Cougar mom protects her babies

You are more likely to die from a bee sting or Bambi jumping through your window than you are from a cougar.

There is a viral video going around of a hiker and a cougar. The video is definitely scary. I am glad the hiker is safe. However, you don’t need to be scared of mountain lions while hiking. You need to be aware of them.

TLDR:

1. Cougar mom was protecting her babies.
2. Cougar attacks are extremely rare.
3. Cougars are important to ecosystems. If we kill cougars, more people will die from deer encounters than from cougars.

Terms

First some terminology.

A cougar is a large hunting feline. It has many names including puma, mountain lion, panther, painter and catamount.

1. The cougar mom was protecting her babies

At the beginning of the video you can clearly see 2 young cubs. The hiker was videoing these cubs, approaching them with his phone out. One of the cubs runs away and then you see the mom come running down the trail.

The hiker violated the #1, and #2 rules about wild animals.

1. Don’t approach wild animals
2. Don’t get near baby wild animals.

He did well to not turn and run, and to yell and make himself appear threatening but the cougar mom was going to make sure he left to protect her babies.

From the interview he gave, he said he didn’t realize what kind of animal it was when he first approached. He thought it was bobcats. But even when you don’t know what animal it is, don’t approach wild animals. You are on their turf.

2. You are more likely to die from a bee sting or a lightning strike, than from a cougar.

Every time you go hiking, do you carry a fly swatter and Raid just in case a bee attacks you? No? Then don’t be worried about cougars.

Fatal cougar attacks are extremely rare and occur much less frequently than fatal snake bites, fatal lightning strikes, or fatal bee stings.