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Paradise Valley woman meets cougar in her yard |
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February 22, 2017 |
Melissa ran into a cougar in her back yard
Tuesday evening when she went out to shut her
chicken coop for the night in Paradise Valley
between Black Mountain Road and Brown Creek.
If you live out that way and heard a crazy woman
screaming, she said, that would have been her
yelling for her dog, who thought she'd give the
big cat a run for its money.
"I'm sure my dog thought she scared it off,"
Melissa said. "I think it was more of the
screaming."
According to the Mountain Lion Foundation,
www.mountainlion.org, what Melissa did was
the right thing to do; make noise, make
yourself appear as large as possible and act
like a predator yourself.
If you meet a cougar, they recommend making
yourself appear larger by opening your coat or
jacket and waving your raised arms slowly
overhead. If you have little children, pick them
up, pets; keep them with you on a leash close in
front of you or by your side, if possible. If
you're with bigger kids or other adults, group
together.
Yell, shout, if you have something you can bang
to make noise, bang it! Don't cry, squeal or
make noise the cat might associate with prey ...
if nothing else, they recommend, talk to the
cat, speaking in a loud, firm voice.
Act like a predator yourself; maintain eye
contact, stand tall, don't run. Don't bend over
or crouch down, and don't play dead. If you have
something you can wave, wave it, something you
can throw, throw it.
While you're doing all this, they say, try to
assess the situation. In Melissa's case, it's
pretty obvious the cat was looking for food. But
you might find yourself between a female with
kittens, or between a cougar and a cache of food
it's returning to. If the cat refuses to run,
they say you should back slowly, never turning
away, to give the cat a path, giving time for
the animal to move away.
While attacks on humans are rare, if it happens,
they say, fight back with whatever is at your
disposal, protecting your neck and throat.
Use rocks, sticks, garden tools to whack the
surly critter, if nothing is at hand, use your
fists and feet to turn the cat away. Studies
have shown that the big cat, unless injured or
ill, will instinctively try to get away from
people and that most encounters are as much a
surprise to the cougar as to the person
confronted.
Even if you find yourself being stalked by a
cougar, experts say, an attack is extremely
rare. |
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