This mountain lion incident in the Rocky Mountain foothills prompted me to review some mountain lion safety. Here is what I found.
- Average Length: 8 feet long nose to tail, Adult paw prints are about 4 inches wide.
- Average Weight: 75-160+ pounds
- Prey: Any animal including deer, sheep, cows, horses, rodents, etc.
- Hunting Method: Stalks through brush and trees then leaps onto prey ambush-style and gives a suffocating neck bite.
- Special Skills: Can run 35 mph for short distances. Can jump 18 feet high. Can leap 40 feet horizontally. Can swim.
- Social Skills: Live in solitude (except for a mother and her babies). Territorial for 10 square miles.
- Other Behavior: Typically hisses and spits before acting violently.
General Safety Tips:
- Mountain Lion attacks on humans are rare, with only 50 attacks in North America since 1991. Thirty-two of the attacks (64%) were on children (16 or under). The most common age for children to be attacked was age 5-9. In all children fatalities, the child was unaccompanied by an adult.
- Children unaccompanied by adults are at the greatest risk of attack. Mountain Lions are scared of adult humans.
- Supervise children at all times in mountain lion territory… especially outside between dusk and dawn. Educate children on mountain lion safety. If you are hiking, do not allow children out of your site on the trail. Do not allow them to run ahead.
- Always hike, backpack and camp with a companion.
- Attacks are most frequent in late Spring and Summer when juvenile lions leave their mothers and search for new territory.
- You and your children could carry a whistle. Blowing a whistle has been known to scare off lions that are in your presence.
- Keep pets on a leash.
If you encounter a lion:
- Pick up small children (or pets) ASAP… ideally without turning your back on the lion or bending over.
- Do not crouch down. If you crouch down, you will resemble a 4-legged animal and make your head and neck vulnerable to an attack.
- Always remain standing. Remember the lions want to attack your head and neck.
- Never approach mountain lions. Most want to avoid humans. Give a mountain lion the time and space to steer clear of you.
- Do NOT run away when you see a lion – the lion will chase you.
- Do NOT play dead when you see a lion – the lion will attack you.
- Do make yourself appear larger and more aggressive. Open your jacket, raise your arms, throw stones, branches, rocks, etc., without turning away. Wave raised arms slowly, and speak slowly, firmly, loudly to disrupt and discourage predatory behavior.
- If you or someone with you is attacked, fight back with whatever is at hand (without turning your back)-people have used rocks, jackets, garden tools, tree branches, and even bare hands to turn away mountain lions.
Sources:
