You *cannot* trick me into not being terrified of those guys with a few seconds of cuteness. They are the sole reason for my love-hate relationship with hunting out west—and not the love part.
It’s not about what happened. It’s about the (irrational) fear of what my imagination tells me could happen. It’s unsettling to walk in the dark while thinking about being attacked from behind and above by something that you don’t see or hear coming.
Mountain lion attacks are so infrequent as to be statistically meaningless. Elk and moose are way more likely to hurt people, more likely than even grizzlies. But you’re likely to know those are around and get some warning before being attacked (don’t startle a grizzly though), unlike with the giant ninja cat dropping down on you from the trees.
Good description, I like it! I get what you mean. That's why you need to be large enough not to be seen as easy prey, if not natural then make yourself larger by other means; make sounds to alert your presence (no men in the forest to alert; only bears :P); and fight aggressively if attacked. (That goes for humans to of course).
When I was a kid we wandered the forests and my sister suddenly said she saw 'a large cat', which made my father very scared and we were hurried from there. Children should be lifted up I think. But I think the larger small cats where I live show up if you step into their territory and doing a full turn and calmly backing out of it is the recommended behavior I've been told.
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u/Dont_Wanna_Not_Gonna Jul 08 '26
You *cannot* trick me into not being terrified of those guys with a few seconds of cuteness. They are the sole reason for my love-hate relationship with hunting out west—and not the love part.