I have had no desire to go hiking in cat country since reading the story below. Fortunately Kansas says there are no cougars in the state, except for the one the farmer just killed a couple months ago.
Killer Cougars
By Don Zaidle
A tragic attack in british columbia underscores the failed logic of preservationists who turned mountain lion management into a ballot-box issue
Feb 1, 2001
On August 19, 1996, 36-year-old Cindy Parolin and three of her children were riding horses in the Similkameen backcountry, 30 miles northwest of Princeton, British Columbia. Like their mother, 6-year-old Steven, 11-year-old Melissa and 13-year-old David felt a mixture of wonder and excitement as they traveled through the vast wilderness. The four were headed to a cabin to join Parolin's husband and other son for a camping vacation.
As the family rode along, the horses grew increasingly nervous. The cause became starkly clear when a cougar suddenly launched itself from the undergrowth at Steven. The animal missed its mark, landing on the horse just in front of the boy's saddle. The great cat scrambled to hold onto the horse's neck but lost its grip and fell to the ground.
Undaunted, the snarling cougar leapt again and attempted to pull Steven from the saddle. This time it got away with only a sock and shoe, but the contortions of the spooked horse caused the boy to fall to the ground. The cat was on the youngster in an instant, wrapping the struggling child in a clawed death-grip.
Parolin watched the unfolding scene in horror as the cat bared its fangs and then bit into the boy's skull. A knowledgeable outdoorswoman and avid hunter, she knew that her son would be dead in a matter of seconds -- his neck broken, skull crushed or artery lacerated in the lion's terrible jaws. If only she had her rifle...but hunting season was weeks away, and
Canadian firearms laws made off-season carry all but impossible. She had to act quickly.
Screeching a primal scream, the desperate mother leapt from her mount and rushed to Steven's aid.
With adrenaline-fueled strength, Parolin broke a stout limb from a fallen tree and clubbed the cat away from the child. Now the lion turned its full attention to her, opening a terrible gash on her arm with a swipe of its paw. Spurred by maternal instincts, Parolin fought back. Woman and cougar melded into a blur of flashing claws, teeth and flailing fists as they wrestled on the ground.
Still thinking of her children, the embattled mother screamed for David and Melissa to grab Steven and run for help. The horses had scattered in the melee, so the older siblings half-carried their bleeding brother more than a mile back down the trail to the family car.
Melissa stayed with Steven in the vehicle while David ran to a nearby campsite for help. He enlisted the aid of Jim Manion, who, directed by David, drove to the scene. It had now been more than an hour since his mother had clubbed the cat off his younger brother. On arriving, Manion heard the mother's screams. Moving toward the agonized sounds, he came upon Cindy Parolin, still battling the cougar. She turned to Manion, a look of raging defiance in her eyes.
"Are my children all right?"
"Yes," Manion answered.
On hearing they were okay, she said in a half-whisper, "I am dying now."
Parolin collapsed, but the cat still savaged her body. Although Manion had armed himself with a 12-gauge pump shotgun, he had been afraid to shoot at the cougar for fear of hitting the woman. He fired into the ground nearby, hoping to scare the lion off her limp body. It worked. Now the cougar left the unconscious woman and advanced on Manion.
As the lion slinked toward him, Manion tried to cycle a fresh round into the chamber but his gun jammed. He backed up toward his pickup, desperately working to clear the weapon as the cougar came on.
At the last moment Manion cleared the gun and jacked in a fresh round just as the lion charged. With no time to aim, he leveled the scattergun at the cat and fired from the hip. The charge caught the cougar a bit far back, but it was enough. The lion veered off to the side and disappeared into the dense brush along the road. Later, wildlife officers would find the dead animal lying about 150 feet from the trail.
Manion rushed to Parolin's aid, but she was beyond help, having traded her life for that of her son. Steven survived the near scalping inflicted by the cougar and made a full recovery after receiving 70 stitches in his head. Cindy Parolin was awarded the Star of Courage medal posthumously by the Governor General of Canada.
http://www.outdoorlife.com/article/Hunting/Killer-Cougars
Good thing Canadians can't carry handguns at all and rifles off-season.
umm, ok....I guess. 
