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Fatal cougar attack in Washington State


SWWASAS

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Just had a rare fatal cougar attack in the forest East of Seattle a few days ago.  .     Two mountain bike riders were attacked.    They fought it off for a while using their bikes as weapons but eventually the cougar killed one of the riders and hurt the other.  First known cougar kill of a human in 100 years in Washington.    I bet some others have happened but the victims were dragged off and not found.   The cougar population in Washington is increasing and likely out of control.    That puts pressure on existing cougars for food and may be behind the attack since the cougar was very underweight.    It was tracked down and killed.  Be careful out there.      

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This causes me to have flash back memories of the cougar encounter I had a year ago.    It jumped down right in front of me about 15 yards away and just glared at me.   Other than the deer that ran across the road ahead of me just before that,  I had no idea it was there.   I was on a bicycle too.  The two guys put up a good fight but did not have any weapons.    I was alone and might have been very lucky.  

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 I know exactly where it happened, I have been at the Hancock Lake gate many times in the past few years.

 

 

  The cougar was not doing well, it was an adult but only sitting at about 100 pounds.

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A fifteen pound house cat can inflict a nasty wound while playing. A 100 pound cougar driven by hunger is plain scary to think about. Living on their turf I don't leave the house without a sidearm and pray I never have to find out if I'm fast and accurate enough to stop one. I've seen one 60 yards from my front door, had one scream in the back yard and last summer found a cat killed raccoon in the back yard.

 

Pat, I know north of the border you're very limited on where and when you can carry a firearm, but I sure hope you have a knife at least as big as Crocodile Dundee's. Personally I'd want something more on the scale of a Claymore like some of my Scot's forebears likely carried.

 

Please remember my friends, our big brain allowed us to develop the tools that put us at the top of the food chain, but facing nature without those tools is a crap-shoot at best. It may make for great reality T.V., but don't let hubris be your downfall.

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Well, they outlawed hound hunting in our state. This stuff is gonna happen more and more.

 

A mtn bike is no substitute fer a gun......

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Bear spray should work as well on cats as it does on bears, and we get no hassle about carrying that on hikes here in Canada. That assumes, of course, that you see the cat before it pounces on you!

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If you spray it on your self prior to the attack? It adds seasoning for the Bear or Cougar like Johnnys!

 

;)

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And assuming the attack doesn't come from upwind! Add spraying bear spray to the list of things one shouldn't do into the wind. Might be handy in that instance if Superman were around, so you could give a little tug on his cape for attention.

 

Seriously though, if you had a stout hiking staff that you could socket Pat's (hopefully) very large knife into, that would make a decent weapon to fend off a cougar. Should have a crossbar to prevent an impaled and seriously teed off kitty from sliding down the shaft and taking you with it.

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“If people persist in trespassing upon the grizzlies’ territory, we must accept the fact that the grizzlies, from time to time, will harvest a few trespassers.” - Edward Abbey

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Reading about what repels cougars apparently they do not like to be hit in the face.    Problem with a knife is that if you are within knife range to fight back you are within paw range swiping at you.     A hiking pole might be useful to jab at their face and repel them.    Keep them out of paw swiping range and discourage them.    One of the two guys attacked, the cougar had his head in it mouth.    Law enforcement said his injuries were consistent with that report. 

 

I did learn from my experience if deer run past you and look behind at something else other than you,   something is chasing them that could be a danger to you.     I was hoping it was BF but turned out to be the cougar that was chasing the two deer.       I recall a BF sighting report where the witness initially saw a bear staring into the woods at something other than the human.    Looking where the bear was staring,  the witness saw the BF watching the bear.     Bears and BF must have an interesting relationship.  

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1 hour ago, JKH said:

“If people persist in trespassing upon the grizzlies’ territory, we must accept the fact that the grizzlies, from time to time, will harvest a few trespassers.” - Edward Abbey

 

Or die of lead poisoning if they try to harvest the WRONG one......

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Anyone know if grizzly ever bluff charge or do they always complete the attack?   Sort of good to know if you wait to get off a good shot.   My only experience is with black bear and they seem more afraid of me than I am of them during an encounter.  

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Whenever I go out, I carry a KA-Bar, Pepper Spray, a telescoping baton, and my trusty Ash Tee-Ball bat (knockin'-stick). I've also usually got my 5 1/2 foot long monopod that I use as a trekking pole.

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