Mountain Lion Attacks

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Grumulkin

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I read this on "Outdoor News" this morning:

"Mountain lion attacks are rare in Colorado, where their population is strong – 16 people have been injured and three killed by mountain lions in the state since 1990."

I wouldn't call 16 people injured and 3 killed "rare." I guess maybe it's rare if it doesn't happen to you.
 
A chap near Ft Collins was attacked by a juvenile mountain lion last week while running on trails. He did all the right stuff - made noise, made himself big, backed away slowly, but it jumped him and tried to bite his head. Fellow managed to jam his forearm into the lion's mouth and then got both arms around the lion's neck and choked it to death. Animal control tested and no sign of rabies. The 1 year old mountain lion weighed about 100 lbs.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...horsetooth-mountain-park-colorado/2775407002/
 
My family has been dealing with these guys since 1986, when I came face-to-face with one while hiking at age 10. My father had to discharge his .357 Service-Six to stop a probable attack in the mid-90's behind our house. I had to chase one out of our driveway just last year. My defensive carry of handguns started at age 13 because of cats.
 
Well, the good thing is that any carry caliber, even .380, can save you from a lion. They're not hard to kill. I carry for the much higher likelihood of an attack from a two legged predator, so I'm always armed and we don't even have any lion around here. :D My wife insists she's seen one, but I think she's dreaming.

There was a kid attacked in the Big Bend basin some years ago. His dad jumped on the cat with a pocket knife. I don't know if they ever found that cat, but there was a big time drought going on at the time and that kid probably offered more meat than one of those Carmen Mountain whitetails.
 
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We have them here-found the tracks myself, and warned all the neighbors. I was content to supplement my walks with my usual carry, a .45 ACP, which would be an easy kill on a lion. Now, unfortunately, a friend of mine had a black bear on his deck, same area as me. We're supposed to have them, but nobody had actually seen one. Until now. And a few got pictures that appeared in the weekly local paper. So now, I guess, it's back to 10mm for those dedicated hikes.
 
Three for sure, maybe four cougar attacks in Big Bend National Park. The attack on the kid was actually an attack on two kids. One of them had extensive facial damage. The father drove the cougar off with a stick. The lion was killed the next day, in a tree near the attack scene. There was a deer carcass close by.

Roy McBride was hired to use his dogs to capture and radio-collar lions in BBNP, mostly the Chisos. They expected four cougars. He caught 22 cougars. This was back around 1980.
 
A friend of mine was stationed in cali with the USMC. Marines who lived in base housing were advised not to allow children to play outside (even with a fenced yard) due to these things.
 
Well I shot one here in New York about 8 years ago, ny will say we don't have lions.
There are still jaguarundis in NW Florida and southern Alabama. Friends have caught them on trail cams and my neighbor who works for a power company saw one cross an access road while working in the early AM. FWC will claim they are all gone. There is no mention of them in the hunting regs. But if you shoot one of these non-existent things and get caught, you will probably be in some serious trouble.
 
There are still jaguarundis in NW Florida and southern Alabama. Friends have caught them on trail cams and my neighbor who works for a power company saw one cross an access road while working in the early AM. FWC will claim they are all gone. There is no mention of them in the hunting regs. But if you shoot one of these non-existent things and get caught, you will probably be in some serious trouble.

Any non-native exotic in Florida is allowed to be taken unless specifically prohibited (like mute swans). Tegus, anacondas, nutria, etc. are all OK to humanely destroy. Migratory birds that are "accidental" like Bahama pintails and Egyptian geese are also not protected. Since jaguarundis are not native to Florida, they should be fair game.
 
I wouldn't call 16 people injured and 3 killed "rare." I guess maybe it's rare if it doesn't happen to you.

I don't know, 19 in 28 years isn't that many. Especially considering the number of people going into mountain lion territory for recreation in Colorado, and doing so on a regular basis. And also considering that many are jogging/running/cycling along (sometimes with ear buds in), oblivious to the wildlife around them.
 
We have lots of black bears in New England, mostly Vermont, New hampshire,and Maine, occasionally they will wander into Massachusetts and cause a media frenzy. I've heard of mountain lion sightings also, but wildlife experts say that they" dont exist in New England". Yeah sure!
That guy in Colorado was lucky
 
Aside from BBNP, south Brewster County assays pretty high in cougars. A neighbor had one grab his housecat in mid-day. I was a few hundred yards from home, late one night, and my headlights caught a cougar headed for home with a jackrabbit in its mouth. From tracks, I saw where a mama cougar had caught a quail; I guess teaching the cub that was with her.

Wandering across a ranch some three miles north of my house, I saw tracks of five different cougars, all made within the previous 24 hours.

I can't say for sure, but based on what I've seen and from what others have told me, it's common for a mama cougar to stake out a mountain as her home base. There will be a small area where she takes critters home to eat. Over time that creates what I call a "cougar's dining room" from all the bones in that small area. Sawmill Mountain, a mile west of my house; Cigar Mountain, a mile to the south and Maverick Mountain, east of the Study Butte Store. You can find all these on Google Earth.
 
Well yea, there are places where they may well be "rare". Sort of like alligator attacks in Oregon. Very "rare". But in states with any sort of decent population they attack with a fair amount of "rareness".
 
I don't know, 19 in 28 years isn't that many.
My thoughts exactly. That works out to, on average, one attack every 1.5 years. Pretty rare.

For comparison, on average there is one injury or death from lightning strikes every 23 days in Colorado.
Well yea, there are places where they may well be "rare". Sort of like alligator attacks in Oregon. Very "rare". But in states with any sort of decent population they attack with a fair amount of "rareness".
Since Colorado is third on the list of states ranked by the most mountain lions killed per year (falling behind only Idaho and Montana), it seems reasonable to assume that there is a good sized population of lions in the state.
 
I don't know, 19 in 28 years isn't that many. Especially considering the number of people going into mountain lion territory for recreation in Colorado, and doing so on a regular basis. And also considering that many are jogging/running/cycling along (sometimes with ear buds in), oblivious to the wildlife around them.

How many were attacked by bears during the same time period, in the same areas doing the same things?
 
I was mule deer hunting with several people in the early 1980's in western Colorado when one of the guys was walking on a high narrow ledge under a steep cliff when a cougar came out of a recess in the rock and slapped him in the leg as it ran away. I can't remember for sure but the guy was either taken to Norwood or Delores to get the cut sewn up.

I had a strange thing happen to me here in Oklahoma about 20 years ago. It had been reported that more than one cougar was in the area and I had been able to get a plaster cast of one footprint. I was traveling in the dark in a large pasture going to a deer stand and I noticed right up front that the cattle were nervous. Really nervous cattle will run, then stop and stand and bellow, and then run again. This had been going on for several minutes and as I walked into a deep drainage I heard a sound that sent chills down my back. It was really close to me and I stood in the dark and I listened as it moved away. I never did know for sure that it was a cougar but it very well could have been. I have never seen a cougar in the wild but I think I was within a few yards of one.
 
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How many were attacked by bears during the same time period, in the same areas doing the same things?

I don't know. I haven't counted the events. Have you? But here's an interesting list: https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/black-bear-and-cougar-attacks-in-colorado-1960-2011

In Colorado (unless you believe the rumors of Grizzlies still existing in the Southern mountain range), we only have Black bears. And I don't think they have the same chase response as mountain lions. They're also omnivores, and I haven't heard of Black bears chasing down deer as being typical behavior in Colorado (though perhaps it is). I know mountain lions do it though. I also know deer are quite common in some of the areas frequented by trail runners and mountain bikers. I know because I see them. I also see a lot of bear scat, but again bears aren't primarily predators around these parts, from what I know. But bears are more likely to invade campsites and come around rural dwelling looking for food than mountain lions are.

Different animals. Different behavior. I'm not sure what the point of comparing attack rate between the two proves or doesn't.
 
I read this on "Outdoor News" this morning:

"Mountain lion attacks are rare in Colorado, where their population is strong – 16 people have been injured and three killed by mountain lions in the state since 1990."

I wouldn't call 16 people injured and 3 killed "rare." I guess maybe it's rare if it doesn't happen to you.

Yeah, sort of like getting his by a meteor/ite/oid is rare, if it doesn't happen to you.

So Colorado has grown from 3.3 million people in 1990 to 5.6 million in 2017, plus, just for sake of interest, in 2107 alone, Colorado 86 million tourists visit the state...and there have been a whole 19 people injured or killed by mountain lions in 29 years?. That is pretty doggone rare.
 
A couple of pit bulls or. in my case mastiffs and you will gain alertness to their presence and two capable buddies coming to your defense :) I don't leave home without them. You will want a spayed female and an un-neutered male.

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It seems like you are more likely to be struck by lightning, bitten by a poisonous snake, or attacked by a shark. Unless, obviously, you don't go into the water. The thing is, I know people who have been snakebit and 2 that were struck by lightning.
 
It seems like you are more likely to be struck by lightning, bitten by a poisonous snake, or attacked by a shark. Unless, obviously, you don't go into the water. The thing is, I know people who have been snakebit and 2 that were struck by lightning.

A couple of my Mastiffs were snake bit by med cottonmouths / water mocassins. I didn't notice until close inspection, probably a few days to a week later. Fangs approx 1" apart. No apparent symptoms. The Mastiffs ranged from 200 lbs to 250 lbs.
 
I had an acquaintance who walked along her lake shore early every morning. She was found dead in the water with her arm missing. The next day the FWC killed a gator with her arm in it. Gator attacks are rare too. ..... Try telling that to her.
 
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