Posted by David Sherman on Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 16:36:23 :
In Reply to: If you see a cougar do not run...... posted by Howard in Newcastle on Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 09:18:33 :
A man I know got jumped by a cougar while picking huckleberries with his grandson. He had time to spin around and whack the cat on the nose with his arm. The cat stepped back, looked at him, and jumped on him again. This time he had time to shoot it with a .44 he had with him. It's very rare for a cougar to attack a grown man, but I think it was the combination of him being bent over in a low spot in the bushes, and perhaps the cat could sense that he was old and wasn't in the best of health. It's interesting that the man who got jumped by the cougar in California was also old. I suspect that just as they prey on the old, weak, or injured deer, they can "smell" an old or weak human. I've only seen cougars twice in the mountains and both times they ran away as soon as they saw me. I got to watch one for quite a while before it saw me. I think it was hunting squirrels at the time.