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I wanted to add to Kevin's previous blog about a cougar near a campground, but this would have been too much to reply to his blog as a quick answer. I've never been much afraid of animals, big or small, although I do respect them (insects are another story). Snakes fascinate me, which is good as I spent two decades living in a desert where rattlesnakes liked to live, too. Cougars are everywhere, especially now. Protection programs have allowed the big cats to proliferate and encroach on human habitation. Once we were called out on a search for a five-year old boy. We found some clothes and cougar sign, showing he had been attacked and killed by a mountain lion. Very sad. This prompted a sign campaign with the signs saying, "Danger! You're a visitor in cougar country". This is our planet, too. When wild animals venture into a place where man lives, they're visiting OUR country. And we're very dangerous animals, indeed. On a recent photo shoot in the backcountry east of Zion National Park, I was shooting some photos near a slot canyon, right behind the area you see in the photo above. The canyon beckoned, so we decided to take a hike down it to see where it went. After climbing down the slickrock to the sandy canyon bottom, the truck owner noticed some big tracks heading the same direction we were. He asked what they were and I told him they were mountain lion tracks. I then told him not to worry, as we were bigger than the cat was, plus, it would be a brave cougar indeed that would attack two men. He wasn't convinced, but we continued down the canyon. After a while, we decided to turn around and hike back to the vehicle. There were new cougar tracks in the canyon sand, but these tracks were on top of the footprints we had left hiking down the canyon! This really concerned my friend, but I reassured him that the cat wouldn't attack us and was, like all cats, just curious. We made it back to the vehicle with no issues and continued our photo shoot. Cougars seldom attack people, especially adults. If they are going after a human, they like to attack by pouncing from above and behind, then biting the neck. Bicyclists are in greater danger than most, as it's hard to defend from an attack like this while on a bike. If a cougar is encountered that seems aggressive, it's best to raise your hands (making yourself bigger) and make noise. This will usually scare them away. Bears are another story. Mother bears protecting cubs can be a problem and most bear attacks happen so fast that people are unaware what's happening until it's too late. If you encounter an aggressive bear, be quiet, don't look it in the eyes, or play dead. Using our brains will almost always keep us safe when encountering animals. In this case, we were visitors in cougar country (and bear country, and elk country, and snake country, etc.). We weren't attacked, nor, in my opinion, was there any danger. There is no need to fear animals in the backcountry. We can coexist happily with them with a little knowledge.
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