[pct-l] cougar sightings north of Santiam Pass

[John Licata]

At the Hoh Rain Forest a couple of weeks ago the Ranger gave a talk and
discussed a cougar interaction he had.  Some park visitors had been watching
some deer when a lion took one of them down.  The Ranger showed up and
proceeded to take the visitors off trail around the deer, which the cougar
dragged into some brush.  The cougar saw the people and while they were
moving in a wide circle, around and back to the trail the cougar moved into
a position between them and its recent kill and took a seat.  It could have
appeared that the cougar was stalking, but in reality it was simply
protecting its dinner.  People left, cougar ate, all was fine.

Just some added data to the conversation...

John

-----Original Message-----
From: pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:pct-l-bounces at backcountry.net]
On Behalf Of MAXINE WEYANT
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2010 10:09 AM
To: pct-l
Subject: [pct-l] cougar sightings north of Santiam Pass


I agree that it's a rare treat to see a cougar and normally they are not
threatening to humans, but if this is the SAME cougar seen ON THE TRAIL by
several hikers then that would appear to be an abberration.  And, if that
cougar is engaging in stalking and other confrontational behaviors with
humans (which is what I'd heard from more than one source, and why I'd asked
hikers to send in their accounts) then something isn't right.  I was
assuming it had been displaced by the fire, or had been separated from it's
cubs or usual food sources, but perhaps it's sick. If there is a pattern
with one cougar in that area, it'd be wise to warn hikers not to hike alone
especially at dawn or dusk in that region.  
 
Dys-feng shui-nal    		 	   		  
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