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The article mentions two previous attacks by a mountain lion on cyclists, which I did not expect. One of the victims was a professional cyclist. I honestly thought that would be fast enough to avoid mountain lions (though obviously ambushing doesn’t require you to be fast, just well timed)
I surprised a cougar once coming out my back door. We startled each other and it ran away and I slammed the door. Then I ran to get my camera and ran down the porch to take a picture. It saw me running and perked right up, you could see it was thinking about getting me. Then I jumped on the railing to take the picture and it pounced off. They like running things.
Just watched two videos last night from hikers who came across cougars or mountain lions. Both of them would back away from the animal, doing their best to never turn their head, shouting or talking to it telling it to leave them alone or "fuck off" as one guy kept repeating.
Cats are ambush hunters: they'll stalk you and attack when you've taken your eyes off them. The guy narrating the video even mentioned that once you've taken your eyes off the cat but it's still staring at you, instinctively it will attack because it has deemed you are now food. One of the videos showcased this, as the guy telling it to fuck off turned his head from a moment (literally) to make sure he wouldn't trip, and the camera goes back to the cat having covered a 20 ft distance in the blink of an eye, skidding to a halt because its "prey" was looking at it again. He ended up scaring it off with a rock.
This is why folks in places like Africa and India will wear those masks on the back of their heads with painted eyes and faces on them: big cats are much less likely to attack if they think they're being watched by their prey. It's nuts, and makes me glad they're not common in my neck of the woods. We just have black bears, mostly, and they're easier to scare off unless they've got cubs.
Is that why tigers have white spots on the back of their ears?
They say with mountain lions, you want to make yourself big; make loud noises, and not flee. You want to show them that you are not an easy meal and will fight back. They say if you flee, they'll view you as prey and chase you down. I'd imagine unknowingly riding a bike past a hunting mountain lion could have disastrous results.
I totally see how it attracts a mountain lion (all cats are the same in that regard, lol), I just thought a professional cyclist would be able to outpace one.
I just looked it up though, and it’s not even close. Average tour de France cyclist on flat roads is ~28 mph, average cougar is ~45 mph.
One time I was hiking, and at the trailhead there are typically warnings about how to deal with wild animals that might be dangerous if you should encounter them. For mountain lions the advice was to speak to them in a deep stern voice and not turn your back.
It's a shame that they have to euthanize the mountain lion, but I guess I get why. The first fatal attack in 20 years, just goes to show that it doesn't happen very often and the mountain lion would prefer to be left in peace, it must have felt very threatened for some reason.
I just always hate to hear stories where animals attack people, because it always means a death warrant for the animal in question. Not that I don't feel bad for the people involved also, but -- destroying such a beautiful beast, it's just a damn shame.
Or very hungry.
Or sick
Or spooked
Could be any of those things, and they're all very understandable reasons for a wild animal to attack. I don't think it means the animal must be destroyed, unless it has rabies or something - those are very understandable reasons to act out.
When I was a kid I was at a park in Sacramento CA in the 80s and stood about 5 feet from a mountain lion with my friend. It was behind a bush. The adults didn't believe us until an older kid brought it up. Luckily the Mountain Lion was sick and didn't kill us. I got on the news though.
Last time I drove to Yellowstone, there was a Bison that came up to my car and blocked the door on the passenger side (the only available space between my car and a wall on the other side). I just had to sit there and wait it out, and look at the furry head smooshed against the open window on that side.
RIP Brendan Fraser
but.... there aren't cougars in missions...
