Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
| Member |
35 years ago a a cougar got a hold on me, Best thing that could have happened  Back then they were called a divorcee Safety, Situational Awareness and proficiency. Neck Ties, Hats and ammo brass, Never ,ever touch'em w/o asking first | |||
|
delicately calloused |
Good heavens! Did you recover? You’re a lying dog-faced pony soldier | |||
|
| Member |
The first 15 years were a honeymoon, last 18, no complaints. Safety, Situational Awareness and proficiency. Neck Ties, Hats and ammo brass, Never ,ever touch'em w/o asking first | |||
|
Member |
Mellenials. It's what they do. Lover of the US Constitution Wile E. Coyote School of DIY Disaster | |||
|
| Member |
Lover of the US Constitution Wile E. Coyote School of DIY Disaster | |||
|
Member |
We call them panthers around here. The Florida Panther is endangered. We live near a half million acre state forest. A few years ago I was in my John Deere Gator cruising the timber when I turned a corner and came face to face with a large, well nourished male panther, about 15 yards out. He looked at me, like he was deciding something, then sauntered off into the trees, unperturbed and in no hurry. He was beautiful, and it is cool to have them around, but he is another reason I never go outside unarmed. I learned later that the biologists had released western cougars in an attempt to get them to breed with the Florida panthers. They kill a yearling deer about once every three days, which is beneficial to the deer herd. CMSGT USAF (Retired) Chief of Police (Retired) | |||
|
Member |
EDITED: Hayes, I guess I was typing when you posted. I am glad you've seen them too, some people don't believe me or think I can't tell a bobcat from a cougar. ------------------------- Cougars are even in places they aren't supposed to exist in this country. We have a beach place in the Florida panhandle and head down there several times a year. It's adjacent to a large state forest, so wildlife is abundant. It isn't uncommon to see a fox or two and black bears are seen from time to time(although I have never seen any). Of course bobcats and alligators are around as well. On the other hand, cougars are only officially found in the southern part of Florida, hundreds of miles from here. About 8-9 years ago, I was driving down the road about 9pm on a Friday evening. Up on the left side of the road, maybe a couple of hundred feet ahead, I see what I think is a very large, tan dog thats appears to be sitting on the shoulder. Suddenly the "dog" stands up and begins to walk across the road, but he is very long and low to the ground for a dog. And he isn't moving like a dog. He's moving like a cat, and his thick tail looks almost as long as his body. And he is big, in fact his body and tail combined appear to take up the width of each lane as he passes across the road in front of me. It is taking a few moments to process what I am seeing, because cougars "don't exist" in this part of Florida, but there is no mistake about what I am witnessing. As I get to the spot where he crossed the road, I look over to the right and he has disappeared into the forest like a ghost. Fast forward a few months. We are down there and my oldest son has one of his friends with him. Unbeknownst to me, he and the buddy decide to take a midnight stroll down the bike/walking path on the road that runs by us. The next day, he tells me about their walk and about the very strange noise they heard off in the not too distant forest. He said the noise freaked he and his buddy out. Remembering the sighting I had a few months earlier, I asked him if it sounded like a woman crying. His eyes it up and he said "yeah!". After we talked and I explained to him what he had heard, he said he was finished with late night walks down there. Up to that point, we were accustomed to seeing a lot of deer on the side of the road in this area. Within the year of that cougar sighting, we stopped seeing the deer anymore. Those sights were gone for many years. We are just starting to see a few deer again every now and then, but not like before. . | |||
|
| Member |
I didn't watch the whole video, but how was he running from a cougar and filming at the same time? I'd be running my ass off. | |||
|
| SF Jake |
Your not going to outrun that cat, and I think if you turned your back to her you would be cat food! ________________________ Those who trade liberty for security have neither | |||
|
Serenity now! |
There's a big undeveloped gulley behind my house. About a year ago I was driving down the hill and I passed a mountain lion calmly feasting on a dead deer. She looked up at me as I drove by, and she couldn't have cared less. Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice - pull down your pants and slide on the ice. ʘ ͜ʖ ʘ | |||
|
Lighten up and laugh |
How would one of those pocket air horns do in situations like this? | |||
|
| Maybe not so fabulous after all |
That was get away from the kids behavior. Mountain Lion predatory behavior is when you're just walking along and all of a sudden you're on the ground getting chewed on. They're ambush hunters and they like to jump on things from above and behind. They can jump a long fucking ways too. Edit: This describes predatory behavior pretty well. Jaryd Atadero was a 3 year old hiking with his family. The father stupidly allowed him to hike ahead of the group and the kid just vanished. They found his body a few years later and discovered he'd been taken by a lion. The lion ambushed him and it happened so fast nobody that was there knew a thing. https://www.strangeoutdoors.co...20/3/5/jaryd-atadero | |||
|
One day at a time |
Had he run beyond the kittens and not seen them first he might have been the evening and morning meal or a teaching lesson to her cubs on how to hunt. They run fast and quiet... We had a small framed gal who was a runner killed by a mountian lion a few decades back and the ranger I spoke to who was the first LEO on the scene said the momma ML was teaching her cubs how to hunt as they didn't eat much and dragged the body under a bush so they would come back later when they were hungry. The runner was attacked from behind the cat broke her neck. We get them here in our little farm town I see track on our property they follow the deer down from the hills and there are plenty of goats and lambs and the occaisional dog. We don't go out in the early day or evening without a firearm and I am always checking my 6 a flashlight gives away the eyes of animals at night . | |||
|
| Member |
I'd come close to betting $5.00 that park rangers or county officials were aware that this cat or other cats were in the vicinity. Had the jogger taken two minutes to call the appropriate parties, The would have clued him in. Yes guns are handy , but they are not the answer to all questions. The system works if you work the system Safety, Situational Awareness and proficiency. Neck Ties, Hats and ammo brass, Never ,ever touch'em w/o asking first | |||
|
| Get my pies outta the oven!  |
He had time to video the whole thing? That doesn't smell right to me, if you were REALLY in danger of being killed by a cougar like that, the last thing I'm worrying about is videoing the damn thing and having that take away from my concentration on getting away or scaring the cat off. | |||
|
Member |
I'm going to guess some people spend so much time shooting selfies, it becomes reflexive. This guy is acting like he always expects an audience. Set the controls for the heart of the Sun. | |||
|
Bolt Thrower |
It looked like he was recording the young at the beginning, so the phone/GoPro was already out. The real question is why he didn’t take off in the opposite direction once he saw them. | |||
|
| Member |
The biologists have told me they have a 300-400 square mile range. It makes sense that the move around a lot given the amount of deer they kill. We may have seen the same panther. Due to the amount of development going on in the panhandle people are seeing a lot of black bear-they have always been there but are being rousted out of their habitat. Eglin AFB and the State Forests are their last refuges. People are asking, "why are the panthers and bears all of sudden encroaching on humans' habitat?" CMSGT USAF (Retired) Chief of Police (Retired) | |||
|
| Member |
Here’s the uncut, non-photoshopped version of the “encounter” | |||
|
| Member |
I've had a similar experience by my house north of Tampa (rural area and adjacent to a few thousand acres of forest). I have a client who owns a farm in Brooksville who had a full grown sheep (150 lbs.) killed on her back porch then drug about 200 yards over a fence and into the woods where it was eaten. FWCC couldn't confirm either was a panther but in both cases they suggested they are more widespread than most people think. Their map of confirmed sightings seems to confirm that: https://public.myfwc.com/hsc/p...tings/Home/Locations. I have to believe there are a few in Green Swamp/Richloam - that area is huge and full of game. | |||
|
| Powered by Social Strata | Page 1 2 3 4 5 |
 | Please Wait. Your request is being processed... |
|
© SIGforum 2024