So if the cougars on Vancouver Island are the most aggressive in North America, according to Ron Heusen, field supervisor for Central Vancouver Island’s Conservation Authority, what do you do if you happen to run into one, perhaps while out jogging on Horne Lake Road?

My first inclination would be to keep on running, but that is just the thing that would likely get me killed (besides, I’m not a very fast runner). Running triggers the attack response in a cougar. Imagine a kitten spotting a rolling ball of yarn, like a cougar, their natural instinct is to pounce on it. When I run, I become that rolling ball of yarn.

I also leave my neck exposed, which is exactly how these large cat’s take down their prey - they break their victim’s neck, severing the spine in the process.

So what do I do when staring down the face of a killing predatory machine?

According to Heusen fight tooth and nail. If I am going to defend myself, I have to be very, very aggressive. Cougars are 100% fit. If they suffer a broken leg, hip, or become injured in any way, they are done; they will starve to death. Because of this strong survival instinct, they will not put themselves in jeopardy. If they think they might get hurt they will back off.

The best thing to do is to make myself look as big as possible - opening my jacket and fanning it out and making a lot of noise. Exactly what Lori Macfarlane did when she encountered a cougar while walking a friend’s dog on Horne Lake road, see Cougar Attack for the complete story.

With regards to cougars on Horne Lake, Heusen says to relax. Our odds of getting attacked are 1 in 17 million. He also stated that these big cats are territorial. Their habitat spans about 20 square miles. One cat will keep others out, depending on food availability.

For more information on cougars and safety precautions, click here to visit the Ministry of Environment’s website.

Here’s to a healthy deer population.

Cheers,

Julie

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 at 6:05 pm and is filed under Current News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.