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Post by ottawagardener on Feb 25, 2009 18:48:47 GMT -5
Well I am not a woodsman myself ... but at the time I was 15 and though I was raised in the country, I was not well informed about the 'do not run thing'. In fact the reason I ran was that I didn't really believe my instinct just wanted the sense of 'fear and being followed' to go away. What shocked me was that my senses were actually working but my instinct to run was in error.
I figure that the wolf followed me at a leisurely pace because I can't imagine that I could have outrun it. Probably just curious though between the glass door we were literally 3 feet away from each other and I could count its ribs.
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Post by utopiate on Feb 25, 2009 18:57:43 GMT -5
Could be interpreted in two ways.
With a bit more of the right stimulus it might have taken a bite. On the other hand, as with many cougar encounters, this may have been more curiosity, and a less experienced sub-adult animal. It does seem to verify that one isn't guaranteed to be torn to shreds in all cases, which may explain why that so rarely happens, since most people would and probably do run in such events.
It seems more likely that mature experienced animals would be prone to run away from you, in spite of other opinions here. Generally the selective process goes in favor of humans and against agressive animals over the course of tens of thousands of killings by rifle in more typical encounters. This represents a very active process of gene selection for avoidance of humans, rather than the attack of them.
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Post by americangardener on Feb 25, 2009 20:04:20 GMT -5
Well I am not a woodsman myself ... but at the time I was 15 and though I was raised in the country, I was not well informed about the 'do not run thing'. In fact the reason I ran was that I didn't really believe my instinct just wanted the sense of 'fear and being followed' to go away. What shocked me was that my senses were actually working but my instinct to run was in error. I figure that the wolf followed me at a leisurely pace because I can't imagine that I could have outrun it. Probably just curious though between the glass door we were literally 3 feet away from each other and I could count its ribs. You don't have to be a woodsman to learn about the creatures in your environment OG. I'm figuring the wolf wasn't running after you as much as it was stalking you. Normally wolves are pack animals and it does seem unusual that you'd of only seen one. At any rate.. wolves aren't as driven by instinct to attack as cats are. If it had been a pack of wolves you might not of stood a chance.. the group mentality might of been to surround you and then kill ya. But, like i said.. wolves are more driven by the feeding instinct than just chasing you because of their nature. Just like dogs.. and specifically pit bulls like Utop talked about earlier.. some animals do have that instinct to chase anything that runs though. Cats especially. It's always best to never run from any animal no matter what. I don't care if it's a mountain lion or a rhino or a bull... you'll never outrun an animal. Now a bull or rhino you might want to jump to the side though. You're not gonna get them to stop once they're charging. Those you just gotta outsmart. Sorry to say Utopiate.. OG's experience with a wolf in no way negates what i've been saying about mountain lions. Two entirely different creatures. Different habits and different instincts. I will have to say that a hunter that goes out hunting for something that is capable of killing them isn't very wise at all not to learn about the creature as well as any other dangers the environment might pose. Sure high powered rifles are handy.. but there are times where you could be tracking an animal and suddenly find yourself within a few feet of each other. Not everyone uses dogs when they hunt and your whole life could depend on how you move and when. And it's not even specific to just whatever you're hunting.. you should know all the dangers that exist around you. You might be hunting turkey and come across a mother bear with cubs. It's not even all about killing something either.. it's more about knowing your environment and what the different creatures reactions will be when they see you. How and why an animal will attack and under what circumstances. Wounded animals act differently than non wounded ones. Even a wounded deer will attack a human. If you know what makes an animal tick.. then you can know how to avoid being hurt. That's all i'm saying Utop. And i don't get into the scematics of whether a mountain lion is chasing you to kill you or just to maul the heall out of ya. It's still gonna hurt. And they're still gonna chase anything that runs.. that's a fact. I can see you have an affection for the lions.. I got no problem with that. You may not even believe me that i love all animals and that i only kill for food. I got no problem with you not beleiving me on those things. Those things don't matter. What does matter is telling someone not to worry about having their kids around the big furry pussy cats. Your advice could end up with someone being dead.. and that's the only problem i have. Granted you're right about mountain lions normally avoiding humans. Normally they wouldn't be anywhere near where people live. But, on the off chance someone here does come across one.. either in their own backyards or while out hiking.. i'd rather give them advice as to how to stay alive than to tell em statistics are that lions don't eat kids. If a lion is sick as you say.. that makes it all the more dangerous. When you think about it a kid can't be much of a challenge to catch when compared to a deer. And lions don't know they're not supposed to eat humans. I'm just trying to inform people here Utop.. not trying to scare anyone unneccessarily. You could be aware that an animal may kill ya if you run and still not be afraid to have it in your woods. The more you know the less you fear. Least that's the way i look at it. Dave |
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Post by ottawagardener on Feb 25, 2009 20:09:20 GMT -5
Of course not, I love learning about animals. I just meant that I am 'not a woodsman'  Anyhoo, I really like the fact that I have not been eaten by any animals so I can continue to love 'em. Did get bit by a very tiny dog once though - the little nipper. The giant puppy dog (mastiff) next door that our neighbour insisted on getting in the winter so it wouldn't be socialized to the kids that live on all three sides does seem to respond to me stopping and glaring at him when he barks though. Oh and there was once this horse that didn't like me (or any other women) so would lean as far as she could out of her stable to try and get a mouthful of my shirt.  |
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Post by lavandulagirl on Feb 25, 2009 23:16:05 GMT -5
Well, geez! I post something about a mountain lion, and don't come back to it for a couple days, and there are boys peeing all over my thread! 
Here's what the Animal Control guy who came around to the houses said:
1. The cougar was spotted running a neighborhood dog down. Dog made it to a spot under the porch that the cat couldn't reach.
2. Do not run from a cat if confronted. When walking, carry a stick, golf club, bat... something with which to swing at the animal if neccessary. Understand that by the time you've seen it, it has been watching you for awhile. Back away if possible, or stand still while the cat loses interest. Make noise and try to look larger than you are.
3. Don't think for a minute that you can save your pet or livestock animal. Small children should be picked up immediately if confronted by a cat, preferably without bending down to do so. Their own instinct will also be to run, and the cat will immediately follow. (Kind of like culling a fawn from the deer herd).
4. Be most vigilant at dawn and dusk. While the cougar is nocturnal, it's best hunting cover comes at these times.
All this said, there's an excellent chance that no one here at my house will see one. Seeing as our chickens aren't free range, but the neighbors' chickens are, and the guy down the hill has a big fat pregnant pygmy goat wandering his yard, I'm guessing the cat will go elsewhere for dinner.
Now, regarding the thing about mountain lions being extinct in Maine, or anywhere else on the east coast... bullshit. I've seen tracks in Massachussetts and Connecticut. Local areas in MA, I'm pretty sure, have kept bounty money on the books, too.
BTW... OttawaGardener... cool story. Not one I'd want to live, but cool! And Dan - thanks for the info... it's pretty much exactly what the wild animal guy told us. Now... let's all stop the pissing contest, shall we?
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Post by grunt on Feb 25, 2009 23:17:34 GMT -5
I won't wade into the arguments about wildlife here. I started going out on week long camping trips by myself at 10 years old, in the south Okanogan, and I don't mean out in the back yard. I live less than 20 miles from where a woman was pulled off of her horse and killed by a cougar, in a province that has had a lot of cougar attacks in the past few years, and where bears are showing up in the suburbs on a regular basis, and coyotes keep thinning out the cats and small dogs. I have only once been a little more than nervous about cougars, and that was over 50 years ago, and a unique situation. But I am always aware of the possibility of animals being in the area, and when I see them, I watch them at least long enough to discern whether they are acting characteristically normal, and what their intent seems to be. You don't have to be afraid of most of the animals that normally get tagged as dangerous, if you keep your head about you, and they are acting in a "normal" fashion. It's when they don't act characteristically, for what ever reason, that you should start to get real nervous.
And fellas, this is supposed to be a friendly forum. If you want to go at each other in PMs, do so, but let's leave the rancor out of it in public, no matter how wrong you think the other guy is.
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Post by silverseeds on Jul 8, 2009 19:30:00 GMT -5
I wouldnt recommend this to anyone but it is true. I have some very remote land, in the mountains.
Ive seen three mountain lions, the first, just walked by about 5 feet away, while I was sitting in my truck listening to the radio.
I saw something moving so I turned on my lights and it didnt seem to care, just kept walking. the second time I was hiking and saw it up on a rock above me, it looked at me as a housecat would, not paying me much attention, it just put its head back down and presumably went back to sleep.
the last time I was with my wife walking I didnt hear anything but I sure felt it. The hair stood up on the back of my neck, I whipped around and threw my wife behind me. there was a cat about 20 feet away it looked as if it was stalking us. and still was. I started getting pretty scared. then the cat looked happy, and slowly resumed it pace for a few steps. So in a instant I resigned myself to death, I had a knife in one hand and I picked up a buig rock never loosing eye contact with the cat. I seriously just let go. I started growling, all this was happening with out ANY thought so dont judge me. I took a step towards it, by now it looked a little concerned. Then I let out this wild howl like some werewolf man beast. or something. Im not joking I tried this before on purpose for fun I couldnt do it, but this time I must have connected to my primal core. the cat really looked worried now,but now instead of me seemed to want my wife, it started circling. So I charged it. It ran instantly with a insane look of HOLY CRAP, what the hell is this. All the while I was screaming.
When we turned around to go back, I followed the tracks it had followed us atleast 2 miles, or maybe found the track and followed them Im not sure. I know most wont believe me and I dont care merely relating a story as stange to me as it likely is to you. I wasnt thinking during most of this except the part where I went from fear to decidingit was me or the cat, I was going to use my last breath cutting its throat out so my wife would live.
I have no idea what I would have done if it didnt run when I charged it, luckily it did. I am 100 percent convinced these cats can read minds. which I think is why during this whole thing I had thrown every thought out except its death.
PLEASE DO NOT FOLLOW THIS AS ADVICE IF YOU DIE DOING THIS IT IS NOT MY FAULT I am merely relating a story.
another time I was hiking by myself, and looked to my left and realised I was not far from a fox who was hunting something I couldnt see. I dont know exactly what it was doing, maybe following a track. I was a rocky area so I walked across the rocks, I was going to try to "count coo" on the fox. unfortunately it heard me when I was less then ten feet from me. I muight have been able to lunge, but I didnt bother. He looked at me with pure shock, not fear at all, just a completly comical, WTF.... lol
and he bounded away. looking back still wondering what the heck I was let alone what I was doing
I now carry a .357
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Post by lavandulagirl on Jul 8, 2009 20:34:01 GMT -5
Actually, acting in an aggressive manner, at least to a certain extent, sounds pretty smart. Mountain lions are apex predators. I would imagine it'd be quite a surprise to them to be prey, of a fashion.
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Post by silverseeds on Jul 8, 2009 21:15:04 GMT -5
I went back and read some of the other posts, so I wanted to make another, there was a mountasin lion, a couple years before I moved here, Ive been told about that DID bound off with a little boy. Luckily some people chased it, It ran the boy up over a hill, then turned with the boy stashed in the brush, and the same hunter the family kept getting into it with for hunting on their land was up in a tree right after it dropped he boy the hunter dropped the M. lion. The boy wasnt as badly hurt as yuou might imagine. And he lived. Im not sure the specifics thats how it was told to me.
Another thing that happened while I did live here was a older native american ladyin her 80s apparently had th door of her mobile home ripped off by a bear. It went straight into her house and ate her. I heard this onlocal fm radio and when I say local I mean a station maybe 3 or 4 thousand could possibly hear, but being directed to a town of native americans numbering like 500 or so. So 2 years later I was working with a girl from that town. She said nothing happens in her town and I answered didnt a bear eat some old lady? She looked at me shocked, and said How did you know that. I told her I had land out there and heard it on the radio. I asked her if they ever got the bear. she said no. so we kept talking and I asked her if it ever got someone else. Long story short noone ever went after the bear. Apparently this lady was a bear women or something that she wouldnt explain all the way, her spirit animal or something, she had cooked food, put it on her window sill, waiting for the bear apparently according to the girl. take it as you will I am merely relating it to you. I think its pretty interesting either way.
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Post by Darth Slater on Nov 4, 2009 0:10:16 GMT -5
In my neighborhood. It's dark, and stormy, and the chickens are snug in their coop, I think. The cat and the dogs will not be going out if I can help it. A good night for sitting in by the fire and drinking copious amounts of red wine. I'll be spending a good deal of time over the next few days freaking out when i go out to the hens in the early morning. Are you single? I know how to deal with those big cats i had a run in in the back 40, Yeah right, the D.N.R says there are none in MICH. I Know what a cougar looks like, The 4 and 2 leggers!! ;D Darth Slater |
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Post by lavandulagirl on Nov 5, 2009 8:33:10 GMT -5
Sorry, Darth... Happily married. I believe you that they're in Michigan, though... I've seen sign in Western Massachussetts, where they supposedly aren't, as well.
There was a mountain lion here in town this week... some lady heard what she thought was a weird raccoon noise on her porch, and there was a cougar sitting on her doormat when she turned on the light! Don't feed your pets on the porch, folks. You're just creating a fast food joint at your back door for larger animals.
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Post by flowerpower on Nov 6, 2009 6:17:43 GMT -5
I don't keep any food on the decks, just planters. I do see animals up there at times. A coon, porcupine, and fox. When the snow is really high, the fox will cut across the deck to avoid the drifts.
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Post by dirtsunrain on Nov 6, 2009 12:55:19 GMT -5
There has been a few reported sightings of big kitties here on the Island so the paper is offering $500 to anyone who can get a photo. So far, no one has claimed the prize.
I live alone and prowl the woods every day. I wild forage and I check for stray cattle. I dont carry a gun but I never go anywhere with my collies. I'd feel naked in the woods without a dog or 3.
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Post by stratcat on Nov 6, 2009 13:24:35 GMT -5
The DNR has confirmed this week that the photo taken by a trail camera in the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan is indeed a cougar! DNR has also verified tracks of a cougar near DeTour and another set near Gulliver.
Here, in the Lower Peninsula, we have sightings of some big, black cats that are probably cougar.
john
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