Mountain lion vs knife

From what I have read on the subject and seen on wildlife shows, big cats (both modern and the long gone Saber Tooth Tigers) prefer to attack from behind, stalking thier prey, jumping on them from behind and severing the spinal cord in the neck/head area with sharp teeth and powerful jaws. These daggers are perfect for the task at hand, which is killing. This man was VERY lucky to be alive, as the majority of the time the victim, be it man or beast never knows they are being attacked until the teeth are sinking in and they are half dead.
 
bulgron said:
Rest assured, we are still on top of the food chain, and will remain there until such a time as we lose our ability to make weapons -- or until Bigfoot unleashes his secret alien deathray, thus enslaving us all. :)

That story you quoted didn't say what sort of knife was used or where exactly in the shoulder the cougar was hit. I'm admittedly not up on feline physiology, but from handling my house cat it seems that that you could hit it in the shoulder and hit only bone. Also, my understanding is that cats have fewer pain receptors than do human beings, so they can withstand scratches and cuts a lot easier than we can.

So, yeah, I can see how a hungry cougar might not be discouraged by a few pokes from that 2.5" folder in your pocket. OTOH, hit it with a BK-1 or a machete or the like, and I do believe it will react.
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Cougars have massive shoulder muscles and can take a pretty heavy blow,
but hit them in the heart area and they go down quick.
I have never killed one with a knife but have used a 22 mag Ruger 5 1/2 w/hollow points on several of them.
Cougars use their front feet and claws for holding while biting in the neck and
head area and use their rear feet and claws for raking the belly area when in a fight.
I have seen many a hound's head ripped open ,tails split and shoulders puntchered while fighting big cats caught on the ground.
 
If you ever want a good read about fighting the big cats find a copy of Sasha Seimels book "Tigreiro" (Long out of print). It's about his adventures hunting big cats in Brazil in the early 1900's. He killed more than 30 jaguars with a spear. In the tall grass he said it was the only way.

He would hold the spear low and get the cat to charge and then lift the point. The spear had a large double edged blade with a cross guard on it to keep the cat from sliding down the shaft and shredding him. Once speared he would pin it to the ground until it bled out.

He would lose alot of dogs to the big cats in tall grass. The cats would circle back and wait next to their own trail and attack the dogs following the scent.
IIRC the Indian who taught him how to spear cats was eventually killed by one.

Where I live in Brazil we do have mountain lions and they have attacked people there in recent memory. We also have ocelot but they are much smaller forest dwellers and more reclusive. The closest I've ever come to a mountian lion there was a set of dusty footprints in a dirt road. Very, very cool find.

One of the local farmers told me they stopped grazing cattle up on the mountain where I camp because they lost too many to cats. Oddly enough the tracks I found were a few hundred meters from his farm. I keep my eyes open mainly because I want to see one, not because I'm particularly worried about getting eaten. Basically if you kill a big cat in self defense in Brazil you had better "show color" or you will be spending time in jail. Mac
 
It's been many years since I read Seimels book . He died of old age ! Many who tried the stunt died a whole lot younger !!
 
Of the new world big cats the mountain lion has the largest range from Patagonia to Alaska. The Jaguar is the most aquatic and has the strongests jaws of any feline - even stronger than a tiger. This is due to the fact that in the prehistoric past the jaguar's main prey was the fresh water turtle and they developed their huge jaw muscles from cracking open turtles. We have both cats in my neck of the woods. The jaguar always kills by perforating the skull of its prey. I've heard of a jaguar killing three dogs in about 30 seconds. Upon examination, each dog had a hole in its skull that looked like a 45 callibre bullethole. The Mountain Lion always kills its prey by slicing the jugular vein in the prey's neck. This information is good to know as to be able to develop a defense in case of an emergency. A mountain lion killed and ate a small child here a couple of years back. There have been cases here of people fighting Jaguars with machetes. Many Jaguar skulls have been found with machete wounds on the top of the head. This is probably due to Jaguars that were shot or trapped and the hunter giving a blow on the head to kill the trapped animal or "to make sure' that a shot animal is really dead. I just pitched in 'cause I like these stories.
 
Coldwood said:
I remember reading a book many years ago called "Tigrero!" Supposedly a true life story about a guy down in Brazil who made a hobby of going out into the jungle and hunting jaguars with a metal-bladed spear (and probably a good knife). He was pretty successful at it and became a legend, don't recall what finally happened to him. Just an anecdote, maybe Pict knows the story.
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I would go with a small knife and a fast shotgun. Any blade attack where you are outnumbered by at least 20 to one is one to avoid.

n2s
 
Sounds like a very cool read, gonna check amazon for that one.
The big cats are the most fascinating of the carnivores I think. Whenever I look at a house cat I think, "mini tiger".

30 bucks at amazon, is it worth it?
 
i live on vancouver island and i have actually met the guy who killed the cougar. he was at the legion in port alice
 
To continue this attack theme.What would be the best style of defence against attack by an aggressive dog either in an urban situ or out in the sticks? I mean posture,use of a folding knife,where to stab,what to avoid? No flippant answers PLEASE like use a sword or open fire! I've been in one very nasty situation with a dog and I would like to hear some useful tactics.
 
I hear dogs have sensitive noses, and in a really dire situation, I would stick a finger up it's arse. ( I hear it works. Really!)
 
Humn.. Bear Spray + loud horn + shotgun + semi-auto pistol for back-up and a dagger with 8"plus blade for back-up! Sheesh! After carrying all that, maybe we'll let the lions win
 
Liam Ryan said:
I hear dogs have sensitive noses, and in a really dire situation, I would stick a finger up it's arse. ( I hear it works. Really!)
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You sure that you used a finger Liam. :eek: , sorry buddy couldnt resist. Kick away at your will, until satisfied.:D :D
 
FROM DALE W.Vertabrates in general: stop the flow of blood, air, or nerves. Bullets do that and add hydraulic shock.

---------------------

Bro--It's Hydrostatic Shock(and only if above 2000fps(handgun bullets normally can not do it)
 
pict said:
If you ever want a good read about fighting the big cats find a copy of Sasha Seimels book "Tigreiro" (Long out of print). It's about his adventures hunting big cats in Brazil in the early 1900's. He killed more than 30 jaguars with a spear. In the tall grass he said it was the only way.

He would hold the spear low and get the cat to charge and then lift the point. The spear had a large double edged blade with a cross guard on it to keep the cat from sliding down the shaft and shredding him. Once speared he would pin it to the ground until it bled out.

He would lose alot of dogs to the big cats in tall grass. The cats would circle back and wait next to their own trail and attack the dogs following the scent.
IIRC the Indian who taught him how to spear cats was eventually killed by one.

Where I live in Brazil we do have mountain lions and they have attacked people there in recent memory. We also have ocelot but they are much smaller forest dwellers and more reclusive. The closest I've ever come to a mountian lion there was a set of dusty footprints in a dirt road. Very, very cool find.

One of the local farmers told me they stopped grazing cattle up on the mountain where I camp because they lost too many to cats. Oddly enough the tracks I found were a few hundred meters from his farm. I keep my eyes open mainly because I want to see one, not because I'm particularly worried about getting eaten. Basically if you kill a big cat in self defense in Brazil you had better "show color" or you will be spending time in jail. Mac
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From what I recall, the Massai tribe in Africa have a rite of passage whereby to go from being a boy to a man they give you a thrusting spear and send you into the jungle to kill a lion with it.
 
Thanks! I've always managed to drive dogs off but I worry if they actually bite me and hold on,THEN it must be difficult to strike the bastard without it chewing right through your arm from the pain of your blows. Any police got any tips about how to make a dog stop biting?
 
Brings to mind a Saturday morning about two years ago. On the way to work, walking as usual, I came up on a gent with a cane being attacked by two pit bulls. All I had was an umbrella in the pack and the dogs chewed it up pretty quick. Here we are in the middle of the street fighting off the dogs when someone whistled and the dogs took off. This was around 6 am and still kinda dark out. Now I carry a Civilian in the pack. On dark mornings and nights its clipped inside my pocket. One swipe under the neck and the dogs won't be chewing up anymore umbrellas.
 
Ben Lilly hunted BEAR with dogs and a knife, he killed a nmber of lions if I recall correctly too.

Personally, I happen to have a LARGE dog that I take hiking with me, I thin he would be a bit of a deterrent as he weighs in at just a shade under 200lbs... Still a sneak attack by a lion would probably kill just about most humans prepared or not.
 
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