Posts From the Road - Signs in Cougar Country

Out West where I grew up, cougars share the landscape with us and since the 70's ,cougar attacks are on the rise, some fatal.

Cougars are a concern even now, as  the animals sometimes wander down to the edges of the subdivisions that border the hills. 

One lady I met, when I was visiting my daughter, who lives in the foothills of the Rockies, said she came home from work as a nurse late, and upon parking, noticed a mountain lion tail twitching under the car in frontn of her. She wisely chose to stay in the vehicle until the big cat wandered off.

If you do run across a cougar in the wild, here are some safety tips.

Never approach a cougar. Most likely they'd prefer to avoid a confrontation, but like all wild animals, they can be unprectible. A cougar feeding on a kill is very dangerous.

Always give a cougar an avenue of escape.

Stay calm. Talk to the cougar in a confident voice. If you have a small child with you, pick them up off the ground and have older kids slowly back up towards you. Children frighten easily and their rapid movement could provoke an attack.

Do not run (remember that whole sudden movement thing). Try to back away from the cougar slowly. Sudden flight may trigger an instinctive attack.

NEVER turn your back on the cougar. Remain upright as best you can, try and look as large as possible. Do your Steven Segal impression, wave a rock or stick up over your head. Look like a threat, not prey.

Watch for signs, if you see signs of a cougar, young, spoor, scat, a kill area, leave the area immediately. Some signs are obvious, but as the cougars enter the fringes of urban areas, the signs may be harder to spot.

Or not.