*sigh* Cougar Hanging Out In Area

Just a thought I had when I read this...One of the most infamous tigers in India's history was a female tiger that killed over 500 people before she was finally taken down. There was some confusion as this was taking place in the early part of the past century and crowding had not quite become as much of a problem...Bascially there was an abundance of game...When she was finally killed the mystery was solved. She was too old to catch her natural game and found man to be easy prey.

The same might be true with your cougar problem. He/She might be an older animal looking for an easier meal...your farm animals, your dogs or one of you. This may not be the case at all, but basically I was trying to illustrate is never underestimate an animal's reasons for doing something unexpected.

I would be willing to bet the incident with your husband and dog was a try at the dog. Cougars have hunted and killed dogs before. Good luck to you.

i'd like to remind y'all, that there hasn't been a postive ID on this animal. many people who get on this forum and post about their wild animal encounters, too many times it ends up being the family dog.

they THINK it's a big cat, but have never been really close enough to be sure.

now that i've wasted my breath,....


carry on.

We've got them here, too, and they're sighted pretty often in and about the 'neighborhood'. In fact, just last week one was spotted in a wooded park in town.

While there is definitely a 'season', you need to be one of the few who are allowed a tag. All sightings are reported throughout the year (well, supposedly) so that the hunter knows where his best chance of finding the cat might be. Washington has made it illegal to use dogs while hunting (thanks, Seattle!)

However...if a cat is seen in your yard or on your property and it's threatening your livestock or children, you have the right to shoot it.

So I guess that's my 2 cents! It's definitely a threat, I wouldn't waste any time doing it in. But keep those kids in the house! Even if you bag this one, there may be another one out there.

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Mustang Diaries

"It's called a lance...hellooo!"

When it's down and dead be sure to check for a radio tag! If there is one, be sure to take the tag, at least, waaaay down the road away from your property.

I'm tellin' ya, I'm thinking of Pyrenees with bazookas strapped to their backs.

And Marvella, there's no mistaking this - it's a cougar, for sure. I don't make hasty decisions or snap judgments and this is a BIG mountain lion.

Big enough that I don't want to risk it around my kids, that's for sure.

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Gun-toting, church-going, homeschooling, right-wing conservative, happily married, stay-at-home mom of three living in the real United States of America!

I know what you mean. We get the occasional grizzly here but nothing worries me like those lions. Except maybe the bull moose right about now. We had our neighbor chased into his house by a huge one a couple years ago when he went out to get his mail.. Never went to check the mailbox again without his .45 strapped to his hip.

Personally I would shoot it now. Stick it in the chest freezer whole. After season opens up, I would thaw it out and then check it in. Nobody will ever know!

just fyi- there are mountain lions in tn as well.

Yes, but in the west (at least here in North Idaho) we are more likely to have a cougar in our back yard than a chihuahua. And please disregard any snottiness from my previous post, I was having a redhead moment. (I just discriminated against myself!)

Um, if you go back and read my post you'll see I say you have a right to protect your property.
And I king 'dem garuntee you'll be in a mighty big mess not reporting it Vs reporting it.
Easiset way to find out...make an anonymous call....
I didnt move to the country, nor start running the woods yesterday.
Kill it and hide it = poaching. Report it and its protection of property.

nuff said

I agree with Wolf Hound; I'd take NO chances... and I also thought about the same thing Goatlady said about checking for a radio tag (altho I don't know where it would be).

I know of at least 4 close neighbors that would agree with this philosophy too, all of which have kids. They'd happily help us stake the critter out and get rid of it too, along with the evidence. If there's a tag... I'd take a LONG, long drive and after wiping it off real well, toss it into a ditch somewhere.

I wouldn't hesitate to shoot any animal threatening myself, family or livestock - protected or not, or whether it's hunting season or not. This cougar's demeanor sounds dangerous to me and I wouldn't want to live in fear of my family and in particular, little children, being attacked and carried off.

We always have big wood piles to burn up, a log splitter, lots of land for the remains... and a dog that LOVES to eat up bones (always bringing deer bones home to chew up).

And I'd say if that cougar was close enough to lunge toward your husband and dog, it was close enough to identify that it WAS indeed a cougar.

Just last week, a family's horse was attacked
by what was pretty clearly a cougar, and in
a busy part of town, too. Smaller, easier prey
was right there, so that seemed pretty bold
on the part of the attacker. We're several
hours west of ThreeJane.

We have a big Ford pickup hanging out on the edges of our property. Sneaky bugger.

The dog usually goes ballistic when he sees or hears it, and usually the Ford will melt into the forest without incident. But one time hubby was out in the yard near twilight by the chicken coop and the Ford leaped out at the dog (who was standing next to hubby!)

At least hubby thinks he jumped at the dog. Privately, I think he might've been jumping hubby (who was armed, BTW) and then changed his mind when he saw the dog.

When our dog reacted with a major woof and lunge, the Ford drove off down the road, only to turn and face the dog when it came barrelling after him.

Caught him the other night sitting at the edge of the property, just watching the house, about 100 yards away from the front door. Nailed him with the big spotlight we keep inside. It stared at me for a few moments (gotta love those glittering amber marker lights in the darkness), then turned and went into the forest.

We've seen it around the edges of the property at least four or five times now, always at dusk, twilight or dark. I'm worried about letting the kids (7 and 2) play outside for fear of them getting run over. We've only seen it in the evenings but I know they do hang out and watch for hours before running you down.

Wondering if this guy is hungry enough to go for the chickens or dog now, how bold is it going to be when winter comes and food is more scarce?

On an up note, hubby got his Ford tag this weekend, so as of October 1st, he can bag this guy if he continues hanging around the property.

Feh, there's so much deer around here, you'd think it'd be happy to go after that, but noooo, it's gotta eyeball the chickens, dog, and KIDS!



Yeah, yeah, stupid, I know.

Look, what's the population of N. Idaho these days? There's never been a shortage of mountain lions, not that you see them very often, but evidenced by their tracks in the snow. By nature, they are a furtive and curious critter, whose habitat we have increasingly encroached upon.

I'm assuming you both moved here to N. Idaho in part because of the wild nature of this area. How many folks live between the Canadian border and Cd'a? How many loose children? Ever heard of one snatched by mountain lions around here? Not saying it can't happen, just pointing out the fact that the chances of getting dragged off by a hungry lion are considerably slimmer than having a Ford run over your kids in the yard.

It just strikes me that folks are filled irrational fears. Judging by the number of children killed or maimed by Fords, they ought to be persecuted to extinction! We don't do it because they are useful to us and they've become part of our natural existance.

If you have to worry about your kids or your dogs, worry about them riding down Hwy 95 or Hwy 57, or even your county road, them dang Fords are way more dangerous than mountain lions.

This ain't exactly the wilderness any more, but if we want to keep what attracted us here in the first place, we have to learn to co-exist with our wildlife, not spread irrational fears and threaten to shoot everything that you happen to see.

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bare, do you have kids?

Do you live next to national forest/park service land?

Have you seen cougars close up? Repeatedly?

My whole rationale is that if he's hanging around and doesn't appear to show a lot of fear of hubby OR my 100 pound Lab, then it appears I have a problem. I don't have the attitude of "kill it, it might hurt us" for every animal that wanders through here (including the moose that cruised through LAST fall and the black bear all around here).

However, this is a bigass, top-of-the-line predator that is not evincing normal behavior, i.e., fear of humans and barking, sprinting dogs.

If you had a 7 year old and a 2 year old, would YOU let them wander around your property, knowing that there's a big cat hanging out at the edges? Would YOU take the risk? I don't really want to.

BTW, I don't travel on 57 (I don't get up to PR much). 54 and 53, once in a while. And since they put in those $@!%^$@%$ing rumble strips, things are definitely more dangerous on 95 (especially on the curve by Silverwood, how narrow are THOSE lanes now?) Hey, that's why I have big cars, right? Then again, I would likely come off second best in a tango with those huge motorhomes that are, thankfully, leaving the area until next year... (34 degrees this morning at 5:00 AM...)

As far as the Ford getting the kids (yes, those American cars are becoming increasingly desperate, I know), I live at the end of the road. THAT much I'm less worried about.

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Gun-toting, church-going, homeschooling, right-wing conservative, happily married, stay-at-home mom of three living in the real United States of America!

I'd be asserting my position as top predator in the food chain by delivering a high velocity package of lead and copper into said beast most expeditiously. If I knew the DNR would get in a twist over it I would then most likely dump the carcass in a deep hole and cover accordingly. If he was wearing a radio collar I would deposit the collar on a southbound freight. If I had to resort to SSS I would maintain the last "S" and make sure everyone in my family was really clear on that aspect and the dire consequences of indiscretion both legal and familial.

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Respect The Cactus!

Lets see------- a huge predator on my property eyeballing my kids which could be dealt with and the risk of a fine if ever found out or my kids getting
eaten and a "I'm sorry from the wardens or govt.". I know which i would choose! Hunting season is so close, i like the idea of the freezer and put it our after the 1st - don't know if the radio signal would survive a freezer.

Yes, yes and yes, although my kids have are a tad older having somehow survived the hordes of ferocious cats and only been somewhat maimed by Fords.

I was referring to LisainIdaho in regards to hwy 57.


Each of my children has had run in's with members of our local couger population. Were they scared? you bet! Were they actually threatened? Not likely, though to hear tell it, the cats were laying, tail a twitch, ready to pounce!

Do I worry about my kids or grandkids wandering all over the place? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned for their well being, even here around the house. There are lots of dangers out there for them but I don't dwell on the thought of cougers. I've never heard of a couger attack in N. Idaho. I recall one around Kalispell 15 or 20 years ago, maybe more, and another around Tonasket in the same time range. When you consider all the kid hours in that time period, the risk isn't all that great is it?

I'm not encouraging you to be less vigilant, just asking that you be more patient with a critter that's done you no harm. If it so much as took a chicken, I'd be after it, but not just for being curious.

__________________
Iraq casualties
3,410 American deaths to date in Iraq
25,345 Americans wounded in action to date (your guess how many have died since and been uncounted)
$424,000,000,000 to date

thanks bare. i've been thinking about this most of the morning.

having lived on the edges of mountain forests for most of my adult life, and raising my kids there, i've never been seriously threatened by a wild animal. all of them, including bears, mountain lions and various snakes, have been far more afraid of me, than i was of them. i realize there is a large, big cat population in the pnw, you lucky devils. we only have a small, threatened population.

however, what i'm wondering is... if y'all are so afraid of wild animals, and the big wild world in general, why in heck are you living out there amongst them?? i mean, if you are going to be that afraid all the time, you might as well live iin a big city.

i've come to believe that it's part of our culture- to forever be afraid of the deep dark woods, and all it's inhabitants.

shame really.

Bare I am really puzzled by your attitude....this predator is repeatedly coming around the home, usually at dusk....I doubt if it is there just to say hi.

Human life has greater worth than a cougars life, especially a child's life.

Why take a chance...if they were just seeing tracks in the snow, then the cougar would be acting normally. Since it keeps coming around, I would shoot it at my next opportunity and dispose of it.

Wait and see, live in harmony with nature, all that is all well and good...until something starts even thinking about stalking your kids...then that particular aberrant creature gets disposed of quickly and quietly.

Bare, Yes I worry FAR more about 57 than I do cougars. I worry about my teenage daughter on the road ALL the time. Especially since she worked at Hill's this summer. Lots of tipsy boaters heading back to Spokane on the road. But I'm a Mom. I have enough worry in me to spread around. It's my job. I came here from Arizona where we also had lots of cougars and my neighbor lost her dogs to them. I love having the wild animals around and I don't advocate going out and shooting predators just for the heck of it, but when one is behaving like the one at ThreeJanes, I don't blame her a bit. And I didn't suggest shooting it, I jokingly offered her the use of my dogs, who keep the lions away so we have no problem, even at lambing time.