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mountain lion



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Sat Sep 29, 2012 2:22 am
Justlittleoleme says...



If you were a young woman, alone at night in the middle of the forest and completely exhausted what would be your best bet for fighting off a mountain lion?To be more specific, what would be something such a young woman would be able to carry on a jog or hike that she could defend herself with?

It can't be a gun though...


Thanks in advance!

~Justlittleoleme :)
  





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Sat Sep 29, 2012 6:53 am
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barefootrunner says...



An exhausted young woman at night would have a chance of fighting off a big cat if she were to use her surrounds to help her. The chances are still slim, though.

With a mountain lion, if you have seen it before it attacks, you should stand up straight and try to make yourself look big—stretch open your jacket or put your hands on your hips and make sure that the cat understands that you are not the usual four-legged prey. Also, yell, throw rocks and branches and try to intimidate it.

If the cat still attacks you, you should try to stay on your feet and face the cat at all times. Don't roll into a ball, crouch, or allow it to get behind you, because mountain lions attack the back of the head and neck.

You can use a heavy water bottle, rocks, branches, anything to club it about the head. Sand and pebbles may be thrown into the animal's eyes. Claw at the eyes. If you find the cat on your back, you should try to throw it (think martial arts style) in front of you. This manoeuvre can stun the cat or cause it to run away.

Under no circumstances should you run or bend down, because then you instantly turn into prey.

In a hiking pack you might carry some heavy or sharp objects, but imagine trying to open your backpack when a mountain lion is storming you. Just grab a branch or a rock, in my opinion.

If there is a source of fire, a flaming branch would be more scary to a cat than a normal branch.

Bear spray or pepper spray can also deter an aggressive cat.

Hope this helps :)
barefoot
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Sat Sep 29, 2012 8:06 pm
Justlittleoleme says...



Thank you barefootrunner !

You gave me just the answer I needed to finish the second half of a short story I started. One of the things that had always held me up was that I couldn't think of what she should use or even how she could manage to fend of a Mountain Lion when she didn't have much on hand.

Now I have a pretty clear idea of what I'm going to do...actually 2 ideas LOL

Thanks again!

~Justlittleoleme
  





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Sun Sep 30, 2012 5:57 am
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EloquentDragon says...



Forenote: please excuse my spelling....it's midnight here people. ;)
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Um...Not very likely. I live around cougars, and although it is highly unlikely that they will ever attack people...even running people at night, when they do ful grown men can get serious injuries from the mauling.

That being said, you can definetely make it believeable (using barefooted's already mentioned adive) even if it might not make much sense in real life. It's your story, after all.

Also, pepper spray. 'Bout the only thing I know that girls carry around in the forest.
Unless she's hard core or something and the weopon of choice is a halbred or nunchucks or something...
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Thu Feb 07, 2013 10:19 pm
Cspr says...



Seems like you're pretty covered. Note that only one or two people tend to be attacked and killed each year, I believe.

On another note, in Vancouver they don't have rabbits, so cougar attacks are much more likely (though they tend to eat cats and dogs instead). One guy survived an attack because he had a yoga mat atop a backpack, though. As the above peep said, catamounts like to go for the back of the neck. That one got a mouth full of yoga. XD
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