Locally, one of my neighbors just shared that a mountain lion was up on her roof. She lives on the edge of the forest and mistakenly went out to investigate why her dogs were going crazy.

Fortunately, the cougar took a 20 foot leap away from her and ran away. I’ve been thinking of carrying a firearm when I hike and this confirms that it probably would be a good idea.

Here we are seeing an increase of predators into the human populated area for a couple of reasons–the main one is that the large fires that swept through the area last fall left vast terrain uninhabitable to most of the larger wildlife.

So, the critters have relocated to adjacent areas and mountain lions, bobcats, and bears are being seen and encountered with more frequency because of it.

I’ve touched on this topic before but am revisiting it based on the two mountain lion attacks that have been in the news over the last week.

The first cougar attack allegedly took place in South Dakota on March 3, 2008. I dismissed it when I heard the preliminary reports but now I’ve taken a look at the photo of Ryan Hughes and the two tooth marks on his face–it could have been a younger, inexperienced cougar.

I spoke to a reporter yesterday and then took some time to review the cougar attack accounts I’ve been ignoring. Currently the attack was not confirmed by officials. I believe this is for a few reasons.

First, it would be the first documented cougar attack on a human in South Dakota history (at least we think it would be), then there is a bit of concern because of the alcohol content found in the blood of Ryan Hughes, and finally the investigative team that went out with lion dogs (these are dogs that specifically track mountain lions) did not pick up the scent.

Usually there will be some sort of sign or scent left in the area. Pug marks (mountain lion tracks), fur, scat, and in this case–Hughes reported that the cougar had a kill in its mouth (red fox). I would expect to hear of an area where the kill took place.

So unanswered questions are: Were there any signs of a cat in the area? Did Hughes really surprise the cougar? If so, was the cougar defending its prey–and did it pick the prey back up? Was it a different type of animal instead of a mountain lion? And why would Hughes make up the attack?

People often mistake smaller predators for larger ones. In fact, here in California people have mistaken house cats for cougars and reported bobcats as mountain lions. However, Hughes did describe an irritated tail twitch. As of yesterday, the South Dakota cougar attack is still unconfirmed and under investigation by wildlife officials.

The lesson to be learned here is that you should have someone with you when out in the wilderness. I already gave you some mountain lion safety tips and encourage you to review them if you travel out into the wilderness or live in areas adjacent to wild lands.

Next, a rabid mountain lion attempted an attack on 10-year-old Paul Schalow. The family was celebrating Paul’s birthday on Saturday when the older female cougar launched her attack. You can catch the interview video about the cougar attack encounter here.

Cougar attacks are not so rare as they once were. However the risk to humans is pretty low in comparison to other animal injuries and attacks–check out this older Bureau of Labor Statistics page.

Finally, I have not updated my statistics on cougar attacks in a while (2004) but if you are looking for more info, links, and books related to the topic drop by.