Cougars - of the genuine feline type

[Eden]

So the other day I got out the cross bike and went riding on trails for an hour with a teammate. After that I decided to go check out a park I'd never been to by myself. I was having a pretty good time and enjoying the peace until I started thinking about the number of recent cougar sightings in the area...... and then started to think that me on a bike in the woods probably looks like a handy single serving package to a big kitty....

Am I being a little ridiculous?

[Cataboo]

Let's hope you're being ridiculous and a cougar never pounces on you while riding.

[shootingstar]

There have been several cougar attacks on Vancouver Island (and on the mainland near Vancouver). Several this year.

1 of the attacks was on a cyclist on his bike. As reported in a national tv channel:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1025816116133_21225316//

We did see the rare cougar from afar in..Vermont woods near an urban area. Actually it was across a brook from a restaurant where we were eating.

[colby]

Supposedly the cougar was more interested in little snacks than human snacks. I'm not sure that would make me more excited to encounter one. I'd be googling the top speed of a cougar and making sure I was faster ;)

http://twitter.com/microsoftcougar :p

[salsabike]

I have always read that it's best to make yourself look big and wave your arms and yell a lot, but NOT to go faster! Triggers a cat-prey response. I don't know how true this is, but I think I read it on an REI "bears and cougars" website post. Given what we know about cats, the loud scary noise part makes sense, as does the don't-inspire-a-chase part. However, that obviously has limited value if one sees you going fast, I suppose.

[Eden]

Indeed - it wouldn't worry me as much if they were more like bears. Bears don't tend to stalk people. You can get attacked if you come upon one and don't know how to act, but if you are noisy enough you'll probably never even see one. With cougars I doubt very much that until they pounce on you, that you even know they are near.....

I hadn't really given it much thought until recently - they caught that cougar in Discovery park, there was a cougar attack on a boy (though that was in a much more remote area) and there really was a sighting near Microsoft...

[salsabike]

Yeah, the advice on bears vs. cougars is quite different. Here is something much like the post I read a few years ago on REI:

http://www.mountainlion.org/facts_safety.asp

Mountain Lion Safety Tips

Encounters with cougars are rare. But if you live, work or recreate in cougar habitat, there are things you can do to enhance your safety and that of friends and family.
1. When it comes to personal safety, always be aware of your surroundings, wherever you are; conduct yourself and attend to children and dependents accordingly.
2. Landscape for safety. Remove vegetation that provides cover for cougars. Remove plants that attract wildlife (deer, raccoons, etc.). By attracting them you naturally attract their predator the cougar.
3. Don't feed wildlife. Don't leave pet food outside. Both may attract cougars by attracting their natural prey.
4. Keep pets secure. Roaming pets are easy prey for cougars.
5. Confine and secure any livestock (especially at night) in pens, sheds, and barns.
6. Don't approach a cougar. Most cougars want to avoid humans. Give a cougar the time and space to steer clear of you.
7. Supervise children, especially outdoors between dusk and dawn. Educate them about cougars and other wildlife they might encounter.
8. Always hike, backpack, and camp in wild areas with a companion.
9. Never run past or from a cougar. This may trigger their instinct to chase. Make eye contact. Stand your ground. Pick up small children without, if possible, turning away or bending over.
10. Never bend over or crouch down. Doing so causes humans to resemble four-legged prey animals. Crouching down or bending over also makes the neck and back of the head vulnerable.
11. If you encounter a cougar, make yourself appear larger, more aggressive. Open your jacket, raise your arms, throw stones, branches, etc., without turning away. Wave raised arms slowly, and speak slowly, firmly, loudly to disrupt and discourage predatory behavior.
12. Try to remain standing to protect head and neck and, if attacked, fight back with whatever is at hand (without turning your back) people have utilized rocks, jackets, garden tools, tree branches, and even bare hands to turn away cougars.

[shootingstar]

Advice reminder is good stuff.

In the article link that I gave, near the end of article it is mentioned that a skier near Banff National Park was killed by a cougar.

That was at http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/city/story.html?id=350d3c19-69df-4781-817f-a6d7e77c0c24 at Lake Minnekawa. Banff National Park has a number of lakes and wilderness areas. The incident happened 1 day before we went hiking in the same area. We were probably hiking around 10-15 kms. away from where she was cross-country skiing alone. She was a local resident who was accustomed to skiing in the area.

We found out about the incident after our hike because we saw access to the victim's area, closed off by police and park authorities.

[teigyr]

Supposedly the cougar was more interested in little snacks than human snacks. I'm not sure that would make me more excited to encounter one. I'd be googling the top speed of a cougar and making sure I was faster ;)

http://twitter.com/microsoftcougar :p

Eden is pretty small :D And we don't want her attacked by a cougar, genuine or otherwise.

[Biciclista]

Eden, I guess we better get you an Elecktra bike to slow you down. Then you will be safe. :cool::D

[limewave]

There's a couple that I mountain bike with sometimes and the husband is very nervous about Bears. We ride at our own pace, and since he is faster, he'll always be a little ways ahead of us. Every few minutes we'll hear a "yelp." Its him, making his "big noise" to let the Bear's know we're coming so as not to sneak up on them.

I giggle every time.

On another note, I was road riding a few weeks ago and I saw my first Bobcat! Ran right in front of me and a big descent. Scared the bajeebers out of me.

[LilBolt]

I commute from Redmond to Bellevue, and have had similar worries run thru my imagination. I had a dream that a cougar was hanging out along the Samammish Trail and jumped out of the darkness at me. I wonder if lots of flashing blinkies will keep them away? ;)

When I lived in SoCal, one mtb rider was killed and another seriously mauled on a trail near my home. That has stuck with me & I figure if the wildlife is bold or desperate enough to get that close to people, they are fearless. Maybe I shouldn't wear wool this time of year...might be mistaken for a small sheep.

[SadieKate]

Having done a lot of mtbiking in Nor Cal in mtn lion territory and have seen them, would I ride alone? No.

Commute on a paved trail in suburbia? Probably because there are a lot more readily available tasty snacks, like little Fifi.

[teigyr]

I'm actually siding with the wildlife. Not that I want anyone to be eaten, granted. We're in the animal food chain and we are kind of prey only we think we're not.

Am not advocating cougar attacks.

Am also thinking children would be FAR tastier :D

[Eden]

I'm not so worried about riding along the roads in suburbia - but riding in the actual woods a bit outside of suburbia..... the number of cougars showing up in the burbs recently makes me think the woods may be getting a bit crowded....

[Trekhawk]

If it was me I would not ride alone. When I lived in Nor Cal lots of the areas we mtb in had signs warning about Cougars. That was enough to scare the bejeepers out of me so I never went out in the bush alone. I think it is probably wise to err on the side of caution.:)

[Starfish]

I also recently heard a radio interview with another cyclist charged by a cougar. He was mountain biking, and there was one way in and out of the area he was headed. He heard some noises behind him, and there was a cougar on the trail between him and his exit route. He held his bike over his head, made himself look large, etc. Eventually the cougar went back into the woods.

But, then he had to get out. He waited a long time, then cautiously went back the way he had come. Again, he heard noises, and the cougar charged back out at him from off the trail. He stayed on his biked and yelled at it, and it ran away.

But, he said it was terrifying. Also, it obviously had hung around and was willing to at least do another half-hearted run at him.

We have a lot of cougars in my area, and it is always on my mind. Most people I know who mountain bike and hike go armed. Depending where I'm headed on my road bike, so do I.

[Biciclista]

well, if you have to shoot, aim for the sky. There are just not that many cougars :(

[salsabike]

[QUOTE=Biciclista;465796]well, if you have to shoot, aim for the sky. There are just not that many cougars :([/QUO

I couldn't agree more. And we're pushing them out of their habitats by developing those areas.

[newfsmith]

Shoot before you have to, and you can aim for the sky, hoping to scare them away. Wait until you "have to" and you have to shoot to kill. Nothing is worse than wounding wildlife.

[Drtgirl]

Nope, you're not the only one- I'm always a little anxious when I ride alone in the woods. I spend a lot of time riding Tiger Mtn and Grand Ridge and figure that I'll eventually run into some wildlife. However, on those trails I'm more worried about coming across some sketchy guy than cougars or bears.

[SlowButSteady]

I, too, have those nervous thoughts...often cycling alone on remote country roads. And I don't live in lion country. I suspect it's because I am a member of the advocacy group Eastern Cougar Foundation and track lion sightings outside of what is considered normal lion range.

But this just goes to show how vulnerable we really can be--a 19 year old woman hiking alone in a national park was killed by two coyotes:

http://www.thetelegram.com/index.cfm?sid=298321&sc=79