Thanks, Bruce--I see that you are a moderator with Adam, so I guess it's OK to continue--assuming you two get along!
On the trackincats forum, I had started a thread called "Oregon," and had posted material about the Medford/Jackson County area.
The following sampling of incidents span a
6-month period in the Medford/Jackson County Oregon area--note the number of incidents where the complainant says the animal was "
not afraid," and the
number of pets/livestock stalked/attacked/killed/intimidated:
*Adult female cougar and two juveniles seen in trailer park at night
*Cougar observed by neighbor in complainant's yard at 4 p.m.
*Cougar seen in driveway at night -
did not run off
*Cougar seen periodically in daytime for last two weeks,
cat killed,
watching wife.
*Car damaged by animal/scratched - complainant and police think cougar
*2nd attack on car, both fenders chewed, scratched - bite marks too big for bobcat - matches cougar skull
*Cougar
killed deer at front gate just before dark
*Cougar coming near home at night -
dog frightened
*Cougar seen crossing road at dusk, running toward residential area
*Cougar
"stalking" horses in pasture last night 10 p.m. - only ran off short distance when spotlighted -
not afraid. Neighbor's
calf killed 3 weeks ago.
*Cougar seen going into ravine near home at 1 in the afternoon
*2 cougars seen in pasture at dusk Christmas eve, attacked and
killed 5 week old goat. Cougars
did not run when yelled at.
*
Goat attacked and injured at night, vet confirms injuries as cougar caused.
*School bus driver saw large cougar cross road at 7:23 a.m.
*Cougar tracks found in horse pasture -
horse's legs scratched.
*Cougar
killed one calf one week ago ($300)
*While walking dog at night on trail, saw
3 cougars who ran towards complainant to within 30 yards and trailed him from 1/2 mile back to car. Headlamp may have confused them -
large, aggressive shepherd dog frightened.
*Young cougar with nose on window at 5:15 p.m., dusk - ran from human.
*25 lb heeler
dog injured by cougar - sliced 3" into muscle hip to flank - during daytime on February 1.
*Cougar seen behind garage, daytime, saw complainants and was
not afraid.
*1 large cougar seen in yard at 2 p.m. on 2/6 - residential community with walkers and joggers
*Large cougar seen behind barn in morning
*2 cougars seen across creek about 25 yards from house -
not afraid of people or dogs.
*Large cougar in yard at night
*
Complainant heard sound like woman screaming at night in yard - cougar? Concerned about daycare kids.
*Cougar seen on fence in yard - mid day, inside city limits.
*
2 house cats missing, cougar track at door & growling. Neighbor video taped cougar in yard.
*Cougar seen in yard at 1:00 in the afternoon -
cats missing.
*Cougar
ate house cat and jumped over fence - daytime.
*Cougar seen 2-3x at night,
killed 2 cats.
*Complainant saw cougar
attack cat at back glass door at night in covered porch area. Beat it with a broom until it dropped cat and left. House cat injured, but OK. Saw cougar again in yard 2 hours later.
Not afraid, came on porch and wouldn't leave for some time. Not afraid - strong urine smell.
*
Dog (labrador) went missing at night from back door, heard screaming -
found dead the following day covered in litter alongside other animal remains - cougar removed by landowner
Welcome to Jackson County Online - Cougar Incidents
The above is significant because it flies in the face of the conventional wisdom that cougars are shy, reclusive creatures, and that you can intimidate them by shouting at them, and that they rarely are seen in the daytime. That was true for most of the 20th century, but since bounty and sport hunting, especially with dogs, has been controlled,
cougars have increasingly become habituated to human beings and civilization, i.e., they are finding out we are harmless, and are increasingly seeing our pets as a food source, and are starting to cue on children.
Some say that prohibiting hound hunting is partially responsible for the increase of cougar-human conflicts in the Northwest.
There are many people who are passionately against sport hunting cougars, and especially with hounds, without which the number of cougars taken is drastically reduced. The voters of Washington and Oregon voted out hound hunting--Oregon in 1994 and Washington in 1997, I think.
I am a vegetarian animal lover--don't like guns/don't like hunting--and the last person you would ever expect to come out for sport hunting predators, which no one even eats, after all. But as I said on trackincats, we have to keep our children safe, and allowing wild lions to lounge about in our suburban fenced backyards amongst the swing sets and sandboxes, while
eyeing our children, is indefensible.
Quote:
Cougar Attacks
One minute, David Parker was stooped under a rock ledge seeking shelter from a drenching rain. The next, the 61-year old Canadian was rolling in a muddy roadside ditch, his jaw smashed, fighting for his life against a 100-pound cougar eager for a meal.
Cougar attacks are on the rise in North America.
Such ambushes are an increasing fact of life in cougar country, which stretches across a large swath of western North America. In California, for instance, there had been no documented cougar attacks for 100 years prior to 1986. But since then, there has been an average of one attack on a hiker, jogger, or camper a year -- some fatal. People living in the southwestern corner of Canada have seen a similar trend.
Wildlife experts don't fully understand the increase. But a growing human population that is spreading out into areas once ruled by cougars is probably partly to blame. And greater interest in outdoor sports, from hiking to cross-country skiing, may be bringing more people into potentially dangerous conflict with the big cats -- although there a number of steps you can take to stay out of harm's way.
NATURE. Trail of the Cougar. Cougar Attacks | PBS |
I could regale you with dozens more stories, but I'll wait for other people to weigh in on the issue.