[pct-l] Mountain lion encounter

[Fritz Ward]

Yet another Mtn Lion comment:

I sent the videos from the blog to a friend of mine, a retired zoologist.  Among other things, he is famous for being an early innovator in the use of radio telemetry and for identifying a "passive" fear response in animals, an alternative to the classic "fight or flight" syndrome.  He argued in a series of papers in the 1970s that many animals, not just possums, feign death or otherwise fail to act as prey normally would and this conveys a survival advantage.  With this in mind, and with his permission, I am forwarding his comments on this incident.


After thinking about this interesting incident I have come to a conclusion.  Had the woman left the tent and attempted to run away, she would no doubt have been attacked and possibly killed.
 
Her staying still frustrated the cat's normal "chase-kill" sequence.  There was a fitting example from the wildlife refuge where I studied alligators.  A mountain lion was hungry and hunting for food...as evidenced by it going from high lookout point to high lookout point.  It came across a live deer with its antlers tangled in a fence.   The cat approached the deer, but continued on its hunt.
 
Another classic example is the opossum feigning death.  If the predator was looking for an easy meal that seems really stupid, but again I believe it frustrates the normal chase-kill sequence.  Soon the prospective predator leaves and looks for something to chase and kill.
 
Some thoughts to consider.  Fritz



 

 

 

-----Original Message-----
From: carolwbruno <carolwbruno at yahoo.com>
To: pct-l <pct-l at backcountry.net>
Sent: Thu, Jul 25, 2013 12:54 pm
Subject: [pct-l] Mountain lion encounter



Great post Shroomer!  Really put things back in perspective for me as I am about 
to go on a 3 week hike and was getting some of my old puma paranoia again. 
 Thought I'd left those demons miles ago but guess not. Can't quit

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy Note® II, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
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