Thread: Cougar Snatches Child from Campfire!

Cougar snatches kid from campfire, parents save her

Was just reading about it on our locals forum up here

Came soooooo close to losing a kid, if that cat had time to shift it's grip it would have been over

If I had the means and wherewithal to invent the following, I would think such a thing would be in great demand even if it were a niche item:

It would be great to have an accurate portable infrared perimeter sensor that a camper, hiker etc could use that would alert the person when any larger warm blooded creature ventured inside the perimeter.

We have an increasing number of hungry timber wolves in our area and often it's pitch black during deer hunting season when I field dress a deer at the end of the hunting day. Just me having to focus on what I'm doing and in that regard, defenseless. Hang an IR perimeter alarm on a branch or stick it into the ground/snow if on a stake and get an alert if something approaches within 100' or so. That would give me time to light up the night with my Jetbeam T6 flashlight (lights up the night)

and take the safety off.....

ChrisL

I've used monofilament fishing line & hand alarms to cover entry areas, that were out of my vision, while waiting for individuals to show up.
Simple trip wire, the components are cheap & easily set up.

Boy, talk about a bad title. Or maybe it's my warped sense of humor but i envisioned the child had fallen in the fire and the cougar snatched it out and saved it's life. Guess not. Glad the worst thing we have around here is some coyotes (though there have been some alleged sightings of mountain lions including one by myself.) Kind of gives one the chills.

Lucky this story has a good ending, could have been worse.

John, I just use tanglefoot and tin cans, seems to do the job! The towers with the Ma Dueces take care of them once the alarm goes off. Tc

Maybe with a bear most of these contraptions would work however with a Mountain Lion usually the first you know you are being stalked is when you are knocked to the ground from behind and you feel it's teeth sinking into you.

Yeah, those things are scary-I hear they often hunt by jumping down from out of nowhere on a ledge or limb to break the spine of their prey! And further that when they've locked in on something as prey (a deer, a child) that it is almost impossible to fight them off. I've done some camping in the Rocky Mountain west (Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, Utah), and was always more concerned about bears, but I keep reading and hearing about more dangerous encounters with these cats. Thank God the child was okay!

I have to also add

Seeing a large predator in the wild just gets your heart going..
Even living where I do and being used to seeing an abundance of wildlife nearly everyday, spotting a larger predator is a rare thing..
I was thinking of this thread yesterday, I was heading into town for a Dentist appointment, and right at the entrance to our property, I had a Black Bear cross the road and head into the woods..

We have been here almost 15 years now

One Cougar or really the hind end as it headed out of the yard
One Bobcat or Lynx couldn't see it well enough as it crossed through the shadows to tell
One either very large Coyote or a smaller Wolf not positive
About a dozen Bear sightings over the years

Compared to the hundreds of Moose, Elk, Deer, and other small game animals...


Yep large predators are a rare sighting, and we actually can see them at night since they trip the security lights around the house and out buildings when they come close..

I'm glad the kid is ok and sad that the animal was put down.