predators on a daily basis...

H

HK2001

Joined
May 3, 2005
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159
Well, I just got done tracking a Florida Panther. A cougar, a mountain lion.. call it what you want. But I have no doubt on what made it.. and I know it has cubs with it.
After calling the Dept Of Enviornmental conservation (or whatever Florida calls it), and the cops, and county animal control, I've found out that much like bigfoot, tracks mean nothing.
There's nothing they can or will do until hard evidence is found. They swear they're dog tracks, but there's major differences.. these are cat tracks.. LARGE cat tracks.

The scary thing is.. these tracks were found in the mud 25' from my friends front door. In the same apartment complex I live in.
So since there's nothing that can officially be done, and local laws prevent me from just waiting and shooting it.. what do we do? I carry a 9mm XD with me, and I have a concealed permit..
But my girlfriend, who walks 1.5 miles to school everyday, can't carry a gun. She doesn't have training, or a permit for concealed carry, but worse than that, she can't carry a weapon onto college campus. Federal Law prevents that.

So what can I do to give her protection?
 
Do you have any evidence whatsoever that said Florida Panther (an endangered species I might add) has ever attacked a human? This ain't the Rocky Mountains you know. The FP is a very rare and elusive animal & is probably far more scared of you or your girlfried than you are of it.

That having been said, at the very least, a stout walking stick or cane would be helpful. Perhaps mace pepperfoam... Or you could always just wait for it to attack & rip it's tounge out like this fella did to a leopard:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050622...dC2vBCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3NW1oMDRpBHNlYwM3NTc-

:eek:
 
If it wants to get her, and is deadset on it, and she doesn't have a gun, then thats pretty much it. But like James said, it is probably more scared of people than you are of it, so I think, unless it has rabies, a firm stance and a big walking stick should drive it off. A couple of stabs with a fair sized folder might also drive it off, but that would presumably make her very close to the mt lion, with inevitable injuries.
 
There is also no evidence that this is a true florida panther and not either an escaped western panther or an undocumented migrant.

Over on Frugals that was an ongoing saga about an Arkansas woman that was killed right outside her home with tracks etc. point to a big panther, but officially there were none in Arkansas, so the officials could do nothing. erg.
 
grommit said:
There is also no evidence that this is a true florida panther and not either an escaped western panther or an undocumented migrant.
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True.. all I can say for sure is that it's a "Large cat" the tracks are slightly larger then the palm of my hand.

Do you have any evidence whatsoever that said Florida Panther (an endangered species I might add) has ever attacked a human? This ain't the Rocky Mountains you know. The FP is a very rare and elusive animal & is probably far more scared of you or your girlfried than you are of it.
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No, there are no reports of an attack. But after talking to the cops I'm shocked to learn there have been a number of sightings reported from my general area.

With the adult tracks, there were 2 smaller sets of cat tracks that trailed the larger ones. These tracks are about twice the size of a domestic cat, which makes me believe they could be cubs. I'm aware they're endangered, but if there are cubs, the cat is going to be much more dangerous.
 
Interesting that they would say it's a dog's track, as there are distinct differences between a dog and a large cats tracks. The cubs sound young, but the mature cats tracks sound small to me, so could you determine how old the cubs were? They are traveling with the other cat, so perhaps they were just moving through, but if they are very young, her den is in the area. Perhaps they were just trying to downplay the whole situation.

Like others have shared, a hiking staff, loud noise and large imposing figure will usually drive a cat away. They rarely if ever attack a full grown human, prefering dogs, cats, rodents and small unattended children. Those that move into a populated area are there because they are either old or young and have been driven from the wilderness by a mature and dominant cat. However, if they are few and far between with little or no wilderness to call home, it could be a different reason they were there.

We live in an area with lots of mtn. lion range surrounding us. Once in awhile a cub is found in the backyard of a house that's on the edge of town and they will call the authorities, who come out and pick the cub up. Never made sense to me, because now they got a pi$$ed off mom on their hands and a cub that will live in captivity the rest of it's life, but that's what they do.
 
We have mountain lions here in Minas Gerais (Brazil) as well. They are rarely seen because they avoid humans. I wouldn't worry about getting attacked. Carry a camcorder. That would be some awesome video to sell.

I've run into tracks out where I go camping and they stopped grazing cattle on the mountain becuase they loose too many to cats. In the past decade, there's only been one documented case here of a human being attacked by an "onça". A woman waiting for the bus in the middle of nowhere was killed.

We're not supposed to have them anymore in Pennsylvania either but they get seen all the time where I'm from. Seriously you could drop a bloody carcas off at the PA Game commission and they'd still say it was a dog.

I have a friend who spotted on while coyote hunting in Iowa. He had responded to their call. Mac
 
Here in Colorado it seems like they mostly attack people who are jogging or running (if it runs it must be prey).
A friend looked out onto his deck one night and saw one eating his cats food.
A hungry cat jumped over a six foot fence and killed one woman's rotweiler then jumped back over the fence carrying the 90 lb dog.
There are lots of other stories; these are just from here in the city.
The way I understand it, if the cat thinks you are a victim from your actions and demenor it might decide to eat you but you are pretty safe unless you trigger the preditor instincts by trying to run away.
Enjoy!
 
My BIGGEST fear is that she'll mistakingly come between the adult, and the cubs. I've seen similar situations in Black bear, and it can turn bad quick.

However, if they are few and far between with little or no wilderness to call home, it could be a different reason they were there.
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My area is quite wooded. The tracks went into a small 30+ acre woodlot on the south side of our complex.

Here's a technique you can try if you're ever attcked by a big cat.
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She now carries a 4" "Shiv" to school with her.. And good god, when she has to, she can defend herself... The damn cat would be missing it's eyes, tounge, and balls (assuming male)... Poor Kitty.
 
Maybe she can hurl a big carton of milk at it.



Just kidding :)
A loud whistle might be good though.
 
Up here we deal with bears,big cats,cyotes and pissant neibours in all the same ways.We phone in a complaint to whoever and when they don't do anything about it we deal with it ourselves.
Mind you the last time a predator was killed near my place was almost 15 years ago and I prefer it that way.Live and let live until they start chewing on you. :)
 
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