Mountain Lions, I have a new respect.

Jenner 515

Jenner 515

Joined
Nov 27, 2002
Messages
2,145
This came out of the Denver Post this morning. It caught my eye because I had a Great Pyreenees at one time who was about the same size (Bear, I miss him alot). This Cat seemed pretty determined and agressive. It got me thinking if it can take down a 150# dog...what chance would I have?

Cougar kills 150-pound dog at Gypsum home

GYPSUM — Tara Haymond woke up at 2 a.m. Sunday to the sound of Bubba, her 150-pound Great Pyrenees dog, crying.

"I thought I better tell him to be quiet so he wouldn't bother the neighbor," she said.

She opened the sliding door next to the bed and discovered a mountain lion on top of Bubba.

"There is nothing in anybody that would prepare them to find that," she said.

The 47-year-old grabbed a shotgun but couldn't find ammunition, so she started hitting the cougar with the gun.

"The cat didn't even flinch," she said. "Then I realized the cat might hurt me so I stopped. I guess I might be lucky in that way."

Her husband was home and she also called a neighbor and Eagle County Sheriff's deputies to the scene, which is near the Sky Legend neighborhood at Gypsum's Cotton Ranch development.

The cougar was still on the dog when they arrived and didn't move until the sheriff fired on it several times, Haymond said.

Bubba was still suffering, however, so the sheriff put him down as well at the owners' request.


Read the rest of this report, including a wildlife official's thoughts on the uncharacteristic cougar behavior, at VailDaily.com.



Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14086839?source=rss#ixzz0b6G2lgNx
 
most of the cougar attacks near where i used to live were on dogs and bigger ones too, and they were usually suspected to have been stalked for over a mile before they were attacked or noticed the cat. Personally id rather see evidence of bears over cats atleast i will see whats going to kill me before it does
 
Pyrs are great. I have 2 of them. One is a pet and the other guards my goats.

Tucker enjoying some post deer butchering buffet

buffeto.jpg


Pete with the herd

pete1k.jpg
 
Jenner 515 said:
This came out of the Denver Post this morning. It caught my eye because I had a Great Pyreenees at one time who was about the same size (Bear, I miss him alot). This Cat seemed pretty determined and agressive. It got me thinking if it can take down a 150# dog...what chance would I have?

Cougar kills 150-pound dog at Gypsum home

GYPSUM — Tara Haymond woke up at 2 a.m. Sunday to the sound of Bubba, her 150-pound Great Pyrenees dog, crying.

"I thought I better tell him to be quiet so he wouldn't bother the neighbor," she said.

She opened the sliding door next to the bed and discovered a mountain lion on top of Bubba.

"There is nothing in anybody that would prepare them to find that," she said.

The 47-year-old grabbed a shotgun but couldn't find ammunition, so she started hitting the cougar with the gun.

"The cat didn't even flinch," she said. "Then I realized the cat might hurt me so I stopped. I guess I might be lucky in that way."

Her husband was home and she also called a neighbor and Eagle County Sheriff's deputies to the scene, which is near the Sky Legend neighborhood at Gypsum's Cotton Ranch development.

The cougar was still on the dog when they arrived and didn't move until the sheriff fired on it several times, Haymond said.

Bubba was still suffering, however, so the sheriff put him down as well at the owners' request.


Read the rest of this report, including a wildlife official's thoughts on the uncharacteristic cougar behavior, at VailDaily.com.



Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_14086839?source=rss#ixzz0b6G2lgNx
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Thats pretty bad. But worse still is jaguars. I've read that out west where hunters use dogs to hunt mountain lions they occassionally catch up to a jaguar or as local people around here call them a Black Panther, although they are not always black. Jaguars are far more powerful and tend to kill the dogs and have even been known to break past the dogs and attack the hunter. They have been seen around here for years and and somebody i know very well even saw one crossing the road by a cattle pen less than a mile from my home. There was even a local news story a few years back where a local woman was confronted by one in her driveway and the news agency was trying to figure out if a african leopard had escaped from a zoo. The follow up story a week later concluded that what the lady saw was in fact not a leopard but a jaguar, that this is part of their range. I had heard stories for years, but most people just don't believe that they can be around simply because they are so elusive and rarely seen. And when they are seen people don't speak up because they are afraid of being called liars. I could use that to segway into a reference to sasquatch but I'll leave it there.:p
 
I have been fortunate to be involved with a few mountain lions up close and personal. My wife is a veterinarian and does some work for a nearby zoo. I weigh out at 235 or so. I have been around (captive) lions that weighed 240. I would want a big knife and a big gun on me it I ran into one of these in the mountains. I have heard of wild lions weighing in at 225. That is a lot of lion. They command a lot of respect.
 
We had a mountain lion stalk a woman at a rest area near here 3 years ago. She turned around and the cat was preparing to pounce on her. When she started screaming and waving her arsm it just looked confused. That was when the family dog ran in to save the day...he wound up the cougars lunch in about 1 sec. Cat just ran off into the brush carrying their dog in it's mouth.

Of course Fish & Games response is that there isn't any problem with cougars since they outlawed hunting and trapping them in this state 8 years ago or so.
 
Wow, thanks for posting this - I'll hopefully be moving to colorado soon, and cougars are one of those animals I've been more concerned with as I hope to venture pretty deep into some of the national forest lands.

I have been asking around with friends more knowledgeable than I about a good firearm to carry for a compromise between light weight and stopping power if something like a cougar were to come after me or my dogs, so this article is very timely.
 
I like the comment where the woman says the shotgun having been loaded would have just pissed the cat off, and that hitting it with the buttstock was the right idea.
 
I, and my family, lived in Colorado Springs, CO, during the mid-90's. There were several cougar on human attacks, some fatal.
 
So any thoughts on what would make a good pistol to carry for defense against mountain lions? Most advice I've been given says .45acp as a bare minimum, and it seems like a caliber I'd be comfortable carrying in one of the compact versions. I never hike alone, so I'd like to think if one of us was attacked, the other would hopefully be able to defend him, although at that point it might be too late already.

I realize I'm probably more likely to be struck by lighting than attacked by a cougar, but I can do something about the cougar while lighting is pretty much out of my control.
 
Jenner 515 said:
Holy Jumping cats...man if I'm wandering around the house at night and see that I'm freaking right out.
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If something like that came around my house, I think my dogs would literally explode. :D

Mountain lions are no joke. Against them, an unarmed (ungunned) human is about as formidable a Tickle-me Elmo by comparison. If a cougar is hungry and desperate enough, you're on the menu, and there's not a heck of a lot that can save you, except for a gun and a lot of luck. When I lived in Montana, one of them decided to have my cat as a snack. All we found of him was a little puff of fur the mountain lion spit out. :thumbdn:
 
MustardMan said:
So any thoughts on what would make a good pistol to carry for defense against mountain lions? Most advice I've been given says .45acp as a bare minimum, and it seems like a caliber I'd be comfortable carrying in one of the compact versions.
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The calibers that I would be comfortable with are .45 (both ACP and regular), .357 mag, .40 SW, and 10 mm. It really depends on what you've trained with, and what you are good with.

Back to the OP - so they had a shotgun but couldn't find ammo. Good grief. Do they think a shotgun is magic? People like this really irritate me. An empty gun is useless.
 
j williams said:
Damn Chris! You take that pic??

Suposedly they are around MO, but Ive never seen, or heard of anyone seein one....My wife had a black bear that hung around her moms house when she was little...
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No I didn't, a friend emailed it to me. Lion was looking at a small dog in the cabin, taken in Idaho IIRC, least that's what he said in the email. Chris
 
yuppy broad with zero gun skills.........0

Puma.............. 10

Dog vs Puma will always result in fido being dog food. I don't care how bad you THINK your dog is.
 
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