Cougar across the street? From 9 to .45

Sulaco,

I'm a Southeast King County resident. I'm about 5 miles from the mountains. We've had bear and cougar sightings here and most recently a pug puppy was snatched up from a back yard (my neighbor's) by a bald eagle. Sad but part of nature. Glad I didn't hear it, I'm a dog owner too.

Anyway, I'm a local history nut and I live in an old coal mining district. The one thing the early settlers feared here was the cougar. The two things to consider are 1) will you even know the cougar is there and 2) will you have time to react. The cougar has been known to shadow people for some time without them realizing they are being stalked. This theme comes up over and over in the local history books.

I would go for a .40S&W minimum but lean towards 10MM or more for an auto. For a revolver I would go .357 minimum. The thing is you may only get one shot (hopefully!) especially with the cover we have here. The cougars know how to use that cover. A shotgun is indeed a better tool for the job in a surprise short range encounter but you may not want to be walking around with one in King or Pierce county.. The cops may pay you a visit. My plan right now is to get my CCW permit and a .40 to carry. We hike alot and it would be nice to be armed just in case.
 
I would go with a shotgun or rifle. Big game hunters used 12 Ga brass shells in pump shotguns to take out man eating tigers.
 
How about keeping a shotgun with a buckshot load inside the house within easy reach and the pistola on person for close encounters. How about getting one of those caps with eyes on the back? Or a halloween mask to wear on the back of your head? That is how some people in India dealt with tiger attacks, apparently the tigers liked to attack a person from the rear so the faces looking backwards were to confuse the cat. Maybe it worked for awhile. Wonder if scarecrows would confuse them? I understand that cougars usually attack people from behind instead of charging face on like a bear? Well maybe that would work. Wearing bells like for bears would not work though, I don't think. Cat toys have little bells to attract the cat!:D
 
When I saw "cougar across the street", I was half expecting to read about an old widow who is on the prowl for an eligible bachelor or widower!
I'm still not sure if we're talking about the cat or the Mercury automobile. :p
 
Bullet proof vest would be part of my winter clothing. Hopefully that would give me time to get the gun out, when I got nailed by the cat...

Anyone know if bullet proof vests are claw proof?
 
I thought of that, after I typed it. I don't think walking around with a kevlar helmet, or old Nazi issue helmet would go well...

The other way to go is some of those hypersensitive ear muffs, that actually increase your hearing ability...
 
I had a run in with a dark grey mountain lion up near Mt. Tamapias in Marin County, by San Francisco. The one I saw sat so still on a small bluff overlooking a small road that his head looked like a rock on the skline. After a second I recognized it as a cat, and a large one. I stopped my car and got out the binoculars and camera.

In any case, it was cool to see one, but when I go crashing into the brush I look around a little more carefully these days.


See the head on the horizon?
 

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We see them occasionally here in southeast Texas. There's one that shows up fairly routinely at my in-laws' place - my father in law, for reasons known only to him, likes to feed raccoons, and the coons bring the cougar.

I've yet to see the thing, but would not hesitate to shoot it (there are lots of small children just up the road).
 
Thanks guys. We have not had another sighting since the first one. The neighbor is an old hunter and knows his animals. I contacted the city and they basically said “if you see it again give us a call”….Not real helpful but it’s not the best of times to get their attention with the weather “emergency” in progress, they have more important things to worry about right now. Got 6 more inches last night. I did check the lot for tracks hoping to see some but the snow fall over nearly 24 hours covered any that might have been evident.

The shotgun is a good Idea as far as covering the lot across the street from my front door and the dog is sleeping inside the house and not in the insulated dog house. I think she (the dog) is rather fond of that cat because of this. I took her across the street and she got very excited about some of the smells on the lot. We will keep our eyes open and head up for what it’s worth, I know as some of you have said they are ambush hunters and the first inkling of attack would be 200 pounds landing on your back. My main concern is the kids in the area. Don’t want to kill the cat, I like cats, and if it does show up again Animal Control will be my first call if possible. Still, State law lets me shoot if it is threatening persons or live stock. It’s not like we have a shortage of big cats in Washington State.

Creature! I am STILL moping up coffee off my key board LOL!!!:D
 
This is a really strong medium, designed for house cats to claw, for recreation. I sprinkled with catnip, and put it outside for one of our outside cats to play with. Anyone want to guess the size of the claws that made the cuts in this box??? We have deer in the area, now I know we have lions...
scratchboxBIGcat66.jpg
 
Cougar in the neighborhood? Hmmm... I'd have swapped to the .45 as well. A lot of different opinions on ballistics around, but generally speaking, the bigger the bullet, the bigger the hole. I would personally want a .44 mag. Maybe if we had a mountail lion running around our block the wife would let me buy one :D
 
Anyone have experience with this situation recently?
Not recently, but we had a farm hand in the 1970's who had been a hand out West and hunted cougars regularly, and he said all he ever used to take them was a .22 LR. So I'd make a guess that just about anything you could shoot well would work.
 
It doesn't matter much - .357 Magnum or 10mm would be ideal - as you'll NEVER see it coming if it comes right down to it. A good stout fixed blade knife would be the first thing I'd consider...
 
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