daveh
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Post by daveh on Jul 6, 2011 17:00:20 GMT -5
Meanwhile, while wandering around in North Wales I came across this fellow:  He, or she, didn't seem to notice me so I took a few photos, said thanks and carried on my way. (Photo taken in the Welsh Mountain Zoo, Colwyn Bay, with the poor animals behind bars. I'm never sure if I approve of zoos or not.) |
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Post by Michael Fraley on Jul 9, 2011 22:00:46 GMT -5
Never having had the pleasure of being in North Wales, you had me going for a moment! I thought maybe the local fauna tended to giant predators... Here we have cougars (mountain lions) very near San Francisco. In fact I've stopped hiking alone on the more remote ridges since I was advised to always carry mace and be prepared to shoot over my shoulder, as they sneak up behind you  |
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Jul 9, 2011 22:31:20 GMT -5
They always say that if you are attacked by a bear you play dead and the bear will lose interest in you. Anyone want to give it a try?
The safest way to travel is in threes. Make sure your companions are slower runners, and always be in the middle position.
Are there many cases of cougars having attacked people?
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Jul 10, 2011 14:16:20 GMT -5
Michael, I was advised to always carry mace and be prepared to shoot over my shoulder, as they sneak up behind you Or walk backwards. Mickey |
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Post by nikonbob on Jul 10, 2011 16:59:45 GMT -5
Dave There have been enough cougar attacks on humans to make people cautious but if you look up it up on wiki en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fatal_cougar_attacks_in_North_America fatal attacks occur less often than fatal lightening strikes. Our fire picket ran into one while on his rounds, behind the trailer I was in, in the early morning hours. Both got a scare one going one way and the other the other way. It could have been worse. Bob |
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Jul 11, 2011 1:13:14 GMT -5
Bob, those numbers (cougar deaths) are too small to worry about - unless you're one of the victims.  There were figures a few years ago of shark deaths world-wide of 105 in the year. Now the coconut is a much more dangerous animal. In the same year it claimed 132 lives! (Figures not fully rechecked, but they were of that order.) The hippo is said to be the most dangerous animal to man in Africa. Well it possibly is if you don't include the mosquito, the tsetse fly, the....... Mickey, I wonder if that gave the Goons their idea of walking backwards for Christmas. |
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daveh
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Post by daveh on Jul 21, 2011 1:34:15 GMT -5
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Post by nikonbob on Jul 21, 2011 6:33:28 GMT -5
Most exciting things in life usually come down to bad timing, wrong place wrong time. Lucky buggers at least got to see a grizzly, out of several trips to Yellowstone we only had one encounter. I noticed in the article it said they saw the sow grizzly but decided to keep on hiking.
Bob
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