Mountain Lions What can I do?
- Thread starter Radd4
- Start date
Rooster_Feather
Member
I am here to tell you that there are Mountain Lions in Oklahoma. I am the rancher that Radd4 talked about. I can also tell you with complete confidence that the Game Wardens in Oklahoma will deny their existence. As I told Radd4 on the phone last night, the Wardens have been instructed not to address the issue. In fact they have been told to completely deny Lion issues in Oklahoma. I believe that it is due to the fact that the Department of Wildlife relocated them here for predator control to increase quail population. That feeling is shared by many people in my area. I also feel that there is a huge liability issue for the state if they ever acknowlede or accept resonsiblity for releasing Lions. Think of the lawsuits for damage to livestock from ranchers. There would be no end. Every time one came up missing it would be the states fault. HUGE DEAL!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
I personally know the Federal Trapper. He lives in my county and he is an honest man, but when it comes to Mountain Lion talk, he will look at you and smile. That is all.
There have been many goats, calves, and horses marked with claw marks, killed, and damaged in my area over the last several years with all evidence pointing to a lion. Our federal trapper will inspect the animals and come up with a thousand excuses for what it could be. But he will never suggest a lion.
Make no mistake, they are present and reproducing. If you kill one and the state learns of it, you will be prosecuted. The only way to defend your actions, would be that if your animals were being chased of damaged. If that is the case the animal may be destroyed, but remain exactly where it was killed. I do not know if a leasee may kill an animal for a rancher. I would not test that.
I told Radd4 that there are several dangers in taking a youngster hunting. Being attacked by a Mountian Lion would only be one. And honestly, I would be more fearful of being run over by cattle in the dark. (I have been around cattle ALL my life and would have never thought about it, but one night we were coon hunting. We were cutting across a pasture back to the truck leading the hounds. My neighbors cows just freaked. I ran like Carl Lewis (only a fat white one) to the other side of the wheat field. My buddy told me that it had happened to him before and that is why he sticks to the edge of the brush. It was crazy and I would have lost a lot of money on the bet of cattle stampeding us in the night. Scary /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif)
My kids are young (daughter is 10 and son is 6) they ride their horses all over my place by theirselves. In fact I expect them to, I always did. There are so many dangers in the world. For me to lock them in the house due to a Mountain Lion "sighting" upsets me. Sure I feel the chances of an attack are real, but they are real slim. Especially since the state as a whole has had none to a few at most.
Chances of a teed off kid bringing a gun to school are greater than being attacked. Any type of outdoor activity brings some sort of risk with it.
I, as a rancher, land owner, and hunter, honestly do not feel that a Mountain Lion would attack a small child that is in the company of an adult. There is so much more easier meals than that. That is why predator calling works. The chance to get an easy meal. Predators certainly evaluate situations for risk. They are not going to risk getting hurt, caught, or killed if they don't have too. They are, to a point lazy. Lazy may not be a good word, but they would certainly choose to eat a rabbit than fight a 2000 lb Brahman bull. They are definately opportunist!
Rooster Feather
I personally know the Federal Trapper. He lives in my county and he is an honest man, but when it comes to Mountain Lion talk, he will look at you and smile. That is all.
There have been many goats, calves, and horses marked with claw marks, killed, and damaged in my area over the last several years with all evidence pointing to a lion. Our federal trapper will inspect the animals and come up with a thousand excuses for what it could be. But he will never suggest a lion.
Make no mistake, they are present and reproducing. If you kill one and the state learns of it, you will be prosecuted. The only way to defend your actions, would be that if your animals were being chased of damaged. If that is the case the animal may be destroyed, but remain exactly where it was killed. I do not know if a leasee may kill an animal for a rancher. I would not test that.
I told Radd4 that there are several dangers in taking a youngster hunting. Being attacked by a Mountian Lion would only be one. And honestly, I would be more fearful of being run over by cattle in the dark. (I have been around cattle ALL my life and would have never thought about it, but one night we were coon hunting. We were cutting across a pasture back to the truck leading the hounds. My neighbors cows just freaked. I ran like Carl Lewis (only a fat white one) to the other side of the wheat field. My buddy told me that it had happened to him before and that is why he sticks to the edge of the brush. It was crazy and I would have lost a lot of money on the bet of cattle stampeding us in the night. Scary /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif)
My kids are young (daughter is 10 and son is 6) they ride their horses all over my place by theirselves. In fact I expect them to, I always did. There are so many dangers in the world. For me to lock them in the house due to a Mountain Lion "sighting" upsets me. Sure I feel the chances of an attack are real, but they are real slim. Especially since the state as a whole has had none to a few at most.
Chances of a teed off kid bringing a gun to school are greater than being attacked. Any type of outdoor activity brings some sort of risk with it.
I, as a rancher, land owner, and hunter, honestly do not feel that a Mountain Lion would attack a small child that is in the company of an adult. There is so much more easier meals than that. That is why predator calling works. The chance to get an easy meal. Predators certainly evaluate situations for risk. They are not going to risk getting hurt, caught, or killed if they don't have too. They are, to a point lazy. Lazy may not be a good word, but they would certainly choose to eat a rabbit than fight a 2000 lb Brahman bull. They are definately opportunist!
Rooster Feather
Radd4, Iwas afraid after I made my post, that you would feel I was attacking the integrity of your post. That is not the case. The area you talk about hunting is the area I live and work in. I have lived here most of my life. I am good friends with a local game warden and a state trapper for this area. As you said, they all claim to not know of cougers. My point is, I would like a picture, or better yet an actual cougar. I think the possibility is very real, and I do believe you. The point is we need something more than our word for it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
Again, my appologies if I came across as attacking your credibility /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
Again, my appologies if I came across as attacking your credibility /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
Quote:
My brothers and I have been seeing Mountain lions at very close ranges the last year where we hunt. ... I have a 7 year old son that hunts with me and we go into this site before light and I am a little concerned that my son may look like a snack to them. ... Any advice would be helpful.
I've thought about your post once in awhile for a couple of days. We've lived where there are plenty of cougars all of my life. If a cougar in the area caused us to stay home or keep the kids home, we’d never go out.
So, I'd say be careful and keep on enjoying the outdoors. You can't have a complete set of either.
If I thought a cougar was close enough to be looking at us, I’d keep the child right next to me, and wish I had a handgun if one attacked to grappling distance. Would also wish I was wearing a neck brace and football helmet. Take whatever precautions make you feel safe, and keep going. I've never carried a sidearm for cougars or bears. It's not legal where I've lived much of the time and I haven't carried one when I live where it is legal.
Cougars normally range pretty widely, so yours probably moves on and just comes back at times, but conditions in your area may keep it in a smaller range, close to you. I wonder if African lion or tiger dung from a zoo would run it out of the area? It keeps deer out of a garden. One whiff might make a cougar decide to change zip codes. A biologist might know the anwswer to that better.
I've had many cougars follow me, some sit and watch me (though only with snow or mud does a guy usually ever know about it, and then only if he pays attention to his tracks on returning). That is common yet attacks are rare, so the cats must usually just be curious or practicing stalking an extra clumsy, sensory-challenged prey. Maybe they keep us around like porcupines: so easy to catch that you only kill one when you are in a fix for food.
Two personal friends of mine have had a cougar stalk their child, in view of parents and others. I have a reliable story from a man in Montana who also had a cougar stalk his young son. Both of the stalkings my friends told of were in broad daylight on a family outing. One was on a switchback trail with the little boy ahead and below, and the parents saw the cougar stalking him. The other happened on a back road. An item left on top of their van fell off as they started to drive home and the young boy ran back down the road to pick it up while the dad tightened a canoe rope. The cougar stepped into the road close to the boy, and crouched with its tail twitching. In both cases the dad talked to his son, telling him to stand still and face the cat as he walked to him, and then picked up the child when he reached him. The cougar relaxed, stood up from the crouch, and strolled away in each case.
I know of two cougar attacks on children in recent years in British Columbia, and know distantly a family who had a child killed by a cougar years ago. In the two recent attacks a cougar jumped a child, one in the edge of a school yard and the other on a trail to a swimming hole. Both times a woman present yelled and hit the cat till it turned loose. The child on the trail put her head between two watermelon sized rocks and was wearing a life jacket, which saved her life according to a cougar expert.
I’ve examined deer killed by cougars, and the killing bite was so clean, total and efficient that it chills me to think how quickly a cougar could kill a man. A large, mature blacktail buck, 4x4 with eyeguards (which is bigger than most blacktail hunters ever see) was killed by one bite just behind the ears. It left so little mark on the outside that I had to skin back the hide to find the crescent shaped holes from the big canine teeth. One was an inch behind an ear, the other a couple of inches farther down the neck on the other side. The neck bones were totally separated, spinal cord severed between the first and second vertebra below the skull. It looked like a combination of super pressure and severing action. Most guys reading this know how hard it is to cut through and separate neck bones to cut off a deer’s head. One clean bite…
Outdoor dangers are always magnified by folks less accustomed to that particular danger day to day. I have an Aussie friend in California who will not visit friends in Canada because she is afraid of black bears. She won’t even visit a big city. Yet she dismisses my fear of sharks when I’ve swam fearfully and less than I wanted while in Australia.
Yep a cougar may eat you or your child. Probably not, so don’t let it rule your behaviour. I’m not fatalistic, just statistically inured, and will deal with it if it happens.
No conclusion other than to be careful, whatever precautions that means to you, and keep enjoying the outdoors. If a cougar does attack, and he’s close when he starts, any of us would be in a heap of trouble, though I’m of the camp that would keep fighting and trying to kill the critter till my last breath with whatever I had at hand. That might only be one breath.
My brothers and I have been seeing Mountain lions at very close ranges the last year where we hunt. ... I have a 7 year old son that hunts with me and we go into this site before light and I am a little concerned that my son may look like a snack to them. ... Any advice would be helpful.
I've thought about your post once in awhile for a couple of days. We've lived where there are plenty of cougars all of my life. If a cougar in the area caused us to stay home or keep the kids home, we’d never go out.
So, I'd say be careful and keep on enjoying the outdoors. You can't have a complete set of either.
If I thought a cougar was close enough to be looking at us, I’d keep the child right next to me, and wish I had a handgun if one attacked to grappling distance. Would also wish I was wearing a neck brace and football helmet. Take whatever precautions make you feel safe, and keep going. I've never carried a sidearm for cougars or bears. It's not legal where I've lived much of the time and I haven't carried one when I live where it is legal.
Cougars normally range pretty widely, so yours probably moves on and just comes back at times, but conditions in your area may keep it in a smaller range, close to you. I wonder if African lion or tiger dung from a zoo would run it out of the area? It keeps deer out of a garden. One whiff might make a cougar decide to change zip codes. A biologist might know the anwswer to that better.
I've had many cougars follow me, some sit and watch me (though only with snow or mud does a guy usually ever know about it, and then only if he pays attention to his tracks on returning). That is common yet attacks are rare, so the cats must usually just be curious or practicing stalking an extra clumsy, sensory-challenged prey. Maybe they keep us around like porcupines: so easy to catch that you only kill one when you are in a fix for food.
Two personal friends of mine have had a cougar stalk their child, in view of parents and others. I have a reliable story from a man in Montana who also had a cougar stalk his young son. Both of the stalkings my friends told of were in broad daylight on a family outing. One was on a switchback trail with the little boy ahead and below, and the parents saw the cougar stalking him. The other happened on a back road. An item left on top of their van fell off as they started to drive home and the young boy ran back down the road to pick it up while the dad tightened a canoe rope. The cougar stepped into the road close to the boy, and crouched with its tail twitching. In both cases the dad talked to his son, telling him to stand still and face the cat as he walked to him, and then picked up the child when he reached him. The cougar relaxed, stood up from the crouch, and strolled away in each case.
I know of two cougar attacks on children in recent years in British Columbia, and know distantly a family who had a child killed by a cougar years ago. In the two recent attacks a cougar jumped a child, one in the edge of a school yard and the other on a trail to a swimming hole. Both times a woman present yelled and hit the cat till it turned loose. The child on the trail put her head between two watermelon sized rocks and was wearing a life jacket, which saved her life according to a cougar expert.
I’ve examined deer killed by cougars, and the killing bite was so clean, total and efficient that it chills me to think how quickly a cougar could kill a man. A large, mature blacktail buck, 4x4 with eyeguards (which is bigger than most blacktail hunters ever see) was killed by one bite just behind the ears. It left so little mark on the outside that I had to skin back the hide to find the crescent shaped holes from the big canine teeth. One was an inch behind an ear, the other a couple of inches farther down the neck on the other side. The neck bones were totally separated, spinal cord severed between the first and second vertebra below the skull. It looked like a combination of super pressure and severing action. Most guys reading this know how hard it is to cut through and separate neck bones to cut off a deer’s head. One clean bite…
Outdoor dangers are always magnified by folks less accustomed to that particular danger day to day. I have an Aussie friend in California who will not visit friends in Canada because she is afraid of black bears. She won’t even visit a big city. Yet she dismisses my fear of sharks when I’ve swam fearfully and less than I wanted while in Australia.
Yep a cougar may eat you or your child. Probably not, so don’t let it rule your behaviour. I’m not fatalistic, just statistically inured, and will deal with it if it happens.
No conclusion other than to be careful, whatever precautions that means to you, and keep enjoying the outdoors. If a cougar does attack, and he’s close when he starts, any of us would be in a heap of trouble, though I’m of the camp that would keep fighting and trying to kill the critter till my last breath with whatever I had at hand. That might only be one breath.
Rooster Feather,
I am relieved to get to communicate the following to you.
As a fellow cattleman I could not sit by and let you possibly find out "the hard way".
This past summer was hell for us. We have a cattle and hay opperation in Yakima Washington. For four years prior to 2005, we had our yearlings running in one bunch like they were being driven by riders. Many of us noticed this and each time, we would go out and not find a thing! The yearlings would stop enmass and turn to look back. We were clueless.
This spring we started finding major lion sign ....... everywhere!!
We came to find we had a mama and a juvenile kitten.
A good portion of our ranch lies within a Reservation. The local tribe took exception to these cats living in proximity to settled areas. They began hunting in earnest BEFORE our first cattle were killed.
Our first loss was a 275# calf at the end of June. I was certainly not happy about it but it came as no surprise.
But what followed shook us to our roots!
One morning while my wife walked to get the paper, she spotted a large black "cow" lying dead in the field by Dad's house. We went to investigate together.
It was a BULL! ....... a 1200 # Black Angus bull just bought last spring.
I called the Sherrif as the bull looked for all the world like a "mutillation" .... you know those nut jobs!!!
Well the responding deputy and I discussed the situation. He asked about predators and I absolutely refused to believe that ANY predator known to exist in our area could pull off killing a bull.
While the deputy was here, he found a cow dead laying in the local creek!
After much urging by local Wildlife Services personel, we autopsied the bull and cow.
AND WE WERE SHOCKED!
The bulls tongue was missing, but that was no great shakes. I figured that the cultists had taken it.
NOT THE CASE!
Instead it's tounge was pulled from it's head like a cork from a bottle. The force was so savage that it pulled ALL the tissue from around at least 6 inches of it's air pipe. The air pipe was partially crushed with a section on it's top side acting like a reverse check valve.
During the time we were dissecting the cattle, we discovered that in fact a two year old horse had also been attacked but was extremely lucky as it had razor sharp scratches on it's ribs that only bled a little.
The cow had a deep fang penetration behind it's jaw that angled up towards it's brain. I know she was alive when she took that hit because there was considerable blood pooled there and she was laying on that wound in the water.
Now, I am telling you that I did not convince easily that this was the work of a cat, but it was.
I knew that it had to be bear or cat. But in the weeks leading up and the weeks after we simply could not find bear sign. Black bears are no stranger here but this spring we had a striking episode of frosts and the wild berries that the black bears rely upon here just were not availible. So the bears did not come until September when apples started in earnest.
But we had cat sign up the ying yang!
And the evidence of a bear fighting these cattle was just not there.
I have gone way long here. I am as real as it gets, we have been farming the same patch since 1871.
If you care to converse about this anymore you can PM me or get my e-mail from Radd4
Good luck and take care!
Three 44s
I am relieved to get to communicate the following to you.
As a fellow cattleman I could not sit by and let you possibly find out "the hard way".
This past summer was hell for us. We have a cattle and hay opperation in Yakima Washington. For four years prior to 2005, we had our yearlings running in one bunch like they were being driven by riders. Many of us noticed this and each time, we would go out and not find a thing! The yearlings would stop enmass and turn to look back. We were clueless.
This spring we started finding major lion sign ....... everywhere!!
We came to find we had a mama and a juvenile kitten.
A good portion of our ranch lies within a Reservation. The local tribe took exception to these cats living in proximity to settled areas. They began hunting in earnest BEFORE our first cattle were killed.
Our first loss was a 275# calf at the end of June. I was certainly not happy about it but it came as no surprise.
But what followed shook us to our roots!
One morning while my wife walked to get the paper, she spotted a large black "cow" lying dead in the field by Dad's house. We went to investigate together.
It was a BULL! ....... a 1200 # Black Angus bull just bought last spring.
I called the Sherrif as the bull looked for all the world like a "mutillation" .... you know those nut jobs!!!
Well the responding deputy and I discussed the situation. He asked about predators and I absolutely refused to believe that ANY predator known to exist in our area could pull off killing a bull.
While the deputy was here, he found a cow dead laying in the local creek!
After much urging by local Wildlife Services personel, we autopsied the bull and cow.
AND WE WERE SHOCKED!
The bulls tongue was missing, but that was no great shakes. I figured that the cultists had taken it.
NOT THE CASE!
Instead it's tounge was pulled from it's head like a cork from a bottle. The force was so savage that it pulled ALL the tissue from around at least 6 inches of it's air pipe. The air pipe was partially crushed with a section on it's top side acting like a reverse check valve.
During the time we were dissecting the cattle, we discovered that in fact a two year old horse had also been attacked but was extremely lucky as it had razor sharp scratches on it's ribs that only bled a little.
The cow had a deep fang penetration behind it's jaw that angled up towards it's brain. I know she was alive when she took that hit because there was considerable blood pooled there and she was laying on that wound in the water.
Now, I am telling you that I did not convince easily that this was the work of a cat, but it was.
I knew that it had to be bear or cat. But in the weeks leading up and the weeks after we simply could not find bear sign. Black bears are no stranger here but this spring we had a striking episode of frosts and the wild berries that the black bears rely upon here just were not availible. So the bears did not come until September when apples started in earnest.
But we had cat sign up the ying yang!
And the evidence of a bear fighting these cattle was just not there.
I have gone way long here. I am as real as it gets, we have been farming the same patch since 1871.
If you care to converse about this anymore you can PM me or get my e-mail from Radd4
Good luck and take care!
Three 44s
Radd4
New member
Rooster feather is a great guy and one of my best friends!! this is a guy who goes to great lengths to insure that my son and I have a great hunting season and are safe year in and year out while hunting on his property. I have never been worried before, just these sighting this year scared my son a little. Rooster Feather knows his land like he knows the inside of his refrigarator. (Very very well) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif After talking with him I am resting easier with the idea of still taking my son hunting with me. as I stated in an earlier post, I was just concerned about the what if factor. I can say with confidence, If I had to trust one guy with my kid to go hunting with it would be Rooster Feather. I know if it were to come to a place where the situation would need to be addressed ol' Rooster Feather would take care of it before light of the next day came. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowingsmilie.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowingsmilie.gif Thanks for everyones input.
Handirifle
New member
I still took my sons hunting as well but they were never alone until nearly 18 yrs old. Just wanted to tell you what you were up against with these cats.
Keep em close and good hunting.
Keep em close and good hunting.
There was a small child taken down by a lion just feet away from an adult on a ranch near here,the woman screemed and a ranch hand came and kicked the lion as it dragged the child by the head,the cat ran off a ways and as the ranch hand turned to go get help the lion came back and tried to grab the kid AGAIN.Dont fool yourself,a lion will take a kid right out of your lap if the conditions are right.The liberal,washington DC owner of the ranch and father of the child refused to let the F&G take hounds on his land to kill the cat,he defended it as just doing what wild animals do.That cat is probably still out there and our cabin is just over the hill from where the attack took place,nobodys children are allowed out of the fenced lawn in front of our cabin.
list of some attacks...
1991
January. Scott Lancaster, 18, was killed while jogging just a few hundred yards from his high school in Idaho Springs, Colorado. The lion dragged the 130 pound boy 200 yards uphill before killing him, evidenced by the uprooted vegetation along the way. The lion was found feeding on his body three days later. This is the first death ever in Colorado from a lion attack. (MLCSP; Denver Post 5/1/98, B-01; SWCOA)
July. A mountain lion as big as a dog pinned a two-and-a-half-year-old to the ground in British Columbia. Larrane Leach, 44, pulled the cat off by the scruff of its neck, and suffered minor injuries before the cat left. (TP)
1992
May. Fatal attack in Vancouver Island, British Columbia. (MLCSP)
1995
Fall. Photographer Moses Street was jogging on a popular trail in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, CO, when he glanced over his shoulder and saw a cougar about to pounce on him. The cougar backed off when Street yelled and waved his arms. Street used a large tree branch to stop a second and third attack.
Street climbed a tree and had to keep using the branch to keep the lion from advancing up the tree. Park Rangers rescued him after Street's girlfriend alerted them. (Washington Post, 7/13/97, A01)
1996
??. A woman was killed defending her 6-year-old son from a lion in British Columbia. The woman and three children were horseback riding when a male 65-pound lion jumped from a bush at the boy, knocking him off his horse. The mother came to his aid, and was killed. (GORP Lion Info)
1997
14 July. A 4-year-old French boy was attacked by a lion at Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. The lion had previously been seen approaching people, and was killed. The boy's wounds were not life threatening. (CWR)
17 July. 10-year-old Mark David Miedema was killed by an 88 pound adult female cougar shortly after 4:30 pm while returning from a hike to Cascade Falls on the North Inlet Trail on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Mark had raced ahead of his family on the well-traveled trail in order to see if animals had eaten the peanuts he had left on the trail on the way up. Mark was only 3-4 minutes ahead of his parents, but he was out of their sight; his family arrived to see his feet and legs extending onto the trail from adjacent brush. The cougar attempted to drag him away before fleeing. Mark died from choking on his own vomit, not from his wounds from the attack. Mark had tried to fight the cougar, and had scratches on his face and puncture wounds on his face, neck and scalp.
The lion was shot once or twice at 7 pm by Chris Philippi, a National Park Service officer who was guarding the boy's body while waiting for the coroner. The lion ran off and was killed at 8:03 pm by a professional lion tracker with dogs. The lion was pregnant with three fetuses, 2 to 2.5 years old in good health.
The trail follows the edge of Summerland Park, a meadow where elk and deer graze and is a classic area for mountain lions to hunt.
This was the fourth death in Rocky Mountain National Park this year. The other deaths were from a heart attack, a suicide, and a climbing accident. Two other hikers were attacked by cougars in Colorado in the previous year. This is the second death ever in Colorado from a lion attack. (Trail-Gazetta 7/23/97; Denver Post, 5/1/98, B-01; CWR; SDUT 8/16/98; 4/25/99, BOOKS-8)
20 October. A 20-year-old mountain bike rider was attacked by a cougar at Walker Ranch Open Space near Flagstaff Mountain, in the hills west of Boulder, Colorado. The lion lunged and "took a swipe" at him, then stopped and snarled with its ears laid back. The biker used his bike to protect him until the lion backed off. However, as the man continued slowly down the trail, the lion followed him for a short distance until finally leaving. (CWR)
1998
28 April. Andy Peterson, 24, an experienced hiker from Littleton, was attacked in Roxborough State Park, Colorado, while hiking alone in the 3,000 acre park on the Carpenter Peak trail about 2 to 3 miles west of the visitor center.
The hiker came upon the lion, who was "chewing on a stick", while descending a trail. A 30 minute standoff ended when the lion attacked as the hiker attempted to "retreat up the trail". The lion retreated after it was stabbed once with the 3" blade of a Swiss army knife, attacked again, and then left after the hiker "jabbed his thumb in the lion's eye". The hiker received deep cuts to his head and face, and was hospitalized in fair and stable condition.
Jim Jones, an area wildlife manager for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, said that the lion probably wasn't driven away by the hiker's action, but instead "just lost interest", since lions are used to receiving wounds from their prey
Wildlife officials believe the reason the cat attacked was that it was young and learning how to hunt, based on the description provided by Peterson. (Denver Post, 5/1/98, B-01; 5/6/98, B-03)
25 May. Mary Jane Coder of Harlingen, Texas and her three daughters, ages 9, 8 and 6, saw a mountain lion on a large rock while they were hiking on the Pine Canyon Trail in Big Bend National Park, Texas. There are two published versions of what happened.
One account says that Ms. Coder tried to frighten the animal away by yelling, waving her arms and throwing rocks. The lion struck her in the left hand with its paw, and followed the family back down the trail until they reached an open area. Another account says that the lion charged Ms. Coder, and that Ms. Coder advanced toward the lion with a pocket knife. The lion backed off, but then slapped its paw on Ms. Coder hand before leaving.
The attack on Ms. Coder is the third documented mountain lion attack on humans in the park since 1984. (Abilene Reporter-News 5/31/98l 6/9/98)
31 July. Dante Swallow, a 6-year-old boy, was jumped by a cougar while hiking with about three dozen other campers on Marshall Mountain near Missoula, Mont. The cat pinned him with its paws and bit into his neck, but was pulled away by a camp counselor. The boy survived with scratches and puncture wounds. The cat slunk away and was later tracked down and killed. (SDUT 8/16/98)
1 August. 6-year-old Joey Wing of Basin, Montana, saw a young (2-3 years old) male lion as he played with five other children near the Swift Dam Campground west of Depuyer. The lion attacked him after he turned and ran. Joey received bites to the back of his skull and on his back, with lacerations from his throat to his ear, requiring 200 stitches. His mother Melissa Wing drove the cougar away. There were 50-60 adults at the campground.
The cat then approached within 15' of two men, one of whom was Kyle Sinclair, a Blackfeet tribal officer who was wearing his sidearm. Kyle fired several shots and wounded the cat. The lion was tracked later that day and then killed. (Idaho Post-Register, 8/4/98)
August. A cougar tore apart pieces of 5-year-old Carmen Schrock's skull at a campground near Metaline Falls, Washington (Spokane Spokesman-Review 9/4/99)
1999
24 August. Jacob Walsh of Kettle Falls, Washington, was dragged off by a lion that released him after being chased off by a screaming adult. This was the second attack in Washington in two years. (Spokane Spokesman-Review 9/4/99)
2000
24 January. Clarence Hall, a hunter working for the Canadian government to kill problem wildlife, was attacked by the cougar he was about to hunt. The cougar had attacked a dog at the home of Cecelia and Barry Mack on the Nuxalk Indian Reserve in British Columbia the previous night. While Clarence was waiting for the rest of his hunting party, without his rifle, he was checking out tracks on the nearby Tatsquan Creek. (He left his rifle in his car since he wasn't tracking and because he was in town.)
Clarence noticed the cougar under a tree only 40' away, and tried to get back to his car. Due perhaps to his retreating action, the cougar attacked him on his neck, which felt like "being struck with a baseball bat." The cougar threw him to his back, bit again and shook him. Clarence shouted for help, then placed his hand over the cougar's lower jaw, with his thumb, forefinger and index finger behind its bottom canine teeth, which released its grip on his neck. He described:
Immediately, I envisioned the cougar ripping my belly open with its front claws. With my right hand, I pulled the cougar's head, neck and shoulder over my chest, rendering the front claws useless as I pinned the cougar's claws to my chest. I then instantly threw my left arm around the cougar's neck and shoulder.
Barry Mack then shot the cougar four times from only a foot away. When the cougar went limp, Clarence removed the cougar's teeth from Clarence's skull.
Clarence received over 100 stitches, and nearly lost his right hand, which fortunately has responded to therapy, leaving only some impairment.
Clarence Hall explains that the cougars in Bella Coola valley are starving, making them more prone to attack, because wolves have moved in and are depleting the deer population, the cougar's usual diet.
Source: The Daily Courier 4/3/00.
29 April. Victoria Martinez, a 4-year-old girl, was attacked by a mountain lion at Bartlett Lake in Arizona at ~7:30 p.m, 20 minutes after sunset. Her family was setting up their camp not far from the water. Her parents were putting the bedding in the tent, and Victoria and her brother were right outside the flap of the tent swatting at bugs when the lion attacked her from behind. The lion dragged her for about 15 yards in the dark, she got tangled in a thorn bush and her parents scared the lion off. When his son asked why it happened, the father replied, "We're in his [the lion's] house."
Unfortunately, Victoria was seriously injured. The lion crushed the back of her skull, nicked her carotid artery and put several deep puncture wounds in her torso. As of 7/21/00, Victoria is currently "doing very well considering all that she has been through".
A large male lion thought to be the attacker was later killed.
Source: 7/20/00 and 7/21/00 email from Stacey West (Victoria's aunt); Arizona Republic 5/1/00, 5/4/00.
3 May. "A small cougar" swiped its claw across the lower leg of Ken Jones while he was feeding the neighbor's cats near Siletz, Oregon. The cat retreated after Ken hit it in the head with a shovel three to four times. Although this doesn't sound like a typical cougar attack, and may have been a bobcat, officials found mountain lion tracks nearby. Source: Channel 6000 5/5/00.
2001
2 January. Frances Frost, a 30-year-old cross-country skier was killed by a mountain lion in Banff National Park while skiing alone around 1 p.m. on Cascade Fire Road, part of the Lake Minnewanka Loop. According to Park Chief Warden Ian Syme, "The cougar leapt on her back, bit her neck and I suspect that she may not even know what hit her." A healthy adult male cougar was later shot by wardens where her body was found.
This is the first death by cougar in the history of the Park, and in Alberta.
"This is the first time a cougar has even come close to threatening humans in the park in many years," said Park warden Doug Eastcott.
Park wardens think that elk, the main prey of wolves and cougars, have moved closer to Banff, and the cougars have followed. Syme said "This is resulting in normally wary cougars abandoning their natural fear of people, going further into the townsite to get at their food source, which is elk".
Source: Calgary Herald 1/3/01, 1/4/01; Banff Crag & Canyon News 1/3/01.
8 February. Jon Nostdal, 52, was attacked by a cougar while riding his bicycle in the dark from Port Alice, BC to where his tugboat was moored on the west coast of Vancouver Island. He heard the repeated clicking sound of the cougar's nails on the highway just before he sensed the presence of the cougar attacking him from behind.
The cougar attacked Jon's neck and knocked him off the bike. The hood of Jon's coat prevented initial injury, but on the ground the cougar continued attacking his neck. Elliot Cole, 39, saw the struggle, stopped his truck, yelled at the cougar, then hit the cougar with a bag filled with heavy binders, both to no avail. Elliot then began punching the cougar in the head, and finally pinned the cougar to the ground with Jon's bike. Both ran to Elliot's vehicle.
Jon was treated for bite marks on his head and several lacerations to his face, and remained in the hospital through the next day.
1991
January. Scott Lancaster, 18, was killed while jogging just a few hundred yards from his high school in Idaho Springs, Colorado. The lion dragged the 130 pound boy 200 yards uphill before killing him, evidenced by the uprooted vegetation along the way. The lion was found feeding on his body three days later. This is the first death ever in Colorado from a lion attack. (MLCSP; Denver Post 5/1/98, B-01; SWCOA)
July. A mountain lion as big as a dog pinned a two-and-a-half-year-old to the ground in British Columbia. Larrane Leach, 44, pulled the cat off by the scruff of its neck, and suffered minor injuries before the cat left. (TP)
1992
May. Fatal attack in Vancouver Island, British Columbia. (MLCSP)
1995
Fall. Photographer Moses Street was jogging on a popular trail in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, CO, when he glanced over his shoulder and saw a cougar about to pounce on him. The cougar backed off when Street yelled and waved his arms. Street used a large tree branch to stop a second and third attack.
Street climbed a tree and had to keep using the branch to keep the lion from advancing up the tree. Park Rangers rescued him after Street's girlfriend alerted them. (Washington Post, 7/13/97, A01)
1996
??. A woman was killed defending her 6-year-old son from a lion in British Columbia. The woman and three children were horseback riding when a male 65-pound lion jumped from a bush at the boy, knocking him off his horse. The mother came to his aid, and was killed. (GORP Lion Info)
1997
14 July. A 4-year-old French boy was attacked by a lion at Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. The lion had previously been seen approaching people, and was killed. The boy's wounds were not life threatening. (CWR)
17 July. 10-year-old Mark David Miedema was killed by an 88 pound adult female cougar shortly after 4:30 pm while returning from a hike to Cascade Falls on the North Inlet Trail on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Mark had raced ahead of his family on the well-traveled trail in order to see if animals had eaten the peanuts he had left on the trail on the way up. Mark was only 3-4 minutes ahead of his parents, but he was out of their sight; his family arrived to see his feet and legs extending onto the trail from adjacent brush. The cougar attempted to drag him away before fleeing. Mark died from choking on his own vomit, not from his wounds from the attack. Mark had tried to fight the cougar, and had scratches on his face and puncture wounds on his face, neck and scalp.
The lion was shot once or twice at 7 pm by Chris Philippi, a National Park Service officer who was guarding the boy's body while waiting for the coroner. The lion ran off and was killed at 8:03 pm by a professional lion tracker with dogs. The lion was pregnant with three fetuses, 2 to 2.5 years old in good health.
The trail follows the edge of Summerland Park, a meadow where elk and deer graze and is a classic area for mountain lions to hunt.
This was the fourth death in Rocky Mountain National Park this year. The other deaths were from a heart attack, a suicide, and a climbing accident. Two other hikers were attacked by cougars in Colorado in the previous year. This is the second death ever in Colorado from a lion attack. (Trail-Gazetta 7/23/97; Denver Post, 5/1/98, B-01; CWR; SDUT 8/16/98; 4/25/99, BOOKS-8)
20 October. A 20-year-old mountain bike rider was attacked by a cougar at Walker Ranch Open Space near Flagstaff Mountain, in the hills west of Boulder, Colorado. The lion lunged and "took a swipe" at him, then stopped and snarled with its ears laid back. The biker used his bike to protect him until the lion backed off. However, as the man continued slowly down the trail, the lion followed him for a short distance until finally leaving. (CWR)
1998
28 April. Andy Peterson, 24, an experienced hiker from Littleton, was attacked in Roxborough State Park, Colorado, while hiking alone in the 3,000 acre park on the Carpenter Peak trail about 2 to 3 miles west of the visitor center.
The hiker came upon the lion, who was "chewing on a stick", while descending a trail. A 30 minute standoff ended when the lion attacked as the hiker attempted to "retreat up the trail". The lion retreated after it was stabbed once with the 3" blade of a Swiss army knife, attacked again, and then left after the hiker "jabbed his thumb in the lion's eye". The hiker received deep cuts to his head and face, and was hospitalized in fair and stable condition.
Jim Jones, an area wildlife manager for the Colorado Division of Wildlife, said that the lion probably wasn't driven away by the hiker's action, but instead "just lost interest", since lions are used to receiving wounds from their prey
Wildlife officials believe the reason the cat attacked was that it was young and learning how to hunt, based on the description provided by Peterson. (Denver Post, 5/1/98, B-01; 5/6/98, B-03)
25 May. Mary Jane Coder of Harlingen, Texas and her three daughters, ages 9, 8 and 6, saw a mountain lion on a large rock while they were hiking on the Pine Canyon Trail in Big Bend National Park, Texas. There are two published versions of what happened.
One account says that Ms. Coder tried to frighten the animal away by yelling, waving her arms and throwing rocks. The lion struck her in the left hand with its paw, and followed the family back down the trail until they reached an open area. Another account says that the lion charged Ms. Coder, and that Ms. Coder advanced toward the lion with a pocket knife. The lion backed off, but then slapped its paw on Ms. Coder hand before leaving.
The attack on Ms. Coder is the third documented mountain lion attack on humans in the park since 1984. (Abilene Reporter-News 5/31/98l 6/9/98)
31 July. Dante Swallow, a 6-year-old boy, was jumped by a cougar while hiking with about three dozen other campers on Marshall Mountain near Missoula, Mont. The cat pinned him with its paws and bit into his neck, but was pulled away by a camp counselor. The boy survived with scratches and puncture wounds. The cat slunk away and was later tracked down and killed. (SDUT 8/16/98)
1 August. 6-year-old Joey Wing of Basin, Montana, saw a young (2-3 years old) male lion as he played with five other children near the Swift Dam Campground west of Depuyer. The lion attacked him after he turned and ran. Joey received bites to the back of his skull and on his back, with lacerations from his throat to his ear, requiring 200 stitches. His mother Melissa Wing drove the cougar away. There were 50-60 adults at the campground.
The cat then approached within 15' of two men, one of whom was Kyle Sinclair, a Blackfeet tribal officer who was wearing his sidearm. Kyle fired several shots and wounded the cat. The lion was tracked later that day and then killed. (Idaho Post-Register, 8/4/98)
August. A cougar tore apart pieces of 5-year-old Carmen Schrock's skull at a campground near Metaline Falls, Washington (Spokane Spokesman-Review 9/4/99)
1999
24 August. Jacob Walsh of Kettle Falls, Washington, was dragged off by a lion that released him after being chased off by a screaming adult. This was the second attack in Washington in two years. (Spokane Spokesman-Review 9/4/99)
2000
24 January. Clarence Hall, a hunter working for the Canadian government to kill problem wildlife, was attacked by the cougar he was about to hunt. The cougar had attacked a dog at the home of Cecelia and Barry Mack on the Nuxalk Indian Reserve in British Columbia the previous night. While Clarence was waiting for the rest of his hunting party, without his rifle, he was checking out tracks on the nearby Tatsquan Creek. (He left his rifle in his car since he wasn't tracking and because he was in town.)
Clarence noticed the cougar under a tree only 40' away, and tried to get back to his car. Due perhaps to his retreating action, the cougar attacked him on his neck, which felt like "being struck with a baseball bat." The cougar threw him to his back, bit again and shook him. Clarence shouted for help, then placed his hand over the cougar's lower jaw, with his thumb, forefinger and index finger behind its bottom canine teeth, which released its grip on his neck. He described:
Immediately, I envisioned the cougar ripping my belly open with its front claws. With my right hand, I pulled the cougar's head, neck and shoulder over my chest, rendering the front claws useless as I pinned the cougar's claws to my chest. I then instantly threw my left arm around the cougar's neck and shoulder.
Barry Mack then shot the cougar four times from only a foot away. When the cougar went limp, Clarence removed the cougar's teeth from Clarence's skull.
Clarence received over 100 stitches, and nearly lost his right hand, which fortunately has responded to therapy, leaving only some impairment.
Clarence Hall explains that the cougars in Bella Coola valley are starving, making them more prone to attack, because wolves have moved in and are depleting the deer population, the cougar's usual diet.
Source: The Daily Courier 4/3/00.
29 April. Victoria Martinez, a 4-year-old girl, was attacked by a mountain lion at Bartlett Lake in Arizona at ~7:30 p.m, 20 minutes after sunset. Her family was setting up their camp not far from the water. Her parents were putting the bedding in the tent, and Victoria and her brother were right outside the flap of the tent swatting at bugs when the lion attacked her from behind. The lion dragged her for about 15 yards in the dark, she got tangled in a thorn bush and her parents scared the lion off. When his son asked why it happened, the father replied, "We're in his [the lion's] house."
Unfortunately, Victoria was seriously injured. The lion crushed the back of her skull, nicked her carotid artery and put several deep puncture wounds in her torso. As of 7/21/00, Victoria is currently "doing very well considering all that she has been through".
A large male lion thought to be the attacker was later killed.
Source: 7/20/00 and 7/21/00 email from Stacey West (Victoria's aunt); Arizona Republic 5/1/00, 5/4/00.
3 May. "A small cougar" swiped its claw across the lower leg of Ken Jones while he was feeding the neighbor's cats near Siletz, Oregon. The cat retreated after Ken hit it in the head with a shovel three to four times. Although this doesn't sound like a typical cougar attack, and may have been a bobcat, officials found mountain lion tracks nearby. Source: Channel 6000 5/5/00.
2001
2 January. Frances Frost, a 30-year-old cross-country skier was killed by a mountain lion in Banff National Park while skiing alone around 1 p.m. on Cascade Fire Road, part of the Lake Minnewanka Loop. According to Park Chief Warden Ian Syme, "The cougar leapt on her back, bit her neck and I suspect that she may not even know what hit her." A healthy adult male cougar was later shot by wardens where her body was found.
This is the first death by cougar in the history of the Park, and in Alberta.
"This is the first time a cougar has even come close to threatening humans in the park in many years," said Park warden Doug Eastcott.
Park wardens think that elk, the main prey of wolves and cougars, have moved closer to Banff, and the cougars have followed. Syme said "This is resulting in normally wary cougars abandoning their natural fear of people, going further into the townsite to get at their food source, which is elk".
Source: Calgary Herald 1/3/01, 1/4/01; Banff Crag & Canyon News 1/3/01.
8 February. Jon Nostdal, 52, was attacked by a cougar while riding his bicycle in the dark from Port Alice, BC to where his tugboat was moored on the west coast of Vancouver Island. He heard the repeated clicking sound of the cougar's nails on the highway just before he sensed the presence of the cougar attacking him from behind.
The cougar attacked Jon's neck and knocked him off the bike. The hood of Jon's coat prevented initial injury, but on the ground the cougar continued attacking his neck. Elliot Cole, 39, saw the struggle, stopped his truck, yelled at the cougar, then hit the cougar with a bag filled with heavy binders, both to no avail. Elliot then began punching the cougar in the head, and finally pinned the cougar to the ground with Jon's bike. Both ran to Elliot's vehicle.
Jon was treated for bite marks on his head and several lacerations to his face, and remained in the hospital through the next day.
1988 (3 Reports found, including one death in British Columbia)
16 May. Jesse Sky Bergman, 9, was killed by a 4-year-old male cougar near Tofino, British Columbia. He had gone to visit his father about eight kilometres north of Tofino. His body was found badly mauled about the head. Paw prints indicated the cat had stalked him. Sources: (British Columbia Newspaper Awards) (Paul Beier's Table; 1991)
28 May. A 6-year-old girl (Fuller) was attacked by a 18-month-old cougar in Payson, Arizona. She was in a group of children within adult earshot, and she fought back. The cougar was shot and found to be below normal weight. Sources: (Arizona Republic 06/09/1988) (Paul Beier's Table; 1991)
25 June. A couple with a small son chased in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park in California. See this non-injury report HERE
1989 (3 Reports found including 1 death)
11 January. A 28-year-old man (Lucas) was attacked at about 10:00 p.m. by a by a 2-year-old female lion at Tofino, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island. The lion was shot and found to be underweight. Sources: (The Vancouver Province; 01/13/1989) (Paul Beier's Table; 1991)
29 April. At about 7:00 p.m., Joshua Walsh, age 5, was mauled by a mountain lion near Canyon Lake, some 30 miles northeast of Phoenix, Arizona. Without warning, and near a parking lot and boat dock filled with people, the mountain lion attacked Joshua, bit him on the head and began to shake him with its jaws and drag him away. Tim Walsh, Joshua's father, leaped down a 20-foot embankment, grabbed a rock, threw it and hit the lion on the head, scaring it. The lion dropped the boy. Joshua was air-lifted to Phoenix Children's Hospital where it took 100 stitches to close Joshua's head wounds, including re-attachment of his right ear which was nearly severed in the attack. Sources: (Phoenix Gazette, May 1, 1989, page A-1) (Paul Beier's Table; 1991) (Abundant Wildlife Society Of North America; Mountain Lion Fact Sheet by T. R. Mader, Research Director)
9 September. At least two and possibly three mountain lions attacked and killed 5-year-old Jake Thomas Gardipee of Missoula County, (Evaro) Montana, while he was riding a tricycle behind his home. Trapper, Francis Cahoon said Jake could have been killed by a female lion traveling with cubs or by a pair of yearling siblings. Searchers scared off an adult mountain lion when they found the boy's body. Another 52-pound yearling with blood on its paws and mouth was killed 100 yards away. Cahoon said that all they knew is that the cat killed was not the only cat that attacked Jake. Sources: (Deborah Frazier; ASSOCIATED PRESS; 09/13/89; 07/27/90) (Paul Beier's Table; 1991)
1990 (4 Reports found)
02 June. At about 6:00 p.m. a 28-year-old woman (Walters) jogging in Four Mile Canyon west of Boulder, Colorado, was confronted by two aggressive mountain lions. Initially, she stood her ground, shouted, and waved her arms, but when the 2 cougars continued to approach her, she scrambled up an embankment and climbed a tree. The cougars climbed after her, and the larger cougar raked the back of her leg with its claws. The terrified woman struck one animal with her foot and the other on the head with a branch. The cougars then left the tree and abandoned the site shortly afterward. Sources: (Colorado Division of Wildlife files) (Gary Gerhardt; Rocky Mountain News; 09/23/90) (Cougar Attacks on Humans in the United States And Canada; Paul Beier; 1991) (Paul Beier's Table; 1991)
July. A Montana state game warden stalked. See this non-injury report HERE
26 July. 9-year-old Scott O'Hare, of Dayton, Wyoming, was mauled in Glacier National Park, Montana, 50 miles northeast of Kalispell at about noon by a young female cat, who authorities said made an unprovoked attack. Park rangers tracked and killed the animal less than 100 yards from where the incident happened. The boy was flown to the hospital where he underwent surgery for deep cuts and puncture wounds in his head, face, neck and right arm. His parents filed a claim for $1 million against the National Park Service the following year. Sources: (Associated Press; Rocky Mountain News; 11/23/91) (Gary Gerhardt; Rocky Mountain News; 09/23/90) (Paul Beier's Table; 1991
16 May. Jesse Sky Bergman, 9, was killed by a 4-year-old male cougar near Tofino, British Columbia. He had gone to visit his father about eight kilometres north of Tofino. His body was found badly mauled about the head. Paw prints indicated the cat had stalked him. Sources: (British Columbia Newspaper Awards) (Paul Beier's Table; 1991)
28 May. A 6-year-old girl (Fuller) was attacked by a 18-month-old cougar in Payson, Arizona. She was in a group of children within adult earshot, and she fought back. The cougar was shot and found to be below normal weight. Sources: (Arizona Republic 06/09/1988) (Paul Beier's Table; 1991)
25 June. A couple with a small son chased in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park in California. See this non-injury report HERE
1989 (3 Reports found including 1 death)
11 January. A 28-year-old man (Lucas) was attacked at about 10:00 p.m. by a by a 2-year-old female lion at Tofino, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island. The lion was shot and found to be underweight. Sources: (The Vancouver Province; 01/13/1989) (Paul Beier's Table; 1991)
29 April. At about 7:00 p.m., Joshua Walsh, age 5, was mauled by a mountain lion near Canyon Lake, some 30 miles northeast of Phoenix, Arizona. Without warning, and near a parking lot and boat dock filled with people, the mountain lion attacked Joshua, bit him on the head and began to shake him with its jaws and drag him away. Tim Walsh, Joshua's father, leaped down a 20-foot embankment, grabbed a rock, threw it and hit the lion on the head, scaring it. The lion dropped the boy. Joshua was air-lifted to Phoenix Children's Hospital where it took 100 stitches to close Joshua's head wounds, including re-attachment of his right ear which was nearly severed in the attack. Sources: (Phoenix Gazette, May 1, 1989, page A-1) (Paul Beier's Table; 1991) (Abundant Wildlife Society Of North America; Mountain Lion Fact Sheet by T. R. Mader, Research Director)
9 September. At least two and possibly three mountain lions attacked and killed 5-year-old Jake Thomas Gardipee of Missoula County, (Evaro) Montana, while he was riding a tricycle behind his home. Trapper, Francis Cahoon said Jake could have been killed by a female lion traveling with cubs or by a pair of yearling siblings. Searchers scared off an adult mountain lion when they found the boy's body. Another 52-pound yearling with blood on its paws and mouth was killed 100 yards away. Cahoon said that all they knew is that the cat killed was not the only cat that attacked Jake. Sources: (Deborah Frazier; ASSOCIATED PRESS; 09/13/89; 07/27/90) (Paul Beier's Table; 1991)
1990 (4 Reports found)
02 June. At about 6:00 p.m. a 28-year-old woman (Walters) jogging in Four Mile Canyon west of Boulder, Colorado, was confronted by two aggressive mountain lions. Initially, she stood her ground, shouted, and waved her arms, but when the 2 cougars continued to approach her, she scrambled up an embankment and climbed a tree. The cougars climbed after her, and the larger cougar raked the back of her leg with its claws. The terrified woman struck one animal with her foot and the other on the head with a branch. The cougars then left the tree and abandoned the site shortly afterward. Sources: (Colorado Division of Wildlife files) (Gary Gerhardt; Rocky Mountain News; 09/23/90) (Cougar Attacks on Humans in the United States And Canada; Paul Beier; 1991) (Paul Beier's Table; 1991)
July. A Montana state game warden stalked. See this non-injury report HERE
26 July. 9-year-old Scott O'Hare, of Dayton, Wyoming, was mauled in Glacier National Park, Montana, 50 miles northeast of Kalispell at about noon by a young female cat, who authorities said made an unprovoked attack. Park rangers tracked and killed the animal less than 100 yards from where the incident happened. The boy was flown to the hospital where he underwent surgery for deep cuts and puncture wounds in his head, face, neck and right arm. His parents filed a claim for $1 million against the National Park Service the following year. Sources: (Associated Press; Rocky Mountain News; 11/23/91) (Gary Gerhardt; Rocky Mountain News; 09/23/90) (Paul Beier's Table; 1991
Thanks Nonya,
There is much made over statistics. The left says but compared to car/pedestrian collisions and bee stings, the cougar danger is way below that.
What I focus on is the trend.
If you look at cougar attacks going back 100+ years it's basically zero in anyones book. But in the last 15 years or so it way up compared to that trend.
TO ME, IT'S A WAKE UP CALL!!!
What change has taken place during these past 15 years. Well, simply we the human race has stopped in many areas chasing cougars with hounds. Coupled with this is a striking rebound in cougar numbers.
More cougars ........... little or no aversion training with respect to people ...... you know, "that old hound thing"!!!!!
Todays cougars view dogs as another spoke in the chuck wagon!
And that brings cougs to one's door step! ........... HABITUATION!!!!!!!!!!
BAD!!!!!!!!!!
Three 44s
There is much made over statistics. The left says but compared to car/pedestrian collisions and bee stings, the cougar danger is way below that.
What I focus on is the trend.
If you look at cougar attacks going back 100+ years it's basically zero in anyones book. But in the last 15 years or so it way up compared to that trend.
TO ME, IT'S A WAKE UP CALL!!!
What change has taken place during these past 15 years. Well, simply we the human race has stopped in many areas chasing cougars with hounds. Coupled with this is a striking rebound in cougar numbers.
More cougars ........... little or no aversion training with respect to people ...... you know, "that old hound thing"!!!!!
Todays cougars view dogs as another spoke in the chuck wagon!
And that brings cougs to one's door step! ........... HABITUATION!!!!!!!!!!
BAD!!!!!!!!!!
Three 44s
Rooster_Feather
Member
Nonya,
You have gone to great (emphasis on great) lengths to show that Mountain Lion attacks do happen. I accept that. However, I got lost in the point of your post other than for informational purposes only. Please understand that I am not trying to be rude. I just don't know if you were listing incidenses due to my post?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
My post was purely stating how I personally feel at this point in time concerning Lions in my area. I refuse to cage myself and kids up for fear of a danger that I feel is not that serious "yet". I stress "yet" because the Lion population may increase. There may be an attack on an individual or even a close call. But until that happens and the risk elevates, I feel that the amount of imminent danger is real but tolerable (for a lack of better words).
Now if my family gets attacked I will be the first to eat my words and be remorseful for not being better prepared.
Rooster
PS. I here that Japan has developed a new Nuclear Weapon that is pointed to Oklahoma. If deployed the state will become the Nations biggest lake. Does anyone know if it is better to live in my bomb shelter or move out of state? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif (That is a joke! No one take offense!!) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif
You have gone to great (emphasis on great) lengths to show that Mountain Lion attacks do happen. I accept that. However, I got lost in the point of your post other than for informational purposes only. Please understand that I am not trying to be rude. I just don't know if you were listing incidenses due to my post?? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
My post was purely stating how I personally feel at this point in time concerning Lions in my area. I refuse to cage myself and kids up for fear of a danger that I feel is not that serious "yet". I stress "yet" because the Lion population may increase. There may be an attack on an individual or even a close call. But until that happens and the risk elevates, I feel that the amount of imminent danger is real but tolerable (for a lack of better words).
Now if my family gets attacked I will be the first to eat my words and be remorseful for not being better prepared.
Rooster
PS. I here that Japan has developed a new Nuclear Weapon that is pointed to Oklahoma. If deployed the state will become the Nations biggest lake. Does anyone know if it is better to live in my bomb shelter or move out of state? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif (That is a joke! No one take offense!!) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif
Im sure every parent who lost a kid or had one attacked had a similar attitude before it happened,just wanted to let you it does happen and more and more often as their numbers increase and thier range spreads.Keep an eye on the kids if your seeing lions in broad daylight,if they dont fear you they see you as a possible food source.
Handirifle
New member
I'd rather my kids grow up and call me over protective and overbearing than for me to grow old after losing one like that.
If given the right conditions here in CA, I'll kill them on sight! They are decimating the deer herds here and already destroyed over 20 years of F&G efforts to re-establish desert sheep as well.
NONE of this happened in CA when hunting them was allowed.
If given the right conditions here in CA, I'll kill them on sight! They are decimating the deer herds here and already destroyed over 20 years of F&G efforts to re-establish desert sheep as well.
NONE of this happened in CA when hunting them was allowed.
Handirifle
New member
Yea I hope they set up a breeding ground in the backyards of our liberal state assembly pukes. One assy member tried to re-introduce limited seasons on them and they shot it down fast.
Maybe when one camps on the hood of their wives car it will make them change their minds!
Every deer season I see more cat tracks and less deer tracks.
Maybe when one camps on the hood of their wives car it will make them change their minds!
Every deer season I see more cat tracks and less deer tracks.
Longcruise
New member
Quote:
When his son asked why it happened, the father replied, "We're in his [the lion's] house."
That seems to pretty much reflect the apologist view that is so common these days whenever there are people/wildlife conflicts. Even the CO DOW reps seem to echo this point of view. The common statement made when bears invade communities or when lions kill people or livestock goes something like this; "humans are encroaching on their habitat"
But, consider the three colorado fatalities: Lancaster was killed near the town of Idaho Springs which has been there since the mid 1800's. The boy killed in RMN Park was not in an area of human expansion or a growing population. The boy killed in the Poudre Canyon was also in an area where human encroachment is not significant.
The human encroachment or the "it's our fault not theirs" attitude is eaten up by a public who are conditioned to think of we humans as being outside the realm of nature and even intruders on planet earth.
These animals are simply doing what they have always done; searching for and killing their next meal (just like us I guess /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif) When they wander into the town of Boulder just up the road from me and snack on the local dogs, it's not the dog owners fault! Neither is it the lion's fault. The concept of being at "fault" does not apply to lions. They are incapable of conceiving "good" and "bad" behaviour. They just do what lions do.
The "it's our fault" attitude reflects the disconnect that most of society has with nature and wildlife.
BTW, NONYA, there is one more recent colorado fatality. Several years ago a very young boy dissapeared while hiking with a group of older members of a church group in the poudre canyon near Rustic. The boy was searched for for many days and no sign ever found of him. Some supected foul play but no evidence was ever found. Several years later his clothing and bones were found on a steep slope not too far from the trail where he dissapeared. The evidence made it clear that he had been killed by a lion.
I don't think anyone who takes paricular precautions with small children in lion country are being overprotective in the least. Even though the "odds" are low for any individual to be attacked, those odds certainly go up for outdoorsman who spend more time with lions than the average person.
When his son asked why it happened, the father replied, "We're in his [the lion's] house."
That seems to pretty much reflect the apologist view that is so common these days whenever there are people/wildlife conflicts. Even the CO DOW reps seem to echo this point of view. The common statement made when bears invade communities or when lions kill people or livestock goes something like this; "humans are encroaching on their habitat"
But, consider the three colorado fatalities: Lancaster was killed near the town of Idaho Springs which has been there since the mid 1800's. The boy killed in RMN Park was not in an area of human expansion or a growing population. The boy killed in the Poudre Canyon was also in an area where human encroachment is not significant.
The human encroachment or the "it's our fault not theirs" attitude is eaten up by a public who are conditioned to think of we humans as being outside the realm of nature and even intruders on planet earth.
These animals are simply doing what they have always done; searching for and killing their next meal (just like us I guess /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif) When they wander into the town of Boulder just up the road from me and snack on the local dogs, it's not the dog owners fault! Neither is it the lion's fault. The concept of being at "fault" does not apply to lions. They are incapable of conceiving "good" and "bad" behaviour. They just do what lions do.
The "it's our fault" attitude reflects the disconnect that most of society has with nature and wildlife.
BTW, NONYA, there is one more recent colorado fatality. Several years ago a very young boy dissapeared while hiking with a group of older members of a church group in the poudre canyon near Rustic. The boy was searched for for many days and no sign ever found of him. Some supected foul play but no evidence was ever found. Several years later his clothing and bones were found on a steep slope not too far from the trail where he dissapeared. The evidence made it clear that he had been killed by a lion.
I don't think anyone who takes paricular precautions with small children in lion country are being overprotective in the least. Even though the "odds" are low for any individual to be attacked, those odds certainly go up for outdoorsman who spend more time with lions than the average person.
Cougardaville
New member
Quote:
Im sure every parent who lost a kid or had one attacked had a similar attitude before it happened,just wanted to let you it does happen and more and more often as their numbers increase and thier range spreads.Keep an eye on the kids if your seeing lions in broad daylight,if they dont fear you they see you as a possible food source.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Great job NONYA....your efforts are greatly appreciated /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif also I would add, think of all the attacks that are NOT reported or are still be investigated! I believe we only get to know the half of what is really going on. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
Im sure every parent who lost a kid or had one attacked had a similar attitude before it happened,just wanted to let you it does happen and more and more often as their numbers increase and thier range spreads.Keep an eye on the kids if your seeing lions in broad daylight,if they dont fear you they see you as a possible food source.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif Great job NONYA....your efforts are greatly appreciated /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif also I would add, think of all the attacks that are NOT reported or are still be investigated! I believe we only get to know the half of what is really going on. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
Radd4
When reading your post it seemed to me that you were asking for advice on how to continue the MOST important thing any of us hunters can do, pass on the tradition of hunting to the next generation. Therefore I gave you some ideas to make sure your son will continue to feel comfortable in the woods with you. I figured you, like myself, know how to take care of yourself and your own and contrary to popular opinion it does not involve “singing”.
Three 44s
You and some other members, IMHO, have hijacked this thread. You think people should be able to hunt ML in your State, great! I agree, if I lived in your state I would vote with you for your rights to protect your land and property.
But here is my gripe; you are trying to scare a guy in OK from taking his kid hunting as some kind of push to you to allow hunting of ML in your state. That’s selfish and wrong.
When reading your post it seemed to me that you were asking for advice on how to continue the MOST important thing any of us hunters can do, pass on the tradition of hunting to the next generation. Therefore I gave you some ideas to make sure your son will continue to feel comfortable in the woods with you. I figured you, like myself, know how to take care of yourself and your own and contrary to popular opinion it does not involve “singing”.
Three 44s
You and some other members, IMHO, have hijacked this thread. You think people should be able to hunt ML in your State, great! I agree, if I lived in your state I would vote with you for your rights to protect your land and property.
But here is my gripe; you are trying to scare a guy in OK from taking his kid hunting as some kind of push to you to allow hunting of ML in your state. That’s selfish and wrong.