Runner tracked by mountain lion

Runner tracked by mother cougar for six minutes after stumbling on its cubs.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/13/us/cougar-attack-utah-trnd/index.html

Looks like he handled it pretty well (when you put yourself in his shoes).

Another forum I'm on is going nuts over this one! A very high pucker factor to be sure! I'll admit I'd have been tempted to shoot the cat but I'd try bear spray first. We have quite a few mountain lions along with Grizzlies, black bears and wolves (not that wolves are a real danger) where I live so when I hike I have my sidearm in a kydex chest rig and Counter Assault bear spray on the shoulder straps of my pack.

Both the hiker and the cat walked away unharmed so I guess that's a win. Probably the guy's underwear was beyond salvaging though!

The post offered the following suggestions should you happen to have such an encounter of your own.


7. Pick up children and pets or keep them very close

Pickup children is OK but I would definatly let the beast have my pet rather than me.

I am certainly no expert on large cat behavior, but it is my understanding that the cat was more likely working to drive away, or scare away, or warn, the person that it perceived to be a threat to its offspring. I didn't see/read any indication that the cat was stalking or trying to prey upon the person.

Thank goodness it was a mountain lion and not a grizzly bear, since I've read of a number of cases where the bear will not do a bluff charge, but rather will attack and try to incapacitate (kill or severely disable, but not consume) the perceived threat.

How do you know a big cat is stalking you? You feel a sudden biting sensation on the back of your neck.

As I understand it, big cats are ambush hunters. The behaviour in this video is exactly the opposite. To me, the message is crystal clear: "Get the F out of here right now, or I will absolutely take you out."

This guy kept a cool head, and that takes some doing. Hats off to him. If he had turned his back and run, that might have been the end.

Does anyone here have sufficient mountain lion knowledge / experience to know if a large well trained jogging companion dog would have helped or hindered the situation? I thought that I'd read that mountain lions have a natural fear of dogs (I say well trained in hopes that the dog owner would be able to keep the dog away from the cubs.

I'm pretty sure that I've read that a large dog might draw a grizzly's attention but likely not much more of a defence. Still, that might be enough to stop the "charge".

Luckily, where I live we are limited to black bears, wolves, and turkeys. Mostly critters that steer very clear of humans ... though a few years ago a black bear with several cubs walked no less than 20 feet across the front of our house.

Thanks for any insight.

Dogs are called "bear magnets" for a reason. Dogs attack and then when they discover they are gonna loose the fight, they flee back to the owner. Bear follows.

Yes, the mama cougar seems like threatening the guy and pushing him away. This same behaviour I saw when a stray cat came in our backyard and gave birth to 4 kittens, and after a few weeks they grew up and started wandering around my wife outside kitchen. She complained about the kittens and their mom which was not happy that we were around, LOL. The mama cat did exactly that same move when I tried to get closer.

Stray dogs were one of the reasons I quit my morning walk. I don't know much about their behaviour and gestures and was not in the mood of finding out. One day a group of stray dogs came too close to me while I was walking and I slowly grabbed a few pieces of trash - to use as defensive tools - then retreated to the house.

One day, though, I was surprised by how peaceful these animals can be. I was driving in the neighbourhood, and saw 3 stray dogs going in the street. I was in my car so no problem. But then I saw one Asian guy sitting on the side (these domestic workers or drivers are usually given a room in the house where they work, and the room is separate from the house with a door opening directly on the street). So he was sitting in the morning drinking his coffee and relaxing. I stopped to warn him of the 3 dogs coming his way, but noticed that he was looking that way. He saw them but didn't rush to go back inside his room. The dogs saw him and stopped, seemed as if they were discussing what to do, LOL.

Then I was surprized to see them steer away from him to the road asphalt and continued their way. I was really surprized.

My wife was attacked by three wandering dogs that all had homes but were wandering freely for some reason. Do not assume that they are friendly even if that is what is showing at first.

Dogs attack and kill between 30 and 50 people in the uSA annually, probably more than mountain lions do: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_dog_attacks_in_the_United_States

Way back when I was a kid in the Boy Scouts we were hiking on the Appalachian trail and in broad daylight were attacked by a pack of feral dogs (like 8 or 10 of them). We fought them off, but they attacked again multiple times and even during the night too.

I have come across wild boars, black bears, cayotes, a wolf and a mountain lion, but none were as aggressive as the feral dogs.

The mountain lion was the least aggressive as it just turned around and left. Oh, and the wolf just looked over at me and continued on it's way.

Another time I came across a pack of feral goats on a trail on the face of a very steep slope--more like a cliff. I came around a bend and saw them about 100 yards away with the billy leading them. A few days prior a billy had attacked the open jeep I was in and kept ramming it, so I knew they were aggressive. However, the goats were between me and the only way out. So, I threw up my arms and went running and screaming right at them as fast as I could. Lucky for me, the billy turned around and couldn't go back fast enough. He almost knocked one of the other goats off the trail in his hast. Whew, that could have turned out bad for me.

So in my experience the ferals are the worst.

Sometimes you really don't know when to be friendly to animals and when to be cautious and keep distance. A few weeks ago, I saw a few videos about people helping animals and birds in distress, and really appreciated these people's help but couldn't stop thinking about the risks they have taken.

One case was : two guys stopped their car in a camping site . A dog came to them and just sat there. One of them noticed the dog had a metal wire around its neck in the form of a leash. Seemed like a crude leash that was annoying the dog. So he started undoing the leash by his bare hands and the dog was submissive.

Finally the leash was off, and the dog was really happy.

I was happy for the dog, and happy there are still many good people out there, but was a bit worried about his safety. Even if the dog was calm, the metal wire may just injure it and it would react to the pain unexpectedly. At least in one other video the helping guy was wearing gloves to protect his hands.

But there are good people out there who give without hesitation.