

Any animal may appear docile. But if they are hungry, scared or trapped then the real animal comes out. Even a house cat will provide short term problems if it feels challenged!)

Here are some resourcs for you:

http://www.cws-scf.ec.gc.ca/hww-fap/hww-fap.cfm?ID_species=57&lang=e

http://www.desertusa.com/may96/du_mlion.html

As you'll note other forumites have stated the same information. A 71 kg. cat is a handful to be sure! They can leap 30 feet from a standing start and more when running and necessary. Like a cheetah they get up to speed in only a few strides. (Not as fast, however, only about 40 - 45 miles per hour.)

Beatiful? Yes! Docile...Grrrrrrrr!

Regards,
Lance Gothic
Shibumi
 
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