Trail Use and Wildlife Encounters

[Bad Bob]

In all the years in the woods have only SEEN one cougar but have known they were around for sure.
Doing a summer hike north of Pikes Peak one year hiking down a dry stream bed realized we had taken a wrong turn at a fork a 1/4 mile back so turned around. 100' back on the trail our tracks in the sand were covered by cat tracks, it had been following us. That was a bit unnerving.

Now bears on the trail browns/black/griz got LOTS of those stories.

 

[Snowfan]

In my yard a moment ago...

 

[Bad Bob]

Seeing the coyote picture raises a curious mind question. Has anybody been around a pet coyote coyote cross pet? Don't remember knowing one.

 

[DanoT]

In all the years in the woods have only SEEN one cougar but have known they were around for sure.
Doing a summer hike north of Pikes Peak one year hiking down a dry stream bed realized we had taken a wrong turn at a fork a 1/4 mile back so turned around. 100' back on the trail our tracks in the sand were covered by cat tracks, it had been following us. That was a bit unnerving.

Now bears on the trail browns/black/griz got LOTS of those stories.

I spent 30+ years working for a logging contractor on B.C.s west coast with tons on bear stories including several encounters while in a logging camp, with a mama grizzly and her 4 cubs. More tales of those encounters to follow but for now, my one and only cougar citing:

Driving down a Vancouver Island mountainside logging road with a steep bank leading to a creek on one side of the road and the mountain on the other, suddenly my brain recognized the colour of a deer about 100+ft away and in less than an instant I realized that it was not a common deer but a full grown cougar (about 10 ft from nose to tail) causally sauntering across the road in front of me. It glanced over at me and then effortlessly jumped up a 10ft road cut and was into the bushes and gone, like it never happened. The whole encounter was 5 or 6 seconds.

 

[Sibhusky]

I've seen mountain lions about five times driving. Once "some yahoo " was stopped in the middle of the road on a blind curve. After a moment or two I got the nerve to pass him. Looked in my rear view mirror as I pulled back into my lane and a lion was crossing between my car and the stopped car. Other times they were just off the side of the road or streaking in front of me.

 

[Andy Mink]

The day after I proposed to @AKMINK we were driving back to Reno from near Bucks Lake, CA. We were on a logging road and a big lion came onto the road. I stopped the truck, turned it off, and opened the door so I could get a photo. The cat continued towards the truck and I could hear it growling. I got some pics and the cat jumped off the road and down into the trees. So I followed. I think at that point Ann was questioning her answer of "yes". Never saw the kitty again.

Working for the Forest Circus we'd see the occasional bear and lots of fresh (like still steaming) bear scat in the mornings. I never saw a cat while working in the woods but did see a couple of fleeting tails. That's not a good feel.

 

[fatbob]

My favourite close encounter was when I'd taken my parents for a summer vacation around Colorado-Wyoming- Utah. I'd taken my mum on dawn patrol near the beaver ponds on the Moose-Wilson road on the fringe of GTNP. Found a moose feeding and I was taking photos alongside another guy while my mum fretted that we were too close (we weren't - we were more than a safe considerate distance). Suddenly there was a splosh behind us and a black bear about 10 yds behind us waded across the stream. It paused mid way and had a bit of a stare off with the moose before resuming its path into the trees to go do bear stuff. I always say that was the time grandma nearly got eaten by a bear because she was afraid of a moose. There's probably a parable there somewhere.

 

[Bad Bob]

Long ago, like high school, went on a weekend solo fishing trip to Upper Russian Lake on the Kenai Peninsula, AK. Was very well armed with a spinning rod, and had a couple of nice days trout fishing. On the way out. about a 5 mile hike down the Russian River, mountains on one side river on the other; there was company. A very pleasant adult brown bear was walking up the trail. It stood up maybe 50' away and twitched its' nose admiring the smell of my fish.

Considered all of the options for about 5 seconds, and slowly laid my stringer of fish down on the trail and retreated a few hundred feet. Watched bear enjoy its' breakfast and then walk up into the brush. With big bear in there it seemed like a real good time to just hang out there for a while till I saw bear crest a knoll a fair ways away. Walked a little quicker down the trail back to the car.

Everyone thought I got skunked fishing. Was personally very happy with the outcome, I am still here.

 

[Jim Kenney]

A man who was trail running at Antelope Island State Park got gored to death by a bison recently! Yikes, very sad. This is a really scenic park not far from Salt Lake City that I have enjoyed visiting in the past.

Including some close-up encounters with bison!

 

[DanoT]

I was hiking on the mountain a few summers ago and came across a small herd of cattle. (Sun Peaks is in cattle country and the mountain is Open Range). As soon as the cows saw me the big ones (800-1000 lbs each with full horns) formed a shoulder to shoulder semi circle with the smaller cows in behind the big ones.

I'm thinking, I don't care how docile a cows reputation, those animals should be avoided by me or any bear, wolf, or cougar. If one of those cows even fell on a predator, it would not survive its injuries.