[pct-l] felis concolur - cougar

[jdawud at yahoo.com (Junaid Dawud)]

Aloha all,

posted this on the yahoo group back when this thread
was just a wee babe.

"Ok now I have to tell my mountain lion story. I was
about to be a freshman in HS. My family was living in
tents on 40 acres about 50 miles northwest of spokane
WA (which I'm pretty sure AIN'T prime ML territory). A
small hill seperated our camp from the stream where we
collected water. I walked over the hill and down to
the stream one day. As I was scooping water into my
hands, I heard a faint sound to my right (upstream). I
looked up and saw a mountain lion raising its head
from the water about 15ft up stream. I froze. I was
too surprised to really be scared, but I was
definitely on edge. We locked eyes for a moment, then
it took a few more laps of water and turned away. It
disappeared back into the thick underbrush without
making a sound. I sat there for a few minutes trying
to hear any trace of its passage. none. It had been
totally unphased by my presence.

They really do have very pretty eyes,


------------Junaid #41PCT2006
-------------------------------------------------------
--- alec <amr10009@yahoo.com> wrote:

> thought i'd share one of the most amazing
> experiences i've ever had:
>    
>   on june 10, 2000 (talk about an experience making
> an impression!), i was hiking in 
>   los padres national forest.  decided to make camp
> high on a ridge.
>   the "power spot" that we all dream of.  360
> degree, 40 mile views.
>   dropped my pack.  gathered some dry manzanita wood
> for a fire.
>   spread out my sleeping pad and took a 15 minute
> snooze.
>   woke up and meditated for another 20 minutes or
> so.
>   it was now 7:45 pm.  sun kissing the tips of the
> mountains over ojai.
>   everything glowing orange.
>   i stood up and walked 15 feet to the top of the
> ridge.
>   took a deep breath, spread my arms apart, exhaled
>   and then noticed a HUGE cougar standing in FULL
> VIEW no more than 
>   20 feet in front of me!!!!  nanoseconds felt like
> hours as my synapses
>   processed what i was seeing.  then EVERY hair on
> my body stood up.
>   i've never experience anything like that shot of
> adrenalin.  it took days to come down.
>   literally.  our eyes were locked.  the setting sun
> shining on his tawny coat.
>   OMG his eyes!!!!!!  i didn't detect anything
> menacing about this animal, but,
>   at that point instinct took over and i became a
> bigger animal.  i grabbed my knife,
>   started growling, and basically readied myself to
> fight a mountain lion.  the cat didn't react.  just
> kept staring at me.  a few more seconds went by and
> he slowly walked over the ridge and disappeared.  
>    
>   in a bizarre, mystical way, i've often regretted
> my actions.  definately a "burning bush" type of
> experience.  one that i probably wouldn't choose to
> repeat, but also one of the defining moments of my
> life.
>    
>   p.s.  afterwards i did ALOT of research about the
> felis conculor i.e. puma, cougar, mnt. lion.  in
> addition to the other info that has been mentioned
> here, they are also known to be extremely curious
> animals.  known to track and observe without
> malicious intent.  the reason that bikers and
> runners are often the targets of attack is because
> they closely resemble the lions primary prey...
> fleeing deer.  children resemble smaller prey.  
>    
> 
> 		
> ---------------------------------
> Yahoo! Photos
>  Ring in the New Year with Photo Calendars. Add
> photos, events, holidays, whatever.
> _______________________________________________
> pct-l mailing list
> pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
> unsubscribe or change options:
> http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
> 


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com