What is the possibility of being attacked by a mountain lion?
by Ron Gilliam, resident of Lewis County, Kentucky
(Lewis County Kentucky)
![Mountain lion - photo added by Michael - photo by Beyond the Trail [Gary] (Flickr)](/wp-content/uploads/images/what-is-the-possibility-of-being-attacked-by-a-mountain-lion-21345575.jpg "Mountain lion - photo added by Michael - photo by Beyond the Trail [Gary] (Flickr)")
Mountain lion - photo added by Michael - photo by Beyond the Trail [Gary] (Flickr)
I spend many hours in the hills and woods, especially in the Summer. Several of my neighbors have seen two large black cats, for four or five years, in this area (Beechy Creek). They seem to have a home base in a vacant barn, located on a deserted mountain top.
Also, I have family members, who have spotted a large black female cat with small cubs, crossing a creek in the vicinity of Laurel Road and Tar Fork. On another occasion, they saw a pair of large black cats, a male and female, in the same area.
Recently, I have found very large cat tracks close to my home. This concerns me because they are too large to be mountain lions.
Several mountain lions have lived in this area, for many years. It is not uncommon to see them near Kinnconick creek near Camp Dix and Laurel.
They seem unafraid of people and will walk along edges of grassy fields. What is the possibility of being attacked by one of these large cats?
In the last twenty or so years, Eastern Kentucky and maybe all of Kentucky has been repopulated with coyotes, wolves, wild turkeys, bears, and large cats. Bobcats were always here. Few people go into the woods now, without a gun. It has dramatically changed the area.
Ron
What is the possibility of being attacked by a mountain lion? to Mountain lion tracks
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What are the chances of being attacked by a Mountain Lion? This isn’t exactly easy to answer. Under normal conditions, slim to none. Humans aren’t on the preferred Cougar menu. Fortunate for this, because no large cat is stealthier. A better answer would be it depends on the cat and the location. I live in Western Washington, where we have many, and they grow much larger than normal. But we also have plenty of food. An old cat that can’t hunt, or a juvenile that is orphaned and isn’t good at it should be avoided at all costs. Same applies to a mother with young. All others are almost friendly to humans. Just remember that any cat over 50 pounds is probably 40 times stronger or more than a human.
In regions with less food, like Nevada, these rules will change. Fortunately, the cats are smaller. Cougar are listed as topping out around 160 pounds, which reflects on where authors usually live. You can find them up to 250 pounds here. For the most part, I wouldn’t worry about it. If one puts you on the menu, you’ll never know anyway. I doubt there has been more than 50 attacks since 1900. Does that help?
Thanks Tim for taking the time to pass on your knowledge. Much appreciated. As you say cougar attacks are so rare they can almost be forgotten about. Attacks by domestic dogs are far more common and can equally dangerous I would say. One aspect of this is that the cougar is quite a shy cat. It has domestic cat qualities and can be domesticated. It does not want to attack people unless the circumstances are exceptional. I hope people can continue to successfully live in harmony with it despite human population growth. Historically, the human pushes out the wild cat.