# Mountain Lion- Cougar trouble!



## retri11 (Apr 5, 2011)

Hello friends retri11 here and I have a HUGE problem. I know this may not be the site to use but I need help and I trust all of you!

There is a cougar on my property and it likes to come around my front porch at night. I need some ideas, and yes it is a cougar I have not seen it myself but I hear it and my neighbor sees it almost everyday he goes to work.

I don't know is someone released it here( I've heard some people do that) and it's a very big threat to my dogs, horses, family, and elderly neighbors! If you have any ideas on how I could come at this problem it would help me so much!

if you don't think it would be appropriate to discuss this here please send me a private message for my e-mail and we can chat there! and the police here are unreliable! Last year there was a sighting of a cougar down the road stalking a 7 year old on his way home from school. It was on the news and it was said that the cougar was disposed of, or was it, so I don't honestly trust the police here. And they'd take an hour to get here even if we did call.

Please don't remove this thread... I don't care what I gotta do if it keeps my animals and my family safe ill do it. 

your pal retri11.


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## Knotbored (Jun 5, 2004)

What part of the country do you live?
Deciding an apropriate solution would be different on the outskirts of a town or on open farmland or forest.


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## daniel_b2380 (Jan 31, 2003)

DNR?, or, Game Warden?


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## retri11 (Apr 5, 2011)

@Knotbored ... well we live on the outskirts of town that is surrounded by forests and is used for farmland. ... So take your pick on what I should do.

@Daniel_b2380 We have sighted many cougars up in our lodging trails and reported them to our Game Warden and they tell us we are wrong and it's just some coyotes. Same goes for the DNR. I don't trust them anyways... I heard that a Game Warden admitted to having a cougar released near a town. I honestly don't trust them, even with Photographic proof they deny it being a Cougar. Their responses are the image is too bad to make out so it must just be a blurry picture of a different animal.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

I've edited your post for language. Please be more careful.

You said you don't trust the police but have you actually approached them about it? You only cited a previous case and you're not even sure what was done about it. I would at least contact them and see what they say. 

Have you contacted your town, city or county officials to see what they suggest?


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## Drabdr (Nov 26, 2007)

Cookiegal said:


> You said you don't trust the police but have you actually approached them about it? You only cited a previous case and you're not even sure what was done about it. I would at least contact them and see what they say.
> 
> Have you contacted your town, city or county officials to see what they suggest?


I would second this. :up: It's pretty important to talk to the locals (especially law enforcement) to determine how the situation should be handled. Meaning, what becomes a necessity in your area with your neighbors and local law enforcement, may not work/be applicable/be legal in other parts.

You need to tell them what is going on, and that it needs to be addressed.


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

Heck, one can even contact the press.


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## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

There are some good trail cameras you can get if you want photographic evidence.
http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/brow..._Wildlife+Management_Trail+Cameras|USA&rid=20

Cougars will attack humans if they get hungry enough or act like game...running, etc. If they will not do something I am sure there are other wildlife agencies that will help. It would be a shame to put a beautiful animal like that down because someone doesn't want to do their job. Your taxes pay the DNR salaries.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

Darn talking to gun and or hunting clubs may help and your get others that may take care of it for free or the sport of it because they are game hunters.


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## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

You cannot legally shoot a mountain lion unless you have a license to do so. They are too magnificent of a creature to shoot anyway.


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## Cookiegal (Aug 27, 2003)

I was hoping the discussion wouldn't go there because it's never appropriate to take things into your own hands. I also understand they may be a protected species in some areas. So the only option we can recommend is to approach the various authorities and if it doesn't work with one then you approach another and another until someone handles it appropriately.


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

Indeed......very beautiful animals, and very protected.

That said, I went to college in northern Colorado, and we had a few people each year get mauled within a mile of the football stadium to cougar attacks. The rule of thumb up there is that if you go hiking or biking back there, you always carry a firearm. I hiked and biked all over those hills, saw exactly one cougar within 100 yards of me, and just enjoyed it.

Again, the only recourse you have here is to go to the authorities. If they refuse to run with it, personally, I'd go to the press at that point. I have friends that work for animal welfare in a few states, and I've _never_ heard of any of them turning down a story (that didn't contain the word 'Sasquatch') just because they didn't believe the person reporting it.


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## Knotbored (Jun 5, 2004)

http://www.cougarinfo.org/attacks3.htm
That site documents cougar attacks from 2001-2010 and references prior decades.
It makes for fascinating reading whether your concerned or not about safety.
The thing that jumps out at me is the risk of a cougar attack seems far less likely then a dog attack and about on a par with a lightning strike or being hit by a golfball.
I also live in a rural-wooded area and bears, bobcats, cayotes and cougars have been seen (and a few photographed) near my property. I am more concerned with losing small pets then my own safety or my grandkids. When you live near the edge of civilization you take on added risk, but attacks from cougars id low on the list.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

The ones in the hunter club I hope would know the law and what they can and can't do.


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## aka Brett (Nov 25, 2008)

The animal hanging out on the front porch isnt good at all...I would take that seriously{as you are} I do understand your concern.
If the animal is large enough it is a compounded problem...The little ones will dodge you unless cornered..bigger ones not so much.
I dont recommend shooting the critter....however I do recommend to be prepared to..if your life is in danger you can shoot {pretty standard law}

A little word of advice...dont try to scare it away ..unless you put the fear of god in it...a minor scare will only cause a return with a possible slightly aggravated cat.

Option two=== if you have money....set a live cage trap ...you then have your proof.

This guy was stuck at home for a week











> CASPER, Wyoming- Kelly McDonald wanted to retire to the mountains. So, he built a home on the Laramie range and the day he moved in a mountain lion trapped him inside for a week. "I left my cell phone in the car so I couldn't call for help or food or anything. This damn devil cat just camped out on my deck and wouldn't leave. Mr. Dinkly (McDonald's pet Chihuahua) wouldn't go outside so I had to let him ruin the carpets." McDonald has put his home on the market and moved back to Portland.


http://www.vaguebuttrue.com/main/15


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## valis (Sep 24, 2004)

'vaguebuttrue.com'?


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## aka Brett (Nov 25, 2008)

valis said:


> 'vaguebuttrue.com'?


I doubt it was chosen by a vote


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## jiml8 (Jul 3, 2005)

I have always preferred to live in areas that had lots of wildlife. My policy has always been to co-exist peacefully with that wildlife so long as the wildlife didn't act in a fashion that I considered threatening, and to immediately kill the animal if it did act threatening. 

I never offer food to the forest creatures - except birds - and I actively discourage them from getting too close to the house.

Personally, I would view a cougar that routinely would hang out on my front porch as an imminent threat. I might try to drive him off using sound, or perhaps obnoxious-smelling substances, but if he wouldn't go I wouldn't hesitate to shoot him and bury him out back, saying nothing to anyone about it.

Capture/release programs are seriously defective when dealing with an animal (particularly a large predator) that isn't sufficiently wary of humans; if he'll hang out on your porch, then getting animal control involved (if you even can) will just result in the animal being released someplace else to hang out on someone else's porch.


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## Sins (Nov 11, 1999)

While I greatly admire the big cats, I would not want him camped out on the porch. Shooting him would be my last resort. 

I'd suggest looking into a nice ultra-sound / sonic blaster solution. His hearing is better than yours and on additional frequencies. Pick on that he hears and you don't then make very loud and obnoxious noises on that frequency. He'll leave you alone just like you'd move away from the drunken neighbor who plays techno music at max volume at 03:00.


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## retri11 (Apr 5, 2011)

Hello everyone! sorry for not being on for so long, the Cougar and its cub have finally moved further into my field making me feel a bit better that its not near my house, we contacted animal control, game warden and so on, but so far no responses have been made.  I don't want to shoot the critter,I like them, but if it proves to be a danger to my animals and livestock it'll need to go! Thanks for all the replies with very helpful info, I am honestly very thankful I found you guys! Thanks again- retri11


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