For years, there have been those who argued that cougars weren't actually dangerous to humans. They brought up the point that no cougar had killed anyone in Oregon (though they had to concede they had in other states). In 1994, this viewpoint led to a ballot measure, passed mostly by city voters, to ban hunting cougars with dogs-- about the only effective way they can be hunted.
The ban has led to many more cougar in rural areas, such as where I live. Sometimes there has been concern when a cougar is seen hanging around a school, but in general the view has been the same-- cougar danger to human is not that big a deal and much exaggerated.
The photo is from a wildlife cam about a ridge over from our farm. It's not common to see five cougar together. This might've been a family.
Where we live, on the edge of wilderness, it is not uncommon to see cougar tracks or their kills. I've seen a cougar in the wild when I was a girl but not here. When we still had teens at home, they had been hiking on the hill above our house, heard the sound of a branch cracking in the brush. They then had something follow them down the hill. They didn't ever see it, but a cougar was most likely.
Cougar will track prey quite a ways as they are waiting for the right spot, but they are also curious. More recently, neighbors told us they saw one walk up the gravel road in front of our house. That's beside our mailbox and about fifty feet from the front door.
Sometimes, we observe our cattle herd bunching instead of their more casual way of sleeping-- with their calves in the middle. They know something, but so far, we don't think we've had a calf killed by them. The herd has enough size to protect itself.
Locally, their kills are generally deer, but the house up the gravel road lost a ram to one. Because our sheep are kept closer to the barns, we don't know we've had a cougar kill one. They could take a lamb with them. They like to cache their kills. The thing to remember is they have to kill to live. They are predators looking for opportunity.
Camping has had us in their country, and while hunting deer, my husband went into one of their dens in Eastern Oregon. Seeing them in a zoo, I very much appreciate their physical beauty and grace but never forget-- they are predators.
This week, Oregon has a new story regarding cougar.
Here's the thing for those folks who thought a cougar would never attack a human. Why wouldn't they? If we don't have weapons, if they don't have previous experiences of being threatened by us, we are prey species. Yes, we are also predator, but where it comes to teeth and claws, we don't have much to offer in the way of defense. Despite that, there have been many confrontations with cougars that ended with the cougar backing off-- far more than kills.
So, if confronted with one, make yourself big, don't run, look them in the eyes, yell, and if it attacks anyway, fight back. The sister of the woman killed said the authorities told her that her sister had wounds indicating she had fought for her life, but it wasn't enough. It's one of those times where you can't guarantee an outcome.
our photos from the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum
Because I'd read books about recorded cougar attacks, I used one in my Arizona historicals, Forbidden Love (previously Arizona Dawn). The hero and heroine are in a narrow mountain canyon. He is used to the ways of the wilderness, has talked to her as they rode north about how a cougar kills, but at this moment, he has been distracted by her:
Before he could take a step toward Grace, he heard the sound of a pebble bouncing off the wall of the cliff. Moving as fast as he could, he leaped toward her thrusting her away with his left arm as he pulled his gun from its holster.The long golden body of the cougar had made a smooth leap from a ledge where it had been hidden behind the sycamore’s branches. Rafe had no time to pull the trigger before putting his own body between her and the big cat.When it landed on him, throwing him to the ground, he felt the rip of the claws into his left shoulder, tearing cloth and flesh. He jammed his gun into the beast’s belly and pulled the trigger. It couldn’t be a killing shot, but he needed that mouth away from his neck. His second bullet went directly into its heart-- stopping it.As he pushed the dead body from him, he felt a surge of pain from the gouges in his skin. She was with him and unbuttoning his shirt, pulling it off his shoulder. “So much blood,” she whispered as the wound was revealed. The torn flesh began on his back and ran across the top of his shoulder. He moved his arm and assured himself it hadn’t gone deep enough into the muscle to limit its movement.
8 comments:
Cougars have attacked bikers and runners in Colorado. They will attack if they think it might be a game or if they are hungry. NOw we have enough cats and other domestic things to keep them fed, but this can change.
I've heard of confrontations in Colorado, one a child in an apartment building, where a friend of ours lived. The child, 6 or 7, did the make herself big thing and the cougar turned and left. Runners end up with attacks because they aren't paying attention and in running, they appear to be like a deer. I've thought it ridiculous for those who try to say they'd never attack a human. They have no reason to be afraid of us unless they have been hunted. This one could have been hungry and approached her directly but also could have been am ambush. Sad but a reality of wilderness.
I read this this morning. Sad to have to kill it but probably needed given what happened. Just hope it wasn't an innocent one.
Notice-- it took dogs. Remains taken to lab to test for matching.
Rain, I recall you were always armed in case a cougar was sighted as a possible threat to your livestock when we went for walks up your country road. Although none had been known in our area to attack humans, you said you never know.
That is true. And I carried a handgun that could stop a cougar if it came at us in an aggressive way. We know they're there and seeing their kills is a good reminder if we ever forget-- some that outweigh us ;).
I will add though that my plan was one shot to scare it off. The second to kill it. I never go into the wilds without paying attention to what's around me for sounds and movement.
I think people venturing into ranches and rural areas of wildlife predators should be armed. I recall when we lived in AZ talk of wild boar being dangerous as they were, we were told in the northern mountains of Ark. when we were there. Most of the wildlife when I lived in the midwest were not threatening i.e. deer and all sorts of other mostly smaller furry creatures. Here in So Cal we have bears, cougars and bobcats, coyotes coming into our foothill communities. The drought has increased their presence as they become more comfortable around humans and as we encroach on their land.
If a person knows how to handle a gun, it's a good thing to have-- even if just as a noise maker. Literally, we don't have a lot of weapons in our natural body-- it takes tools :). It's not always enough, but at least it gives a human a chance.
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