[pct-l] Fwd: Re: Mountain Lion Encounter

[Ben G]

I watched all the videos and it seemed to me that pressing the spot button
did not make her feel safer.  She seem to get worse over the series of
videos to me.  Not only was she worrying about the mountain lion, but then
she started stressing about pressing the emergency button.  I have never
seen someone meltdown before in such a documented way. She went so far as
to press a button which she believed would cancel the emergency signal.
When the rescue helicopter arrived she seemed to be stressing about that as
well.  Anyways, I did not mean to be critical of her personally.  I hope
she finds some people to hike with that can help her recover from that
experience.

I had a cougar cross a trail in front of me on El Cajon Mountain in San
Diego a couple years ago and it aroused a feeling which I almost never have
experienced: fear.  Everyone responds to fear differently. I am just
curious whether we (the hiking community) are evolving to become more
dependent upon technology and modern weapons (bear spray, guns, tasers,
etc...) for our comfort and safety, and in turn are preparing our minds
less than we use to.

Personally, I like reading about the horrible and deadly experiences other
people have had on the trail.  There are many potential things which could
go wrong on a hike or backpacking trip.  Reading about what works and what
does not work is very beneficial for me.

My father wanted to get me a Spot device a few years back but I turned the
offer down. Carrying batteries for my camera is more than I really want to
do.



On Sat, Jul 20, 2013 at 11:14 PM, Dan Jacobs <youroldpaldan at gmail.com>wrote:

> Forgot to change the address on this one.
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: "Dan Jacobs" <youroldpaldan at gmail.com>
> Date: Jul 20, 2013 5:56 PM
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Mountain Lion Encounter
> To: <lilacs007 at yahoo.com>
> Cc:
>
> On Sat, Jul 20, 2013 at 4:00 PM, <lilacs007 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > I'm having some issues with my phones internet so I can't see it.
> >
>
> Mountain lions and cougars are solitary animals, and normally avoid humans.
> When I was working in the woods, we assumed that all cougar sightings or
> encounters were nearly all fake. Folks I know that have truly seen a cougar
> worked or recreated in the woods for decades and maybe saw one or two,
> which ran away at top speed as soon as they realized humans could see them.
>
> That being said, I do not discount the fear and concern of Muk Muk, as
> there can always be a statistical outlier. I wasn't there, so I won't
> comment on this particular encounter. If pressing the 911 button on her
> SPOT messenge rand the men that came that morning made her feel better,
> than it was the right thing for her to do. Any costs, or if it was a waste
> of resources, is now between her and the responding groups and/or agencies.
>
> My own most recent cougar encounter a few years ago confirms that normally
> they want nothing to do with us. This cougar had just killed a neighbor's
> chicken, saw me coming, and took off to a safe distance to look back. It
> then squatted to urinate, and took off again into the woods and
> disappeared. My first cougar encounter in the 1990's was a biologist
> tracking a collared cougar. It ran within a few yards of us working in a
> creek , and really lit the afterburners once it realized we were there.
> About a half hour later, a CA fish and game uniformed man came by with a
> radio collar tracking setup asking if we saw a big cat go by.
>
> Fear is a very primal thing, especially when in fear of attack from a wild
> animal. I work hard to suppress mine when it comes up. It can be difficult.
> That is why I don't second guess other's fear in this kind of situation.
> She was genuinely very afraid, and unless you are in the exact same kind of
> situation, it's not right to judge her or her actions.
>
> Dan
> --
> "Loud motorcycle stereos save lives."
> Motorcycle to hike, hike to motorcycle.
> Make a friend of pain and you'll never be alone.
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