Unusual Cougar (cat) activity in Washington state

[makmayne]

Animal planet had a show a few years back that showed at least 7 grown lions hunting together. They had them recorded on night vision. Not sure the program but it was in Washington and when I watched it I was like ohh bubblegum, eveloution at its finest!!

I had it on my dvr for a year lol, I been online trying to find it for an hour now lol

 

[caarecengi]

.... or anything really. A combine would totally suck.

Yah, I get tired of these road warrior cyclists hogging the back roads and making it unsafe to pass, the flipping me off as I peruse their man knots. (I was trying to avoid saying man buns... I'm not perusing man buns!!!)

Man buns remind me of the knot at the top of those brown/black Hefty bags

 

[caarecengi]

I'm sure they see the 'bikers' as prey and therefore chase them down. (Bet that Spandex tastes terrible tho)

It you're running (or biking) - then they "think" you're prey.
It's like running from the police - you're not going to win that race

 

[makmayne]

Same here, head on a swivel (no wonder my neck hurts)...

I used to keep my head on a swivel growing up in gang banging capitol so cal, know it's on a swivel for cougars?!? Seems like not much is different between urban and country

 

[Core]

Large Cats were once and not long ago an Apex Predator to Humans, frequently hunting Humans. Extinct species of cat, bear, and wolf, predated on Humans for millenia. Because Humans live in groups, and our advancement in technology we asserted ourselves as Apex predators, but biologically we are inferior to any Big Cat species. Same goes for Bear species, and in some cases wolves but modern wolf species do not have a history of predating on Humans like the extinct Dire Wolf species Canis dirus. The extinct Cave Bear also predated on Humans. Most Big Cat species have a history of predating on Humans ranging from Siberia, Africa, and South America with the Jaguar being notorious hunters of men. Many of these species were likely feared both deep within the Human psyche and hunted to near extinction due to their resemblance of earlier predators that posed a significant threat to Humankind. They also predate on our livestock effecting our livelihoods. Stories of massive cougars and jaguars attacking ranchers in the Old West were common and well documented. Most species today are not significantly dangerous to Humans but can become dangerous if you make yourself a pork chop in their habitats. It's likely many early attacks were remants of earlier genetic traits passed down from extinct species, but we have to remember the Mountain Lion's forefathers were hunters of men and it's not unreasonable to conclude they may alter their standard fare to include Humans who present themselves. There is also evidence to suggest Mt. Lion's may strike prey that presents itself prior to identifying it based on its size. I don't know of cases where Humans have been actually consumed. Much of the stories are also probable propaganda spread by ranchers who lost livestock and needed to justify wiping these animals out. Wolves can go pn a blood lust and kill and waste many livestock. I don't believe cats are as destructive due to solitary social groups but they have been known to kill for sport according to numerous accounts. So don't make yourself a pork chop, carry a big gun, and you'll be okay.

 

[Caveman Jim]

I used to keep my head on a swivel growing up in gang banging capitol so cal, know it's on a swivel for cougars?!? Seems like not much is different between urban and country

I was never urbanized, we just knew what could kill us out in the woods where we hung out.

 

[Geardo]

Sad to see the perspectives here. Such an intolerant reactive bunch. I like guns but the callousness on display here reinforces why I don't care for this community.

This was a freak occurrence, you are more likely to get struck by lightning than be killed by a cougar and yet a number of folks here want to make fun of these bikers and act as though they deserved it. Shame on you.

List of fatal cougar attacks in North America - Wikipedia (<20 listed)
Lightning deaths at all-time record low in 2017

Meanwhile others talk about running bikers off the road and then complain that bikers nearly hit their friends who were hiking. Can you not see the hypocrisy?

Looks like these bikers were "gravel biking", on gravel roads, not even singletrack. Gravel biking is becoming more popular as a being more scenic and avoiding the traffic on paved roads.

Anyone who doesn't CCW doesn't get very much sympathy from me, regardless of what they are doing. Kids excluded of course.

I don't CCW at work because I have stock options that are not vested yet, and will hopefully put my kids through college. I wouldn't want sympathy if I was the victim of a mass shooter, even though that is also statistically rare, I made a choice of what my life is worth.

And it is equal to college fund x 1/(odds of dieing in mass shooting)

I would hope for anger towards my employer for forcing me to make that choice.

No one forced these idiots to go defenseless into the woods!

 

[Certaindeaf]

Sad to see the perspectives here. Such an intolerant reactive bunch. I like guns but the callousness on display here reinforces why I don't care for this community.

This was a freak occurrence, you are more likely to get struck by lightning than be killed by a cougar and yet a number of folks here want to make fun of these bikers and act as though they deserved it. Shame on you.

List of fatal cougar attacks in North America - Wikipedia (<20 listed)
Lightning deaths at all-time record low in 2017

Meanwhile others talk about running bikers off the road and then complain that bikers nearly hit their friends who were hiking. Can you not see the hypocrisy?

Looks like these bikers were "gravel biking", on gravel roads, not even singletrack. Gravel biking is becoming more popular as a being more scenic and avoiding the traffic on paved roads.

So you're saying you're anti-water cooler?
heavens

 

[makmayne]

I was never urbanized, we just knew what could kill us out in the woods where we hung out.

Woods/Hoods = same bubblegum lol

 

[TopPinElk]

Last Friday we had a big Tom come though the ranch on the back side of Hood.... by the time I got up there to hunt him, all I could call in was 'yotes... had my 300 mag for a long range poke at the cat and my AR for multiple shots at yotes....called
In 5 coyotes in 10 minutes...... for every 1 time you see a cat there's 10 times you didn't even though it saw you......

 

[makmayne]

There is a big cat week or something that airs yearly. They had one episode where they were determining which is considered a "super cat" and it went to the cougar. Reasoning is because they are rarely seen yet we have encroached on their land for years and with the expansion of homes they're original stomping grounds have been shrunken a ton. There was a park ranger in Yellowstone that said he's never seen a cougar in the 30 years he worked the park. Plus their vocal cords are not strong enough to produce a true "roar" they are stealthy and can jump almost 20 feet. This def sounds like some bubblegum I don't want to experience in person. I could bring my ak and still would be lucky to defend myself from a determined or sick lion.

 

[11Charlie]

There was a guy about 10 years ago that got away from a cougar on a walking trail by shoving his fist down its throat!! Imagine that bubblegum!! I guess it startled the cat and it ran off.

 

[Geardo]

There was a guy about 10 years ago that got away from a cougar on a walking trail by shoving his fist down its throat!! Imagine that bubblegum!! I guess it startled the cat and it ran off.

So many bad responses to that. Don't want to get banned so I will bite my tongue!

 

[makmayne]

There was a guy about 10 years ago that got away from a cougar on a walking trail by shoving his fist down its throat!! Imagine that bubblegum!! I guess it startled the cat and it ran off.

They say punch a shark too lol...the last time I went swimming it took like 6 seconds to punch underwater...good luck with that bubblegum!!

 

[makmayne]

They say punch a shark too lol...the last time I went swimming it took like 6 seconds to punch underwater...good luck with that bubblegum!!

Also hear stand y'all and yell, throw rocks, etc, all ideas not sure how good they are though? I'd rather be attacked with a big arse pistol in reach then to leave it in the safe at home!

 

[11Charlie]

So many bad responses to that. Don't want to get banned so I will bite my tongue!

Thats what PM's are for!

 

[titsonritz]

Gotta love seeing a big cat around the swing set.

 

[caarecengi]

Also hear stand y'all and yell, throw rocks, etc, all ideas not sure how good they are though? I'd rather be attacked with a big arse pistol in reach then to leave it in the safe at home!

Actually when we were camping with the Boy Scouts, we would tie the packs together with the pots/pans on the outside - if a bear tried to grab a lone pack and take off, it would wake us up and we would all scream and throw rocks at the bears - they're not real afraid of humans but they have been conditioned to go for "easy pickings" and we were clearly "not it".

They also taught us that it we DO see a mountain lion, to hold your pack in front of you and slowly back-up down the trail - the one cardinal rule - DO NOT RUN and DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK on the animal

 

[makmayne]

Once Thought Loners, Cougars Revealed to Have Rich Society

 

[makmayne]