[pct-l] Fwd: Re: Mountain Lion Encounter

[Maxine Weyant]

Time and again, it seems the younger cougars, just like domestic cats, don't seem to have a solid understanding of what's expected of them, what's OK to go after and what's not.  It's all curious and interesting to them.  

Last year when I was hiking in OR I met and hiked with a guy who had been one of the first 500 thru-hikers of the PCT.  Lots of great stories later, he told me he lived in central OR, not too far from the trail, and his community had a mountain lion who was spotted several times, but the locals knew not to kill it because it seemed to know it's place in the order of things.  They knew that if they killed it, a younger cougar would move into the territory and might not have the sense not to go after humans.   

I think about cougars a lot, as a short female who often hikes at night.  If you look at the statistics of cougar attacks on humans, short females or toddlers running or moving quickly are more likely to be viewed as prey to them.  They often attack the back of the head or neck. In parts of South Asia, some farmers wear hats with eyes and a face on the back, presumably to confuse tigers who might be attacking from behind.  

I sometimes think our backpacks make us less accessible to them, but I've been thinking that in the sections where I use my GoLite silver umbrella, I probably look less prey-like to a cougar.   It certainly freaks out dogs and horses.  

Lately, I've been considering purchasing a 1.4 oz mini air horn.

Dys-feng shui-nal