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Vancouver Island has the most cougars per square mile in North America. There have been instances of them strolling thru parking garages and stores in Victoria. They are dangerous, being unafraid of humans. The snowflakes have passed laws we cannot carry in National Forests, they have no concept of the hazards you can encounter. Look the idiots want to introduce wolves (they have) and now grizz bears in northern Washington. I've always carried in forests here, two leg varmints are :rolleyes:sometimes encountered. Cheerio, Spad:)

US LAW
The second exception to this law allows people with a concealed weapon permit to carry a loaded, concealed, handgun either on their person or in their vehicle while on National Forest.
 
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On the lighter side, this has been an unusual wildlife year here in Eastside. I've heard it from others, too. I live in Norkirk, woodsy but not "wild" part of Kirkland north of downtown. Plenty of tall pines. From most to least interesting:

1. Bobcat! Happened not long ago, in May. I was up early, about 4:30am,. My housecat was tucked in nearby, as she does. She perked up staring out the window, same time I heard a low "Whaaarf!" Hmm, I thought, probably the raccoons. Swung out of bed, and there in the wood chip garden is a gorgeous bobcat, 20' away. Old Bob was about 24" long. He heard me and stared back. Went for my smartphone, he started walking away and jumped on my wood fence. Caught only a picture of him there, a little obscured.

2. Barney the fully-grown Barn Owl: similar to the above pre-dawn, on my deck, hunting small critters of which we have many. Good night-vision shots taken.

3. Deer that was 30" at the shoulder, a young buck, also dawn. That was weird; twice in two days. He walked in, nibbled, walked out. My yard fence has some openings I need to fix.

4. Family of raccoons for many years, big ones. Not that unusual, but still. I've seen up to 6 in one group/troupe/fleet/whatever.

Why now...all that's missing are coyotes, and I bet we have those too. Not in my yard...yet.
 
I cut out a newspaper article in the 1980's about a mtn lion that attacked a highway patrol car on the interstate at Cascade, Montana. It was dark out and the patrolman glanced down at his dash board them back on the road to see a young lion airborne ready to bite a grasp. Which then impacted his windshield.
 
Coyotes are real experts at stealth, probably there.:eek:
We had our dogs on an electronic leash limiting their range. Woods come up to the back yard. One day the dogs are barking at the clearing out back. Finally I see a canine back a ways hiding in the tall grass. Later I see a coyote sitting bold as brass out in the open watching the dogs bark.
Ran as soon as I opened the back door.
 
Is this the same one where one guy got attacked and his buddy started running so the cat chased him down and killed him and the first guy attacked made it out?


That one made me laugh:D:p

Not because someone died But because the guy that first bailed didn't stick around to help his buddy and got eaten...

Maybe callouss but I wouldn't leave a friend to deal with an attacking animal. That and a bicycle isn't much of a weapon to protect yourself with:confused:
Drop the quick release hubs and use the forks.
 
US LAW
The second exception to this law allows people with a concealed weapon permit to carry a loaded, concealed, handgun either on their person or in their vehicle while on National Forest.
There are no laws against carrying in national forest, and you dont need a cpl to do so.
 
Live between Seattle and Mount Rainier. Only occasional reports of cougars. Never saw one. However, deer are normal, as are the eastern US imported Possums. Lately, a few Barred Owls (which are not native) - one of which dive-bombed my daughter as she jogged the driveway. Racoons also - twice during the day lately. I walk our driveway at night and my cat normally accompanies me. I use an LED headlight and I can tell where kitty is by the glowing eyes. Last night, on the way back, kitty sometimes lags behind, then jets past. I turned around and saw the two eyes about 40 feet away and called her name. No response. Wait a minite! She's pure white and I'm not seeing the rest of her. Oh. Racoon. Kitty came along, heard the racoon and stopped, staring at the "intruder."

We had a triangular 'Hispanic standoff' for a few moments, but the racoon was wary of me. Good - probably not rabid. No little ones - twice good. When the racoon started to turn, I made the sound of quick steps as through I was running towards it. Off it went. Kitty, nonplussed over the entire situation, then came wandering along. So, I will venture forth armed this evening.
 
I've been out in the woods since I was barely a teen.

Ive never ever seen a cougar and only 1 time have I seen the rear end of a bear as he was bolting off the dirt road I was driving down.

When I'm out and about I always stop occasionally and look behind and around me.

I think when you see a cougar, it has probably decided your lunch....:rolleyes:

People on farms with animals being the exception Im:D
 
I've been out in the woods since I was barely a teen.

Ive never ever seen a cougar and only 1 time have I seen the rear end of a bear as he was bolting off the dirt road I was driving down.

When I'm out and about I always stop occasionally and look behind and around me.

I think when you see a cougar, it has probably decided your lunch....:rolleyes:

People on farms with animals being the exception Im:D
I've been in the woods for decades. Deep woods. I've seen two cougar, two wolves, and dozens of bears. The one cougar was while turkey hunting early in the morning sitting under a tree with a view of a large meadow and across a small valley. I saw movement about 500 yards away across the valley and spotted a giant cougar chasing down a deer. The cougar was as big as the deer.

The other cougar sighting was pulling into a rest area in North Idaho and as I pulled in late at night, my headlights lit up some boulders along the side and there were two cougar cubs playing on the rocks. They took off as soon as the light hit them.

A few years ago, my dad was hunting and walking up a skid trail with a slash pile about 50 yards away. He was doing a slow stalk, looking all around. When he got to within ten yards of the slash pile, he noticed a cougar on it, crouched low and staring intently at my dad. As soon as their eyes locked, my dad began to swing his rifle up from low ready and the cougar leapt off the slash pile into the nearby woods. Dad never got off a shot. He said it was the creepiest thing he'd seen and wondered if he had never spotted the cougar, if it would have pounced on him.
 
A guy I hunt with was walking a road in the bottom of a draw with steep timbered terrain on both sides. He was Deer hunting and alert and damned if he didn't see a Cougar lying down under a tree about 60 yards up the hill. He said he shot it and we went back the next day and looked. There was a bed scratched into the dirt at the base of the tree and not a drop of blood. He has a history of missing a lot. I bought an electric bike and took it Deer hunting last season. I was riding on an old road through a dark timbered area and got to feeling like I was trolling for Cougars. I have been rethinking where I will use it for hunting. It's a real creepy feeling I do know that.
 
I believe they were praying for help which is usually a person WITH a gun...
Now if these people that were attacked are related to a Politician you can better bet that something will be done.
My solution is to repeal the No hunting with hounds initiative...;)
And teach new generations of cats that when they see a human, they better run. That's how it used to be before dog-assisted cat hunts were banned! Not quite sure when/how that happened but I'm sure the tree huggers must have been involved.
 
I talked to a Forest Service ranger in the Olympics about this issue, maybe a couple of years ago. He said he doesn't like dog hunting for cougars,
Did he explain why he does not like dog hunting for cougars?

but also said the number of cougars on the Olympic Peninsula could be 3,000 or more. The Cascades, I am not sure.
I spoke to an ODFW rep a few years ago and he told me since dog hunting was eliminated the population of cougars in Oregon has at LEAST doubled - and maybe tripled - and is probably now at about 9,000 +
 
In the part of oregon I'm from (above crown point) cats have been stalking and attempting to attack road bicyclists for some time.
I will ask a friend of mine of some pics from his trail cam, because, in recent years, due to restrictions on using dogs for wildcat hunting, there are more cats than food on larch mtn, and some cats have taken to hunting in packs.
He has pics of as many as 7 together, which is terrifying. My mother sees them off her back porch nightly, more in recent weeks than before.

Edited for punctuation. Punctuation still likely incorrect.
I live perhaps 2 miles south and 5 miles west of you, inland from the west side of the Sandy in nursery country. My wife and I have had Mt. lion encounters twice and Bob Cat encounters twice so far while working outside in the DAY time! These all were within 30ft or less! We have lived at our current location almost 2 decades and in that time we have seen the deer population disappear as well as small livestock and pets. Our neighbor east of us 1/2 mile recently lost her prize male breeder goat, again in the day time! 1.5 miles east of us there is a large nursery. Workers there have started packing heat since one of them happened to drive right under a large tree where a cougar was hunting from. The guy saw it move before he went under the tree, backed up, and beat feet for the owners home. These predators are not one bit afraid! Time to reinstate hunting them with dogs! I can't imagine those cats hunting in packs! Our legislators and Fish & Game evidently are clueless!
 
The rare pics of lots of cats together are a couple adult females with litters of grown cubs. Females will share ranges, especially related females. They dont exactly socialize a lot but will tolerate eachother. They do not hunt in packs though. Thats just not how they do things. They also dont hunt from trees.
 
Cougars will stalk you. But they don't usually ATTACK you unless you are speeding along on a mountain bike, or the cougar is sick or starving.

I've been on long hikes in the Olympics where the cougars know the human trails. They like to crap on the trail to show you that you are in their territory. But they don't necessarily consider you as food, but more of an intruder. They can be frightened off an attack easily. Just curse them into the ground and tell them to get the heck out of there.
 

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