Mountain Lions...how worried should I be?

[FineAlready]

There were recently two mountain lion sightings right near the barn where I board. Both were early morning, around the time that I ride. So…how worried should I be? Will probably ride inside tomorrow morning unless everyone thinks that’s crazy and not necessary. The arena is bordered on one side by woods.

Plus, I worry about the horses being out during the day. Anyone experienced with mountain lions? They are not common in this area, so I’m kind of freaking out. Might explain some of my horse’s recent erratic behavior.

[clanter]

From 1890–2001, there were 98 mountain lion/cougar attacks across the U.S. and Canada, 17 of those were fatal. (mountain lion, also known as cougar,
panther, catamount or puma)

Stay calm, talk calmly, and slowly back away, keeping eye contact with the mountain lion. DO NOT RUN OR TURN YOUR BACK.

FIGHT BACK if a lion attacks you. Lions can be driven off by fighting back. DO NOT PLAY DEAD.

https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_br_w7000_0232.pdf

that noted, we had a very rare Jaguarundi living in/near our pastures (and we are in the middle of the city–millions of people)… it is a protected animal, we could not even attempt to trap it to remove it … but the horses never even paid any attention it. We have photos of the jaguarondi walking through the back pasture with the horses grazing fifty/sixty feet away and every one just minded their own business

[Bluey]

What area is that?

Here mountain lions travel by every so often.
They at times try to catch a horse and run them thru fences.
That has been mostly yearlings and broodmares, two killed right by us in our neighbor’s pasture, two years apart.

Our mountain lions tend to mark a territory of about 150 square miles and spend about three weeks roaming it and patrolling so no other mountain lion trespasses.
We generally expect to see them for a few days every three weeks or so.
When they have a litter, they may stay in one place a couple months, then move on again regularly.

In general, we have so many deer, mountain lions tend to stick to them and rarely cattle and even less common horses.
Then, our horses are out in larger pastures, where they can get away, not in pens, where they would be trapped if a lion wanted to attack them.

Don’t know how that will work in your area, what they are hunting there and if they have enough of that, or if they decide to try for horse.
You could call your game warden and ask questions, they will know what they have there.

[FineAlready]

Wisconsin - we do have a lot of deer and turkeys.

[ToTheNines]

I’ve had horses for 20 years on this property, coexisting with mountain lions. They are big guys, so I don’t worry in the least. The mountain lions have plenty of deer.

The few times I have seen a mountain lion while out on the property have been the most remarkable moments of my life. It is one of the few times I will let myself use the word stunning!

[Pat9]

The barn where I boarded in California had a lion that came through the property every ten days or so. They have a territory that they travel, so they don’t use up all the prey in one area. I never had the privilege, but barn staff told me of seeing this lion stroll between the small paddocks, leaving the horses totally alone, just passing through. The horses were equally unconcerned.

In Central Oregon, a friend lost a mule to a cat attack, and various livestock were also taken in separate incidents. These were in winter range areas with plenty of game on hand.

I myself would be delighted by the prospect of seeing one, and if I felt menaced, I’d go on the attack. Predators are disconcerted when their prey charges, or at least that’s the theory. Cats are more inclined to ambush their prey, or run out for a quick swat and slaughter. If roles are reversed, that isn’t in their playbook.

Have your camera handy! The chances of a sighting are low, and of an interaction, even less. If you get eaten, get pictures for us.

[CHT]

We have cougars not far from where I live. I know of one horse badly attacked last year. It seems horses kept in smaller turnouts at night are most at risk.

From what I understand, a cougar learns what prey is based on their outline, so they are unlikely to think an upright adult human OR a horse being ridden by a person is prey, as that won’t match the outline they understand to be prey. A horse on its own though, has a similar outline to a deer, moose or elk.

[Ambitious_Kate]

I always figured if I get it from a cat, I’m taking alot of pictures as I go. The camera can always be recovered later - either at the site where it got me, or later, ehr, on down the trail…

[Minerva]

[QUOTE=clanter;8290234]
https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_br_w7000_0232.pdf

that noted, we had a very rare Jaguarundi living in/near our pastures (and we are in the middle of the city–millions of people)… it is a protected animal, we could not even attempt to trap it to remove it … but the horses never even paid any attention it. We have photos of the jaguarondi walking through the back pasture with the horses grazing fifty/sixty feet away and every one just minded their own business[/QUOTE]

Well? You can’t post something like that and not include the pictures!

OP, I would only be concerned about the horse spooking if it smelled it. Were you one of the ones with a spooktastic horse? I can’t remember. Anyway, I used to live in an area where they were common, which happened to be near a huge mostly pasture board barn. No problems with the horses at all. There were plenty of deer and rabbits around for them to eat. I certainly won’t forget waking up and going downstairs one morning to see a mountain lion standing on the slope next to my fence looking down into my yard though. That was a bit of a surprise. :lol:

[FineAlready]

I’m going for it - I’m about to go ride outside. I blame all of you if I get eaten by a mountain lion. Oh, and, yes, my horse is very spooky. I’m sure he will be the first to let me know if there is a mountain lion nearby.

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=Minerva;8290376]
Well? You can’t post something like that and not include the pictures!

OP, I would only be concerned about the horse spooking if it smelled it. Were you one of the ones with a spooktastic horse? I can’t remember. Anyway, I used to live in an area where they were common, which happened to be near a huge mostly pasture board barn. No problems with the horses at all. There were plenty of deer and rabbits around for them to eat. I certainly won’t forget waking up and going downstairs one morning to see a mountain lion standing on the slope next to my fence looking down into my yard though. That was a bit of a surprise. :lol:[/QUOTE]

Once we came onto a mountain lion chasing a big steer at 2 pm one very hot 4th of July, right on our dirt road.
He had him very hot and tired and with several long strips of skin hanging off his hind end on the right and a big hole on his right side, in front of his flank, a smaller one by his shoulder.
Clearly a right pawed lion that.

The lion ran off and we penned and treated the by then very mad steer, that charged me several times before we could get him treated.
The skin strips on his hind end left some wide, skinless tracks.
Those never haired back over, so his name after that was not very polite maybe, but fitting, "Mokey’s B–t, name courtesy of our vet.

We made the report to the game warden, that came to do the write-up on it and said at that time lions were really getting thick and so more hungry for any prey.

Monkey made it fine and thru all the treating we had to do and became a pet.

[FineAlready]

Update: we were not attacked by a mountain lion during our ride. We did have a close encounter with a crow that had a suspicious look about him, but we were able to avoid an attack THIS TIME.

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=clanter;8290234]
https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_br_w7000_0232.pdf

that noted, we had a very rare Jaguarundi living in/near our pastures (and we are in the middle of the city–millions of people)… it is a protected animal, we could not even attempt to trap it to remove it … but the horses never even paid any attention it. We have photos of the jaguarondi walking through the back pasture with the horses grazing fifty/sixty feet away and every one just minded their own business[/QUOTE]

I am so jealous! I LOVE Jaguarundis. they are extraordinary animals. They should not pose any risk to your horses… if you have small livestock however, they may be a problem.

Re: mountain lion… They don’t bother horses until they do… Most predators go for the easiest kill and a horse is not it. Cougars IMHO don’t usually go after a horse unless resources are scarce or they have a history of doing it… AKA repeat lion maulings are usually the result of one perpetrator and not the
species as a whole.

There are apparently some in our area. Never seen them.

[Pat9]

Now you need a t-shirt commemorating the event - something on the order of I survived the stalking crow…or lion. Continue to keep your camera handy. The only wild lion view I’ve ever had was when I was without a camera. The lion was standing in an alfalfa field, possibly hunting mice or rockchucks, and was the most beautiful golden color.

[NoDQhere]

We live in Mountain Lion country and have never had any problems. We also live in the land of BARBWIRE so every other day it seems, there is a picture of a wire cut horse on face book with the title “MY HORSE WAS ATTACKED BY A COUGAR”!!!

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=NoDQhere;8290621]
We live in Mountain Lion country and have never had any problems. We also live in the land of BARBWIRE so every other day it seems, there is a picture of a wire cut horse on face book with the title “MY HORSE WAS ATTACKED BY A COUGAR”!!![/QUOTE]

When a mountain lion attacked and chased our geldings, they ran thru the barbwire gate, breaking the gate post and didn’t have not one scratch on them, not from the lion or barbed wire.

We still don’t know how they managed that, must have hit the gate so fast, it flew open.

The game warden and us were tracking the lion and horses as they went to and thru the fence, the story clear to read in the sandy soil and looking at the broken, wide open gate.

We did have one young gelding that would never again leave the pens, would become dangerous just leading him or ponying him out.
He was terrified by what happened that night.
He must have been the slowest one and thought he was going to be eaten if he was chased out there again.

We finally sold him to a family in town, where we saw him regularly for years, happy in his pasture there and being trail ridden with the local riding club.

[HungarianHippo]

Re : jaguarundi
Clanter, if you do have photos, you should get them to FWS or TPWD. They would be very, very interested to confirm the sighting. Weird timing to run across that species name here on COTH because my company is doing a study on the ocelot and jaguarundi. Here is an excerpt from one of our reports that shows the general consensus that the jaguraundi has been extirpated from TX. If there’s evidence to the contrary, they’d love to see it. (Or, I’m working daily with the biologists who are experts in this cat, so if you want to PM me the pics I could share with them):
"5.1.3 Population Status and Trends
Currently, the known northern range limit of the jaguarundi is northern Mexico. A population exists in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico, which borders the Texas counties of Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr and Zapata (Caso 2007). Historically, the jaguarundi is known to have occurred in south Texas based on trapping records and road-kill reports; however, the last verified jaguarundi in Texas was a road-killed individual on State Highway 4 east of Brownsville in Cameron County in 1986 (Tewes and Grassman 2005, Grassman 2006, TPWD 2014). A jaguarundi sighting was reported near the Rio Grande in 1990 along the coastal dunes; however, this record constitutes an unconfirmed Class II sighting (TPWD 2014). The primary threats to jaguarundi persistence in Texas are vehicle road mortality and loss of suitable thornshrub habitat (USFWS 1990a). Population estimates in Texas are not available due to a lack of credible presence data (i.e., photographs or carcasses), but it is currently thought that the species does not occur in Texas (Tewes and Grassman 2005)."

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=HungarianHippo;8290759]
Re : jaguarundi
Clanter, if you do have photos, you should get them to FWS or TPWD. They would be very, very interested to confirm the sighting. Weird timing to run across that species name here on COTH because my company is doing a study on the ocelot and jaguarundi. Here is an excerpt from one of our reports that shows the general consensus that the jaguraundi has been extirpated from TX. If there’s evidence to the contrary, they’d love to see it. (Or, I’m working daily with the biologists who are experts in this cat, so if you want to PM me the pics I could share with them):
"5.1.3 Population Status and Trends
Currently, the known northern range limit of the jaguarundi is northern Mexico. A population exists in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico, which borders the Texas counties of Cameron, Hidalgo, Starr and Zapata (Caso 2007). Historically, the jaguarundi is known to have occurred in south Texas based on trapping records and road-kill reports; however, the last verified jaguarundi in Texas was a road-killed individual on State Highway 4 east of Brownsville in Cameron County in 1986 (Tewes and Grassman 2005, Grassman 2006, TPWD 2014). A jaguarundi sighting was reported near the Rio Grande in 1990 along the coastal dunes; however, this record constitutes an unconfirmed Class II sighting (TPWD 2014). The primary threats to jaguarundi persistence in Texas are vehicle road mortality and loss of suitable thornshrub habitat (USFWS 1990a). Population estimates in Texas are not available due to a lack of credible presence data (i.e., photographs or carcasses), but it is currently thought that the species does not occur in Texas (Tewes and Grassman 2005)." [/QUOTE]

Those don’t look like mountain lions:

https://www.google.com/search?q=jaguarundi+images&client=safari&rls=en&biw=1129&bih=589&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0CB0QsARqFQoTCMjhtv-9yccCFQF7kgodErsJsw

They look more like a big cat or odd lynx with a squashed look to them.

Here we have tan and the occasional black mountain lion and they are rather large and very shy.

[Anne_FS]

[QUOTE=FineAlready;8290461]
I’m going for it - I’m about to go ride outside. I blame all of you if I get eaten by a mountain lion. Oh, and, yes, my horse is very spooky. I’m sure he will be the first to let me know if there is a mountain lion nearby.[/QUOTE]

Your horse isn’t worried. All he has to do is run faster than you and he’s got that covered. Stick like glue!

[Anne_FS]

Oops, just read that you survived. THIS TIME.

Now for the crow: protect your eyes! They go for those first. (Actually, crows & ravens are pretty scary. Those beaks. Brrrrr.)