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Please Reply to: Anita Messenger  libertymtn@xxxxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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We don't live in the Rockies, but we *do* have cougar. It's not that wild here 
where we live, but the big cats are seen in this valley on a regular basis 
(have even killed cattle). We've been here since 1981, and it's been going on 
since before we got here. One man we know went to put his trash in the trash 
can after dark...he walked up on a cougar raiding his can. The cat calmly 
walked off into the dark woods when he was good and ready - he was NOT afraid. 
We came home late one night, and had a big BLACK cat whip out into the road in 
front of us and run just a short ways in the headlights, than whip back into 
the woods on the right. It had a nice long tail. We both looked at each other 
with our eyes big as saucers, and said, "Did you see that?" Yup, we both saw 
it. Just a couple of years later, I was talking with a man on the other side of 
the county who was an exotic wildlife dealer. When I told him of the cat 
sightings in our area, he laughed. He said, "If you only knew how many kittens 
I've sold over there. Then they get up where they're eating 60# of hamburger a 
day, and the people turn them loose." Now, I knew he was exaggerating the 
burger poundage but was trying to make the point that people didn't want to pay 
what it cost to keep a big cat like that once they got grown. So, we have the 
wild ones *and* the ones who are not afraid of people at all. Those "tame" ones 
also don't know how to hunt properly so that's why they raid the trash cans and 
take off with people's pets, etc.

A dairyman north of us that is a friend of our's went to do his afternoon 
milking, and no cows! So he went looking for them - they were in a pasture with 
a bunch of them crowded up into a big pond. A hill was right there, and a 
cougar was laying on top, watching the cows and they were watching him. The man 
watched the cat for a good long while, not sure what to do. Finally, he 
scrammed back for the house to get his rifle. By the time he got back, the cat 
was gone. But he knows what he saw. It was not far from him that another man 
lost a good sized steer a few years ago to a cat kill. There aren't very many 
horses in this valley (especially foals), but lots of cattle.

Our Great Pyrenees dogs have kept them off of our place, but neighbors all 
around us see them all the time. We have a leased hayfield down the creek from 
us. The man that owns that property spotlighted TWO cougar in that field a 
couple of years ago - he got up in the middle of the night because his German 
Shepherd was on the back porch having FITS, and obviously in terror. This man 
was unnerved that they were that close to his house (plus other houses all 
around in the area). Deer like to frequent that field, and we figure that's 
what draws the cats. The owner has lived there all of his life, and not seen 
cats that close to the houses before.

This spring, a BEAR tore up one of the big bee hives in that same field, there 
close to his house. They have the hives surrounded by electric fencing now.

Two years ago we also had FIFTY red wolves turned loose on us in this area by 
the government (they'd become extinct here ages ago). Neighbors started seeing 
those almost immediately. This is a rural area, but not a wild/wilderness area 
by ANY means. What were they THINKING! Yes, people have already started losing 
stock/pets, and the coyote population is being adversly affected (I saw on PBS 
that the same thing is happening in Yellowstone with the wolves/coyotes). 
Losing coyotes means more rodents/etc. In just these two years we are already 
seeing our rabbit population jumping (pun intended).

We didn't use to worry about riding in the woods around here (or even our 
children playing/wandering out there while growing up), but we aren't so 
comfortable about it anymore. We go in groups, not alone. We don't carry a gun, 
but we are thinking about it. Speaking of shooting off of horses - We know LOTS 
of people in this state who do Civil War Re-enactments and Mounted Shooting 
contests. There are lots of horses that have been trained to be shot off, and 
I've seen a lot of Arabians doing this, too. Not just calm QH's. I know of more 
than one Morab doing the CWR's, too, and those things involve cannon being 
fired as well as shooting off of the horse. Yes, you have to teach them not to 
be afraid of it, and I think if you are doing it much, you need to have ear 
protection for the horse.

Now, how many of you have actually had a cougar attack you in the woods while 
on a horse? Three years ago this fall, a friend of our's (who is an 
endurance/dressage rider) was riding her 15 year old champion Arabian stallion 
on the mountain behind her farm. This is close to the Oklahoma border in 
western Arkansas. She knows that mountain like no one else - she's the one who 
marked all the trails that are up there. She'd had that horse since he was 
young, and had done all the showing/riding/winning with him for years. He was 
also on the big side - over 15 hands. He was extremely familiar with the 
mountain, and so is the rider.

She told me, "I've never had a horse just literally FALL APART under me like he 
did! It was one of the most terrifying things I've ever gone through."

He freaked, and she ended up baling off. She found him entangled in a fence 
with a stifle completely ruined. A week later he had to be put down so he died 
as a direct result of what happened on that mountain. The owner had a good idea 
of what frightened the horse - she'd already heard the neighbors talking about 
seeing a lion. She never saw the cat - doesn't know if the horse ever actually 
saw him or not. She doesn't think so. She thinks he was close enough for the 
horse to smell him big time, and knew the cat was there somewhere too close. 
They found the tracks when they went back up there so they know for sure it 
*was* a lion that was involved.

This lady never had a chance to draw a weapon - she never even saw the cat. She 
is an expert rider, and knew her horse inside and out, and they both knew the 
area inside and out. She even knew to be on the lookout for a cat. Despite all 
of this *and* her horse being a stallion, on the large side, she still lost him 
- and could have died herself. She's still riding up there, mostly on her Morab 
endurance gelding, and other people ride up there, too. There have been no more 
incidents...so far.

Frankly, if you are riding in the woods (as compared to out in the open where 
you and your horse can *see* and have room to go where you want to), and a cat 
is lying in wait (usually up over your head where you aren't likely to see him, 
especially if you are wearing a hat/helmet with a brim), you are probably not 
going to even know what hit you, let alone have time to draw a weapon or try to 
fight back. And that horse is NOT going to stand around calmly while you fight 
the cat or someone else tries to help you - he's going to be in the next county 
before you can notice he's even gone. A cat attack is not the same as a dog 
attack (where they come at you from the ground and the horse just *might* stand 
his ground while you try to do something about the dogs, like using pepper 
spray). You cannot think in the same way regarding defense with a cat attack. A 
cat doesn't just stand there and bite you, he is fast and quick, and will be 
flinging you around - many of them weighing as much or more than you do, 
especially if you are a lighter weight woman. If they can take down a full 
grown horse, they can handle most people.

A holstered gun *might* be of help if the cat has you on the ground, and you 
can get the gun out and reach up and shoot the cat while he's got hold of you. 
Even a knife could save your life - there was a man here recently that I saw on 
a report on the tv who was able to fight off a grizzly with his knife. Yeah, he 
was badly hurt, but he lived. He was an older man, too, not young and spry. 
This happened in Alaska a few years ago.

I owned a colt in the late 60's/early 70's whose dam had run with the wild 
horses in eastern Oregon for several years. She was not wild, she had escaped 
and they had trouble catching her again. When she was finally caught, she had a 
big dent in her neck on one side, and it bulged out on the other side. Looked 
really funny. They said a cougar did that - broke her neck, and she managed to 
survive it. She was old QH breeding. Lani just told us here on Ridecamp about 
the Morgan mare in Wyoming who is still recovering from having a cat attack her 
and her foal. Cats will go for horses before they will go for cattle.

People keep saying that these cats are *shy* and you probably won't see them - 
not around here, they aren't. They are being seen in broad daylight all the 
time, and they have been for over 25 years (that's how long we've been here).

Anita Messenger
http://libertymtnranch.faithweb.com
http://endurancemorab.8k.com




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