Cougars?

And I wonder if the "eyes on the back of the helmet" trick they do in California has much usefulness.

I doubt it. These cats aren't stupid.

Cougar killed in North Vancouver after resident’s cat attacked

http://globalnews.ca/news/2055474/cougar-killed-in-north-vancouver-after-residents-cat-attacked/

Cougar killed in North Vancouver after resident’s cat attacked

http://globalnews.ca/news/2055474/cougar-killed-in-north-vancouver-after-residents-cat-attacked/

That's disturbing because it means that cat probably came all the way down the Mosquito Creek hiking trail from Skyline past all the dog walkers. It's probably sat in a tree right at the end of Del Rio Drive watching a parade of small dogs go by. I think I'll avoid walking my dogs up there off leash until they catch mommy.

if Godzilla rose from the Pacific you'd have Vancouverites crying about saving the last of this incredibly rare species even as Gojira was ripping their limbs off and setting the entire city ablaze.

Lol !!!
8)

Ill bet you all of us at one time or another has been watched by a cougar and we were completely unaware. I am often with a dog or two and they have yelled at something in the woods that i can't see. Could be bears (but not in winter) coyotes, deer, racoons or cougar. My dogs have been known to holler at small dogs that from a distance might be mistaken for a cat. There are lots of deer on the shore so I am sure that cougars are preying on them too. I don't worry about it. I feel the risk of an attack is extremely remote and my dogs would take the brunt anyway or scare off the animal first.

This. I've worked in forestry for over 20 years- much of this solo, and I ride early mornings and nights solo in the woods all the time. I am confident that I have been seen by cougs on dozens upon dozens of occasions both on my bike, and at work. Yet, in all these instances, they have never chosen to make themselves known to me. I've only ever seen one coug; the back 3/4 running from my truck.This tells me that I am simply not on their menu.

I've only seen one in many years working as a geologist or riding and hiking a lot. And that was on hwy 99 just north of the big orange bridge. It was in the process of killing a deer.

[QUOTE=cerealkilla';2876252]This. I've worked in forestry for over 20 years- much of this solo, and I ride early mornings and nights solo in the woods all the time. I am confident that I have been seen by cougs on dozens upon dozens of occasions both on my bike, and at work. Yet, in all these instances, they have never chosen to make themselves known to me. I've only ever seen one coug; the back 3/4 running from my truck.This tells me that I am simply not on their menu.

pretty cool. i've done a tonne of solo travel as well, and ride solo a fair bit, though less than i used to. i have concerns about wildlife, but not much fear. i'm not originally from BC and have a real admiration for those guys who do or have worked in the bush full on, especially solo. shit is very real here in BC and the risks and exposure are high. it must be fun and satisfying on a level as well (unless it's all for industrial extraction?). a retired forester told me a story where he was being followed by a pack of wolves while deep into a virgin forest on the Island. he did a flanking maneuver and ended up following them (and i believe him based on the details) and he got a never ending kick that he outwitted them for a short time. forest workers and mariners have stories and experiences that most other people will never be able to appreciate or even understand.

Best quote so far from one of the Rangers in the paper regarding the latest batch of fear mongering was. "Bees are responsible for more death's in North America each year than cougars." So where's the Bee thread about how unsafe I feel riding alone with all those bees on the North Shore?

Last year I cracked a log open on a rooty climb in Circuit 8 I was chased 50ft down the trail and stung more than 15 times.
The 5 mile ride home did not help and I was feeling pretty awful whenI got there( dizzy,nauseous, slurry words)
Oh and apparently single malt and herbs don't help…
The culprits ended up being something called bald face hornets(small white and black size of a big house fly) . One of the more painful insects you can get stung by..
It felt like being shot with a chunk of hot rebar..
So ..anything can happen/will happen, a little caution goes a long way..

When you see a bear on your route and it hasn't noticed you yet, what do you do/yell? Me? I break into "hunka hunka burnin love." Over and over. Until the bear stops eating the berries and runs off the trail. It's worked 2 out of 2 times this year.

Cougar? Haven't had the opportunity. But I have the feeling it's a lot harder to see a cougar before it sees me.

When you see a bear on your route and it hasn't noticed you yet, what do you do/yell? Me? I break into "hunka hunka burnin love." Over and over. Until the bear stops eating the berries and runs off the trail. It's worked 2 out of 2 times this year.

Cougar? Haven't had the opportunity. But I have the feeling it's a lot harder to see a cougar before it sees me.

Once this happened to me with a bear on a golf course in Waterton Park Alberta. One friend pulled out his driver, I laughed at him and pointed out that the driver is your flimsiest club in the bag. I pulled out my pitching wedge. Meanwhile my third friend played through and birdied the hole and then laughed at us because we were still standing in the middle of the fairway shouting and waving golf clubs like a couple of morons.

Eventually the bear finished eating the berry patch and wandered off. Waving our clubs and yelling did nothing to speed this up. Moral of the story is that if the bear hasn't shown any interest in you then quietly turning around and walking away is always the best option. Running towards him screaming while he eats lunch is pretty much the worst idea. Unless you think you can take a bear in fair fight over a berry bush.

How do you guys handle deer standing in the middle of the trail ? I've had a couple instances on Seymour where one is standing in the middle of the trail giving you that dumb stare. Totally freaks me out. Sometimes they move, sometimes they just stare..

Cougars, bears, [HTML_REMOVED] deers?

I've had many encounters over the years with all of them [HTML_REMOVED] no real problems (well….the cougar was walking down Ramsay St in Lynn Valley [HTML_REMOVED] I was in a car…back in 2006).

But the one time I had a tough go? Keerist….I was riding up near Gothic in Crested Butte [HTML_REMOVED] came across cows [HTML_REMOVED] a bull in the middle of an aspen forest single track….at 11,000' no less. I had no idea what to do…but I shooed them away only to have them wander down through the forest…[HTML_REMOVED] when I would round the next switchback, there'd be more of 'em!
We don't have cows on the Shore…I had no idea what they would do.
So I did the smartest thing possible….I got off my DeKerf hardtail [HTML_REMOVED] held it between me [HTML_REMOVED] the potentially charging herd. Yep…my whole defense was based on 24lb of steel [HTML_REMOVED] ti, and some lycra.

PS Post #69…woohoo!!

But the one time I had a tough go? Keerist….I was riding up near Gothic in Crested Butte [HTML_REMOVED] came across cows [HTML_REMOVED] a bull in the middle of an aspen forest single track….at 11,000' no less. I had no idea what to do…but I shooed them away only to have them wander down through the forest…[HTML_REMOVED] when I would round the next switchback, there'd be more of 'em!
We don't have cows on the Shore…I had no idea what they would do.
So I did the smartest thing possible….I got off my DeKerf hardtail [HTML_REMOVED] held it between me [HTML_REMOVED] the potentially charging herd. Yep…my whole defense was based on 24lb of steel [HTML_REMOVED] ti, and some lycra.

Once rode through a herd of cattle on the Bow Valley Trail in Kannaskis, Alta. It was pretty frustrating trying to navigate through the herd climbing up a fairly steep hill about 7 hrs into a ride. I yelled at the top of my lungs at a cow just in front of me to get out of the way … it was so startled it slipped, fell forward and face planted into the asphalt as I just barely escaped a few hundred pounds of beef toppling onto me.