Mountain Lions
They are everywhere; from the Yukon to South America, in the
desert and in the forest. Read this
article about the creature that is killer and closely related to your house
cat.
Mountain lions are also known as cougars, catamounts, mountain cats,
panthers, and pumas. These viscous animals are a problem to our family on
our travels. We all like to stay outside, a lot, and most of the places
that we go have lots of them. These are some interesting mountain lion
facts-
- The mountain lion is everywhere from the South American to the Yukon Territory in Canada.
- The mountain lion is closer related to the smaller cats, including domestic cat, than to lions.
- Big horned sheep, moose, deer, and elk are main parts of their diet.
Mountain Lion Attacks-
Mountain lion attacks are rare, but they do happen. It is
best to be prepared in case anything like that ever did. If you saw a
mountain lion you would want to-
- Make yourself seem as
big as possible. This can be done by shouting, holding your arms in the
air, and anything else that would make you seem bigger.
- Fight back with guns,
hands, sticks, rocks, and anything else that can be used as a weapon.
- Pick up small children,
but do not bend way over to do it. Try to stay as upright as possible.
You don’t want to-
- Play dead.
- Run. You don’t
want to do this because the mountain lion will see catching the person as
a game, like a cat and mouse.
- Don’t bend over. They
like to attack when a person is in that position.
- Let kids run ahead of the
group. It only takes a second for a mountain lion to grab them and go,
like what happened to a child and father hiking south of Denver. The boy
did not survive.
More helpful information is that mountain lions are most likely to
attack in the spring. That is when all the males are leaving their dens
and their mother to go and get their own territory.
Be on guard of what’s behind you. They tend to sneak up from
behind and bite the person’s neck. When we go on hikes we never have any
of the little kids in the back and always look behind us frequently.
Most of the attacks are on young children.
Also, don’t leave the door of your house open, because the
mountain lions can go inside.
These are some mountain lion attack stories; here's the link for
most of the stories.
In Los Angeles, California a man was out biking by himself when a
mountain lion ran up to the side of his bike. He tried to use the bike as
a shield and went to the other side of it. The mountain lion clawed the
spokes and chewed on the bike tire. The man fought it with rocks; it was
good enough to beat it off. The bike rider did get cut and bitten, but he
made it out with his life.
(Story gotten from the Camping and Wilderness Survival book)
An eight year old named Rita Hilsabeck was attacked by a mountain
lion at Reno, Nevada. The attack was not fatal, but she did get a bite on
her neck and was being dragged into the woods. She was saved when her
family heard her screams. The attack happened around 4:45 p.m.
In Seattle, Washington Jon Nostdal was attacked by a mountain lion
that refused to release his neck, even when being punched by a man who risked
his own life to save him. It was not fatal. The attack happened around
9:30 p.m.
A 61 year old man, named David Parker, was attacked by a mountain
lion when he went under a rock ledge to get out of the rain. When it
attacked his cheek bone was broken and his jaw was shattered due to getting hit
up against a rock. He finally got a chance to slit its throat with his
pocket knife. The attack was not fatal. It happened around 7:30
p.m.
Around August 20th, 2014 Kyra Kopanstonsky was
stalked by a mountain lion as she hiked at Telluride, Colorado. It
followed her around for about half an hour. As it followed her, she sang
opera to scare it. It did help keep the mountain lion away
somewhat. She walked backwards down a hill toward some police officers
that were waiting at the bottom of the trail. She was stalked but not
attacked.
Mountain lions are very dangerous creatures and we should use
caution around them. Of course not going
into the woods because of them is stupid, if your smart, use your head and know
the facts you can avoid or help the situations.
Author: Naomi Smith
8/27/14
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