Animalia: What to do if you meet a mountain lion

August 12, 2017

On animals, people and the world they share

By Karin Brulliard

This kitty — an L.A.-area mountain lion known as P-33 — probably won’t hurt you, but it could. What to do? (AP Photo/National Park Service)

Hello, and happy weekend.

In case you missed it, my colleague Derek Hawkins wrote this week about two hikers’ harrowing, and maybe a bit thrilling, recent encounter with a California mountain lion. They captured it on video, and it’s the sort of scene that makes you hold your breath. (So is this mesmerizing video of an Alaskan hiker’s meetup with a grizzly bear and two cubs. I recommend you watch both.)

I’m a big fan of mountain lions, and that video made me wonder what I’d be thinking if I were in those hikers’ boots. Would I be too terrified to reflect on how amazing it was to come face-to-face with one of these elusive and stunning creatures? Also: What would I do?

This is not a totally irrelevant question. I’m about to go on vacation in an area where there are mountain lions. Not a lot, but maybe I’ll get lucky!

Here’s what the hikers in California did: They thought about backing up. They rejected the idea of running. They inched away. Then, Derek wrote, they "made noise by shouting and blowing the bear whistle they carried with them. When that didn't work, they threw rocks and sticks at the animal, then tried to make themselves appear larger." The cougar, he continued, "was unfazed."

They pretty much did what the state of California advises. Should you cross paths with a cougar, its Department of Fish and Wildlife says, "do not run; instead, face the animal, make noise and try to look bigger by waving your arms."

Okay, got it! But then Hal Herzog, a longtime scholar of human-animal interactions and a friend of Animalia, sent me a 2009 study that complicated matters. UC Davis researchers who analyzed 185 cougar attacks over 110 years determined that the conventional wisdom — don’t run — might not be so wise when it comes to mountain lions. Scientific American described the findings:

Half of the 18 people who ran when they were attacked escaped injury. The study also found, however, that those who ran had a slightly higher chance of being killed in an attack — 28 percent (five) of those who fled died as a result of injuries, compared with 23 percent (eight) of those who remained motionless during big cat attacks. About 39 percent, or 28 people, who moved away slowly when approached by a mountain lion escaped without injury. On the other hand, people who froze were the least likely to escape injury when a mountain lion attacked. Only 26 percent of them escaped. They also had the greatest frequency of severe injuries.

Immobility, the lead author told SciAm, may suggest to the big cat that you aren’t aware of it or can’t escape, and thus are "vulnerable prey." Running — especially if the ground is flat and you can do so confidently and smoothly — might be best, he said. He suggested that yelling and rock-throwing might not work as well with mountain lions as it does with, say, African lions, because the former haven’t evolved alongside humans for as long as the latter, and thus might not yet have developed a "humans-are-scary-and-might-hurt-me" sense of caution.

It’s worth noting that the study doesn’t seem to have changed most wildlife managers’ warnings not to run, and they, too, monitor such encounters. For now, I think I’ll heed the wisdom of one of the study’s co-authors, Kathy Etling, who wrote a 2001 book on cougar attacks. I’ll hike with a group.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

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