Idaho Cougar vs House Cat. Cougar wins

[Salida Scarlett]

The first day we bought our MH, the son wants to spend the first night in a wilderness area in Idaho. This is about 60 mi south of the Canadian border, in Clarks Fork back in Lightening Creek on the river. As we went deeper into this area, which is beautiful and lush  by the way, we come to a post that says, "Grisly Habitat". Glad they warned us. Undaunted, the son sets up camp by building a nice fire, and hauling out stuff to cook for supper. Our favorite tom cat, Boots, a great trooper for our 1,400 mi trip, was basically an outside kind of cat, so he was wanting out, and did get out a couple times thru the door. He didn't run off, but we kept putting him back inside. I had some bad vibes about sitting around that campfire at night but DS made fun of me. Of course, he'd been raised in the mountains back in the day, and he and his sibling never had a worry about wildlife predators. Anyway, long story short, our pet escaped thru an upper screen, and was awol in the morning. We had breakfast, called him, and waited....no cat. But as we're sitting inside pondering about what to do, I see this large, healthy looking Cougar coming up the river bank, looking our way, and then circling some pines close by and coming up on the road, where he stood still, looking our way for awhile, and then disappeared over the other side. Needless to say, by this time, we knew what had happened to our cat. We left the area, sad about what happened, but also in a bit of a shock, having seen a Cougar in the wild our very first time in the wilderness. What an experience.  Cougars are a basically protected species, and are breeding like rabbits. We hear of them coming into people's yards around here, and killing dogs. Their now being sighted in areas where there haven't been any before. As for us, since we spend a lot of time in the mountains, we've developed a new awareness about how opportunistic these animals are and take more protection with us as well as keeping alert and watchful.

 

[mockturtle]

Cougars are beautiful animals but they <em>will</em> eat your pets if given a chance.&nbsp; I think here in WA they have extended cougar hunting because of the increase in population.

 

[dragonflyinthesky]

I'm sorry Scarlett. First instincts are so often right.

 

[Salida Scarlett]

Yes, Mock Turtle, there has been an increase in Cougar predation in recent years. And it's true, they are allowing lion hunts as a result. I feel sorry for these animals, because they have to kill in order to survive. How are humans that much different for the most part, really? At least those of us who aren't vegetarians. But it still hurts when one looses a precious pet that had been so special, loving and devoted. Anyway, these killer cats are indeed formidable killing machines, and have been seen close up and personal on a regular and frequent basis here in the Salida, Colorado area. It's not a matter of if but when, another child or adult is attacked in this, or some other&nbsp;area. The big cats are getting pretty comfortable about being around humans, and..their pets. They do view humans as food. Most recently a Cougar actually climbed thru a pet door, killed one of the dogs, and threatened the terrified mom who had 2 of her small children at home at the time. Thank you Dragon Fly. I appreciate your kind words.

 

[James AKA Lynx]

If an animal is attacking you, you can kill it, no matter if it is endangered or not. I know of hunters that would have killed it if the cat was making threatening moves. <br><br>James AKA Lynx

 

[mockturtle]

Some guys from state Wildlife shot this one out of a tree behind my sister's house because it had threatened some kids in the area.&nbsp; <br>

 

[Salida Scarlett]

That sucker is no Felinicus Domesticus for sure. These animals are predatory opportunists, not cute, cuddly and playful. A child is just food to them. People sometimes forget that animals don't think like humans. I'd been watching the Oklahoma wildlife reports, you know...where the Game and Fish people claim there are no Cougars in the state, but one climbed in another unlocked pet door in Circle Mountain, near Bartlesville, OK and killed the owners dog. This type predation seems to be happening more frequently, as they seem to be less cautious and fearful of humans.&nbsp;&nbsp;I remember that runner that was attacked and killed by a Cougar near Boulder, Colorado some years back. I would urge all of you guys to be very alert and take some kind of protection with you while boondocking or going into isolated areas. I am!

 

[mockturtle]

People sometimes forget that animals don't think like humans.

&nbsp; Yep.&nbsp; Remember Timothy Treadwell?

 

[Salida Scarlett]

Yes, I do remember. And I want no part of either Grizzly's or Cougar. I totally think precaution now when fishing, or being out in the wilderness in these&nbsp;areas, and will never go again without some kind of protection. Even where I'm staying right now is right across the road from a mountain area. And I have to pick up my son from work late at night. It's spooky as heck, so I always at least carry a good knife. That's not the best, but better than nothing.

 

[Blue]

Speaking of the sad predation of cats... My sister kept bringing these ferral kittens back from her job when the maintinance guys collected them from around the buildings, we had like five or six cats at one point, then our big rottweiler that kept the wild things away from the house died.

The cyotes of the central coast california started getting closer and closer to the house. One cat got ate, then another, then my sister attached a bell with a red ribbon to the neck of one of the cats, her favorite.

I go on the back porch to smoke a cigg at around 4:00 AM on my day off (I work nights) I see that cat jump into the bushes like it was trying to hide from something but the bell gives it away, then I hear some kind of scrambling in the bushes, then for just a split second see the cyote with that cat in its mouth, and a flash of red ribbon, he runs off into the night, and you can hear that damn bell ringing way off into the distance getting more and more faint. I wish I could say I was sad telling my sister about it, but the idea that the poor cat had tried to hide and that bell giving away his position was just too humorous... besides... we had kind of gotten used to feeding our cats to the local wildlife at that point... the ones that survived are still awesome.

 

[Donedirtcheap]

Sorry to hear of your experience Blue.
I know I'm going to be the a - - - - - - again but I just do not understand the whole cat thing. I feel my asking may bring some good for cats so I going to ask. We have a dog but we have nothing against cats. Some people like dogs, some like cats, some have both. So why do people who obviously love their cats let them loose? I have heard them say well....a cat needs to roam, it needs to explore, its sort of different then a dog so it needs to be free.

I don't get it, they bought the cat, they paid the vet for vaccinations and care, they love the cat and then they put it at risk. The cat could be run over, electrocuted, killed because others don't want it urinating or crapping on their property, it could be eaten. When I try to understand it I cant make any sense of it but I know there is an answer. Don't go getting mad because its not what you want to hear, just please, please explain to me why people do that. The only real reason that I can come up with is that they don't want to clean the litter box. Please tell me this is not the real reason. Sorry, but I want to know.

 

[offroad]

Coyotes. Coy-dogs, coy- wolf, feral dog, mountain lion, various bear, various weasel- wolverine species. All are dangerous for pets. Even deer and antelope will stomp a pet to death.

 

[Blue]

Done - we already had indoor cats that drive us nuts, my sis didn't want the ferrals killed so she brought them home. I didn't want them crawling all over me and pissing everywhere (weren't fixed had shots or were house trained) so we kept em outside. The big rotti kept predators away from the house but when he passed the outdoor cats just became happy meals (with bells on lol) for em.

 

[Patrick46]

Sounds to me like your sister needs a new big dog!

 

[Jim_Rockford]

If an animal is attacking you, you can kill it, no matter if it is endangered or not. I know of hunters that would have killed it if the cat was making threatening moves. <br><br>James AKA Lynx

lol reminds me of this..

[video=youtube]

 

[Blue]

Heh we did get another dog... but for a few years the cats got smart or got dead till he grew.... but we wanted a puppy.

 

[LeeRevell]

I have a buddy living in Idaho now. He used to live on a mountain, and lost a beloved little dog to a cougar. He's in Boise now, and keeps a close watch on his current dog.
Here in Florida, dog and cat folks have to watch out for coyotes and gators. Being a pet can be rough anywhere!

 

[LeeRevell]

I personally think the 'python problem' is vastly overhyped down south, but we in the north end of the state don't live there. I think we will need our pythons when all those released "Gambian Giant Brown Rats" start breeding like.... well.... rats!
Back around the late 90's, we had the county doing a major reclamation project on some local lakes. At one close to where I grew up (and Mom still lives) they captured and killed a thirteen footer! They opined that a mate may still have been out there. A lot of folks live on the shore of that lake, and several dogs have disappeared - my money says it's the gators. Many of the lizards in there.
We do have coyotes up here, and they have let me know their presence when I have camped in the local woods. The only Florida Panthers I know of here locally are in the Natural History Museum west of town. But there may be a few wild......?

 

[forkicks]

OK where do I start on this one. 1st Bells on the cats nice.... That was just plain dumb and cruel to those poor cats. They lost all ability to protect themselves. They were basically served up as food for the wild life. It would have been more humain to just let them be put down at the vet. It really annoys me to hear about things like this. Owning pets is a responsibility that we take to protect them and provide for them. They are not wild and have lost all of their natural instincts to survive in the in the wild. Even the biggest baddest dog you may think you own or know of really does not stand a chance against a wild predator who's instincts for the kill to survive are 10 x greater. A good size shepherd or other large breed might put up a good fight trying to protect you if it was trained to do so or you are lucky enough to have one that will give it's life for you. Believe me most pets have a instinct for self survival in a situation like that and will run. But there are those that will not. They will give you time to get to safety. Bottom line is it is our responsibility to protect our pets we still are the dominant species and that is our job to fend off those predators by out thinking them and making where we live as safe as possible. Board up pet doors, keep small pets inside, be observant when out and about, Carry protective measures such as bear mace ( which is a much stronger product than regular mace) This will chase off 80% of the predators should you hit them in the face. But if they are that hungry and need a meal to survive that will not even slow them down. 75% if not 90% of these attacks could have been prevented just by being more observant and doing our job. Remember we are smarter and have the resources to learn how to protect ourselves we just have to stop taking things for granted and be more offensive and educated in dangerous situations.

 

[decodancer]

Good post Forkicks. When I read this, the first thing I thought of is poor cats. I'm not a cat lover per se but I am an animal lover and hate to see anything hurt because of pure stupidity. The bell idea... that was just asking for it and the poster thought it funny? We have feral cats here at the campground, everybody feeds them but nobody can touch them. Most likely they (or their parents) were once pets that somebody got tired of and ditched. We trap them if we can, get them neutered and release them. They will never be house pets but at least get to live. I cuss them when I find my trash torn up but would never do anything to harm them.