Cougars

[wildrover]

Ugh...every time I see this thread, I reflexively click, thinking it's one of those Friday threads

[Lallans]

Ugh...every time I see this thread, I reflexively click, thinking it's one of those Friday threads

I guess then that I have to apologise for bringing the thread back to page 1- but what IS a "Friday" thread and how do I avoid the look?

Anyway, today I read that tourist shops surrounding the area nearby where Ontario cougars are officially in residence are now selling hikers "cougar sticks" and since Google offers nothing, I've been trying to imagine what such a stick entails, I mean in the public imagination. I can still only bring to mind something in the 10 mm, .30 calibre, or 12 gauge line, but such wicked devices would not be legal. One is more expected to behave like a willing sacrifice to our animal friends, so I CAN picture hikers being given jars of mayonnaise to spread on themselves as soon as a cougar is sighted....

[Jerry]

There have been unconfirmed sightings in my area too. I'm all for leaving predictors alone, unless they try to prey on me or mine. Then, those "Cougar Sticks" which Canuck mentioned are not illegal here, and I am well skilled in their use.

[Dale Seago]

Should I start shopping for a rearview mirror for hiking? A backwards walking dog?

Hiking staff if for whatever reason a stick that goes boom isn't practical; and a good dirk for backup. And hike with a friend who's slower than you are.

We certainly have cougars here in the San Francisco Bay Area, and sightings are on the rise in more urbanised areas. I haven't managed to see one yet; but once on a hike in the Marin Headlands just across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco I spent about half an hour watching a bobcat that was so big that when I first glimpsed it I thought it was a young cougar. He was sunning and grooming himself, doing unmentionable and no doubt pleasurable things with his tongue.