Staying Safe Around Wild Cats
Puma in tree before being fitted with a GPS collar. Part of the Patagonia Puma Project.
Mountain lions and other wild cats don’t have to be dangerous. If you encounter one in your neighborhood or in the wilderness, how you act determines if the encounter will be a positive or negative one. Take the steps now to learn how to interact with a wild cat!
How You Can Prevent An Attack
If you want to prevent a mountain lion (also known as cougar) attack or encounter, there are certain steps you can take to discourage them from visiting your house or property.
The first thing to know is that pumas, or mountain lions, are not inherently dangerous. Pumas do not attack humans without feeling threatened. They also only attack animals when they need to eat!
As we build homes in their territory, we force their prey to move or hang out in your neighborhood. Thus, we force wild cats to hunt differently in their territory - sometimes in our neighborhoods.
So the first thing we can do to prevent pumas from visiting is to discourage their prey.
Wild cats eat small animals, like racoons, rats, rabbits, and other rodents, and deer. To keep this prey away from your home, you can…
- Bring in pet food at night.
- Plant native deer-resistant vegetation.
- Use tall fences around gardens with plants deers would want to eat.
- Install motion-sensor outdoor lighting. There are also options that spray water, make noise, and change the noise and lighting pattern.
- Remove plants that would attract deer or small animals.
Some other safety steps you can take around your home include…
- Knowing where your pets and children are at all times, especially around dusk and dawn.
- Bringing animals in during the evening and night. Pumss, as well as most wild cats, are nocturnal, so don’t give them reasons to come around when they’re hunting.
- Trimming vegetation around your house where an animal could hide. This will remove a home for wild cat prey, as well as potential hiding spots for cats.
The best thing you can do to prevent a puma attack in the case of an encounter is learning how to safely interact with them!
Similar to living in a neighborhood, the best way to keep wild cats away is discouraging their prey from visiting. We recommend taking all the steps listed for someone in a neighborhood. But we also know that owning animals can make things extra difficult.
This is perhaps one of the most contentious subjects around wild cats. Pumas are known for attacking livestock. But they do so because we’ve limited the availability of their prey and made livestock easy targets. So we have to stop making our livestock an easy target.
You can follow our 5-step process to keep your livestock safer:
1. Make the property less attractive to wild cats. This involves the steps listed above: plant deer-resistant vegetation, keep pets and their food inside at night, trim plants, etc.
2. Practice responsible livestock management to promote a healthy rangeland. Pumas and other wild cats often prey on baby animals. So coordinate your birthing season with resident wildlife! To help promote prey populations, rotate grazing areas to allow for dead areas to grow again. During the dry season, you can give your animals extra food. This will stop over-grazing for deer.
3. Bring free-ranging livestock into a pen at nightfall. Wild cats are crepuscular and mainly hunt at night. Fully-enclosed structures are one of the best ways to stop wild cat attacks. But we know this is not always an option for ranches and animal operations.
Effective night enclosures will have:
- Roofs that are strong enough to hold the weight of a snow load or a large wild cat, such as a cougar.
- An “apron” around the edge of the fence to prevent digging animals, such as coyotes, from getting in. This material should extend a few feet out.
- You could include some chain link across the bottom of the pen, as well.
4. Have guard animals. If you raise and train a guard dog well, they can prevent a wild cat attack. The best guard dog breeds include the Anatolian Shepherd, Akbash, Great Pyrenees, and Komondor. To make the most of a guard dog, consult a professional trainer or resources to start training them right away!
5. Use motion lights and alarms. Motion-detecting lights, The Scarecrow (shoots a blast of water), and The Electronic Guard (uses light and sound in different combos) are devices that can frighten wild cats away from livestock. To stop wild cats from getting used to the sound and lights, change them up and move them frequently.
6. Make sure to establish proper fencing. If you can’t use a covered pen, tall fences can work. For fences to work best, put them up before a mountain lion finds your livestock. If they recognize your animals as prey, they will be less deterred. If pumas are your main concern, make sure to construct fences at least 12 feet high. Mountain lions are documented jumping 22 feet vertically, but adding a fence this high is not realistic at your residence, so we recommend motion lights and motion sensing sounds, in addition to fencing as tall as possible, if a covered pen is not an option.
Fences are ideal for small pastures, but don’t work for public lands or rangelands. We also don’t recommend fences where it would impede the movement of other wildlife. So consider building a small fenced area and calling the animals in at night - especially if they are birthing.
We also recommend using temporary or portable fencing. A good alternative is electric fencing, which is simply to set up and later move.
How To React If You Encounter Or Are Attacked By A Wild Cat
How likely are you to be attacked by a mountain lion or wild cat?
Very, very, very unlikely.
You are...
- 150 times more likely to be killed by the cougar's prey (the deer)
- 300 times more likely to be killed by a domestic dog
- 500 times more likely to drown in your own bathtub
- 1000 times more likely to die from excessive heat or cold
- 2500 times more likely to die from an accidental fall
- 7000 times more likely to die in a vehicle crash
- Did you know that even bees account for more human deaths each year than wild cats?
We understand that a wild cat is still an intimidating creature. They are a powerful apex predator! But they only attack to eat (unless very, very sick) and their natural prey are a variety of animals (like raccoons) and deer—not humans. Pumas are not inherently dangerous and usually only attack if they are provoked, so it’s important to know how to react if you see a puma to prevent an attack.
A puma watches its prey.
If you see a cougar or other wild cat...
- Stay calm and stand your ground. Stand tall to make yourself look big and intimidating. You can also put your hands above your head.
- Don’t make any sudden movements, but keep eye contact with the cat.
- Don’t run. Wild cats are a predator and running could trigger their instincts, provoking them to chase you.
- If you are with a child or pet, pick them up without bending over. Bending down or moving quickly could appear hostile and intimidate the cat so they feel like they need to protect themselves. You can also have the child or pet slowly move behind you.
- If you are in your neighborhood, slowly back into your car or house.
- If you are not near a building, slowly back away and allow the cat to pass by.
- Lastly, recognize the beauty of what you are witnessing. A wild cat encounter is a rare, beautiful thing!
This would create an ideal encounter, but if the cat appears actively aggressive or looks like it might attack, make yourself look larger by waving your hands above your head. Make noise by clapping your hands and yelling, but keep your voice tone low and affirmative. You can also throw things at the wild cat, like backpacks, rocks, sticks, or anything near you. But do not charge the cat.
If you’re recreating in the wilderness, we recommend carrying a heavy walking stick. You can use it to defend yourself if the cat comes within striking distance. You could also carry pepper spray or mace to protect yourself if the animal appears like an active threat coming towards you.
In the extremely rare case that these actions do not scare the cat off and it does attack, do not lay down or play dead. Fight back.
Seen in San Francisco's South Bay area. Part of the Bay Area Bobcat Study.
How do you know if a wild cat is about to attack?
Mountain lions are world-class stalkers, so if they’re going to attack you, you probably won’t see them. But, again, unprovoked attacks are extremely rare. If you do see a puma, you should follow the steps we listed to scare it off and avoid an attack. Signs of aggression include:
- Moving towards you quickly.
- Hissing or making noise.
- Clapping their front paws at you.
How You Can Help Wild Cats
There is a lot of misinformation out there about wild cats. This misinformation causes fear and public unrest, which puts wild cats at risk. They are important apex predators that play a crucial role in biodiversity. When we lose wild cats, we lose biodiversity.
We can help save wild cats through educating our communities on ways to live alongside them safely! Education is the key, because it alleviates fear and encourages a healthy relationship. If we take the right steps, we can make a difference for wild cats.
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