This Would be Pretty Serious and Scary

fredball · Nov 29, 2017

These two hikers were on the first day of their backpacking trip. On the way, they noticed a mountain lion... Credit: JukinVideo

The Epoch Times

Stomper · Nov 29, 2017

LOL.... As they were walking towards the bend in the trail trying to look around the corner to see if the cat was still there I was thinking "they should be looking up overhead, not down the trail"... and BOOM, there it was on the bank above them.

That was damned stupid!

ThemGunsThough · Nov 29, 2017

Heck yeah it would be scary!

Last spring, as I left my neighborhood and headed to work, there was a cougar that sprinted from my left to cross the road to my right. It happened so fast and I could have sworn I was going to hit it because it got so close. I remember how big the paws were when I saw it dart in front of me. It all happen super fast, like 2 blinks of an eye. My wife was with me and she had just reached for her coffee and missed it.

RVTECH · Nov 29, 2017

This Would be Pretty Serious and Scary

Serious and scary? Startling yes but I think 'serious and scary' is a bit overstated. I live in an area of high cougar population - I believe four were shot by the ODFW last winter in my rural neighborhood for taking up residence in peoples yards, under decks etc.

ThemGunsThough · Nov 29, 2017

Stomper said:
LOL.... As they were walking towards the bend in the trail trying to look around the corner to see if the cat was still there I was thinking "they should be looking up, not down the trail"... and BOOM, there is was on the bank above them.

That was damned stupid!

I would have just walked the opposite way immediately. Not going to pretend im Paul Bunyan.

clearconscience · Nov 29, 2017

I would get big and loud real quick and then form eyes in the back of my head.

If your in the woods there's probably one close to you. You usually will never know

kmk1012 · Nov 29, 2017

The cat left the hikers alone probably because they were vegans and knew they would taste like oats and nuts. Smart cat!

Medic! · Nov 30, 2017

I'm not afraid of the Lion I see.

Motomom34 · Nov 30, 2017

Beautiful cat. As for the hikers that stood there and filmed the animal, this comment sums it up nicely:

Back up. ..very...very slowly...until you get to the parking lot...get in your car....drive back to suburbia and return all your gear at REI!

2DaMtns · Nov 30, 2017

clearconscience said:
If your in the woods there's probably one close to you. You usually will never know

While I agree you're much more likely to be seen by a cougar and be completely unaware, I'm not sure this statement holds water. I've seen recent estimates of 6500 cougars in Oregon. There are around 30 million acres of forested land in the state. Assuming equal distribution, that's about 4600 acres per cougar, which is just over 7 square miles. You'd have to spend a lot of time in the woods.

EPS · Dec 1, 2017

kmk1012 said:
The cat left the hikers alone probably because they were vegans and knew they would taste like oats and nuts. Smart cat!

That's funny but probably left them alone because there was two of them

Stomper · Dec 1, 2017

EPS said:
That's funny but probably left them alone because there was two of them

Cougars do not eat junk food so..... yeah.

308 · Dec 1, 2017

^^That's why I carry extra cans of Fancy Feast while hiking.
Just in case.

RVTECH · Dec 1, 2017

I've seen recent estimates of 6500 cougars in Oregon.

I was talking to a ODFW biologist a couple years ago and he told me estimates can be way off - such as there are most likely more than estimated - and possibly by as much as twice as many. Even then that is still fairly low density of cougars per number of acres - even less possibly considering fairly large numbers of them seem to concentrate in relatively smaller areas.

No_Regerts · Dec 1, 2017

I didn't think anyone on this site would be worried about no cat, given the number of 10mm worshipers there are!

CatScat55 · Dec 1, 2017

2DaMtns said:
While I agree you're much more likely to be seen by a cougar and be completely unaware, I'm not sure this statement holds water. I've seen recent estimates of 6500 cougars in Oregon. There are around 30 million acres of forested land in the state. Assuming equal distribution, that's about 4600 acres per cougar, which is just over 7 square miles. You'd have to spend a lot of time in the woods.

Definitely not equal distribution in the state. The Alsea unit is home to 1000 of the 6500 cougar in the state.

RVTECH · Dec 1, 2017

I didn't think anyone on this site would be worried about no cat, given the number of 10mm worshipers there are!

Never have been worried anyway regardless of caliber of gun -whether present or not.

Gaucho Gringo · Dec 2, 2017

If you look at your house cat and remember that they are just scaled down versions of the bigger cats you can get an idea of how dangerous and deadly they can be. We adopted another cat this year as a kitten but he is growing fast and at 7 months is still growing. He is so quick and can run and jump through our 30 ft great room in nothing flat, more like a blur. His front paws when he spreads them are are about 2 1\2" wide. He also has the sloping stance, higher in the rear than the front like big cats. No bugs, birds or rodents are safe when he spots them. Now scale these characteristics up 10 to 15 tines and you have a formidable animal