Cougar scat near the barn!

[jinjimbob]

Put a bell on the children, so the cougars don't get startled and hear them coming, like a dog bell for bears.

I live around animals like cougars and bears, I wouldn't dream of calling the wildlife dept. Although a neighbor did once, they told they had seen a cougar in their yard, the wildlife dept told them "well you live on a large piece of forested land, what do you expect?"

Its nature, get along.

 

[rsewill]

From Creekbend's link:

"Cougar attacks on humans are extremely rare. In North America, roughly 25 fatalities and 95 nonfatal attacks have been reported during the past 100 years. However, more cougar attacks have been reported in the western United States and Canada over the past 20 years than in the previous 80. In Washington, of the one fatal and fifteen nonfatal attacks reported here in the past 100 years, seven attacks occurred during the 1990s."

And they suggest pepper spray, something the grandkids can survive.

 

[CurlyDave]

A few years ago, I shot one less than 80 yards from my front door.

I always carry a flashlight when I take the dogs out at night, and this night saw unmistakeable cat eyes (slits) shining from the edge of the woods. My wife held the flashlight and I popped the cougar with a .308. It was definitely stalking me and the dogs.

I bought a "Varmit light" from Cabela's which clips on the barrel of a rifle and gives you a great nighttime shooting capability after that.

Check the legality of this in your state.

In rural areas of Southern Oregon the general policy seems to be "shoot on sight".

Bullets are much more effective than pepper spray...

 

[nickel plate]

We've got four acres near Mariposa, CA and here's one that passed by my game camera which is on a tree about 80 yards from where the front door will be on our someday new home. Bear also frequent that same game trail.
I take the tractor up there occasionally so I built a scabbard rack on it to pack the 12 gauge shorty. Are rubber shot shells hard to come by?

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Pack your handgun, always.
Don't bend over or crouch down, that's a signal for them to attack.
Keep your dog with you. If you don't have one, get one. The dog will know the cougar is there before you do. And the cougar is more likely to attack your dog than you.

 

[survriggs]

I live in south central Missouri and most cougar or mountain lion sightings were generally attributed to mistaken identity until there were actual pics taken with game cams. One confirmed sighting was about 8 mi. from my house.

 

[DieselnHooters]

We've got four acres near Mariposa, CA and here's one that passed by my game camera which is on a tree about 80 yards from where the front door will be on our someday new home.

aka the cougar's soon to be ''former home''

 

[Mousefield]

From Creekbend's link:

"Cougar attacks on humans are extremely rare. In North America, roughly 25 fatalities and 95 nonfatal attacks have been reported during the past 100 years. However, more cougar attacks have been reported in the western United States and Canada over the past 20 years than in the previous 80. In Washington, of the one fatal and fifteen nonfatal attacks reported here in the past 100 years, seven attacks occurred during the 1990s."

And they suggest pepper spray, something the grandkids can survive.

From Wikipedia "At least 20 people in North America were killed by cougars between 1890 and 2011, including six in California. More than two-thirds of the Canadian fatalities occurred on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Fatal cougar attacks are extremely rare and occur much less frequently than fatal dog attacks, fatal snake bites, fatal lightning strikes, or fatal bee stings.[citation needed] Children are particularly vulnerable. The majority of the child victims listed here were alone or accompanied only by other children."

Can't say I want to argue the number of deaths but I do think its on the low side.

 

[toppop52]

I'm from northeastern NC where we've had bobcats, cougars and black bear as well as red wolves forever. Here on the Eastern Shore where I've lived for almost 40 years, I've seen 2 cougars and numerous reports come in all the time, lately bobcat road kills have occurred south of Salisbury, MD. In all my time in NC I never heard of a bobcat being hit by a car.
I have no idea why people find it so hard to believe that native species live in their native habitats!

 

[LBrown59]

Not really keen on lugging my .357 Ruger Blackhawk around whenever I go outside.
* having a gun around handy to ammo isn't a good idea with grandkids.

*Having a big cat and kid together hain't a good thing either.

From Wikipedia "At least 20 people in North America were killed by cougars between 1890 and 2011, including six in California. More than two-thirds of the Canadian fatalities occurred on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
Fatal cougar attacks are extremely rare and occur much less frequently than fatal dog attacks, fatal snake bites, fatal lightning strikes, or fatal bee stings.[citation needed] Children are particularly vulnerable. The majority of the child victims listed here were alone or accompanied only by other children."

*Can't say I want to argue the number of deaths but I do think its on the low side.

*Don't mean much to the victims though .