Mountain Lions in neighborhoods...?

Question

My questions are more than likely stupid but I know NOTHING about these animals...

There has been a small mountain lion sighted 2 blocks from my home, I have 3 dogs, a cat and 3 kids... I have not been letting the kids out and keeping a close eye on the dogs.. Anyways, the guy that lives a couple houses up from us has 4 Blue tick hounds, and he uses them for cat hunting..

My question is.. If the hounds smell a cat wont the spaz out? And also if the cat smells/hears them wouldn't it stay away?? Or if its Hungry enough would it ignore the fact that there is these hunting dogs smelling its stink??

We live in town, but there are a lot of deer that hang out around here not to mention the slew of house pets, this would be a great place to get a snack for a cat!

Answer 1

We get coyotes that travel in packs around here. Unfortunately I live right in the heart of a suburban village & the llocal authorities tend to frown upon killing them on sight from your yard. However nobody complained when I shot a couple with my bb gun as they were scoping out the cats & kids playing in the neighboorhood in broad daylight. Although that was also a seperate incident where my cat came running to me on the back porch & was being chased by 3 coyotes. In any event I'd at least get like a full auto paintball gun to sort of protect my pets & family from coyotes or a small mountain lion because by lighting em up, as I used to say in paintball games, they associate those areas with ppl & guns. Maybe it will detour them.

Answer 2

Some animals in nature demand respect, such as the mountain lion does.*~

Answer 3

The hounds may be a deterrent to the cat for a while. Eventually though, it will figure out that the dogs are not able to get out of their area and will tend to become bolder.

You are doing well keeping a close eye on your kids and pets. If the neighborhood becomes concerned enough or the cat is seen to be checking out the yards for that tasty kitty or pup, I would arm myself with a shotgun and buckshot. You might also consider getting some "non-lethal" (bean bag, rubber slugs) rounds for the shotgun. this way if you do spot the cat, you can give it a really painful experience that it may remember and associate with humans. It's what wildlife officials do with bears so it should work on cats.

Answer 4

I live in the foot hills of Colorado and although there are  nearby houses, neighbors, etc. the cats come through occasionally. A couple of years ago my next door neighbor called to let us know one had just crossed his back porch,  and we saw one crossing through the other neighbors yard within a week or two. (probably the same one).

They follow the deer and elk herds around and since humans keep building more and more into the habitat they have no where else to go but where the game goes. I hike almost every week up here in the hills and 3 times this past winter I was out right after freshly fallen snow and came across cat tracks. Never knew they were REALLY there before. I have the feeling that they are around a lot more than we know.

Anyways, keep an eye on the kids and the dogs. It's never a bad idea to keep an extra gun around too. Just a couple of weeks ago we had a lion here in Colorado go into some peoples open bedroom and take a full grown 60 or 70lb dog right off their bedroom floor. The DOW was able to kill it the next day though. I guess you shouldn't sleep with your french doors wide open.

Answer 5

They are shy of human activity, yes, but that's not to say they are no threat... just a greatly reduced one. Put it this way, my dog wouldn't go outside if I knew one were close. But neither am I recommending posting guard on your roof with a scoped rifle. Just take normal precautions. And yes, those dogs will help. A cat prefers a quieter meal that won't raise a ruckus like hounds. And they hate to be bothered while eating.

When hiking through various national parks, I have often been advised that upon contact with a mountain lion, to make myself look large by standing tall and flailing my arms over my head. My response that a 10mm pistol would work better has never been well received. Apparently it's better to be a tall, gangly meal than an armed (slightly mauled) survivor on federal lands.

Seriously though, chances of them messing with an adult are zero, but the kids and pets should be watched.

Answer 6

Hungry mountain lions fear nothing.  A guy near us heard his rottweiler frantically yelping in pain.  He ran outside just as a mountain lion jumped over a 6 or 7 foot fence with the full grown rottweiler in his jaws.  Mountain lions are getting bolder in the west and are killing a lot of large dogs.  They've killed a few joggers and bicyclist out here too.

Barking dogs didn't help:  http://www.igorilla.com/gorilla/animal/2...

Answer 7

hard working bluetic hounds vs say a golden retreiver someone has as a pet is like comparing the US olympic swimming team to john Cubicle, i.e. one is a very very fit athlete and the other is weak, even if not overweight.

Plus hounds that work together work quite well in unison.  A hound in a pack is going to be more than a cougar can handle, but a ditzy porch dog, that would be an easy meal (and that doesn't even get into little yap yap dogs)

If the hounds smelled a puma, yes, they'd start a rucus. (but then, most predators know to approach from down-wind so they don't get detected) At one time mountainlions would stay away from all dogs due to wolves being their main enemies. However, while packhounds (being athletically fit and working together) would be fairly equal to a wolf in a mountainlion's mind, too many placed don't allow pack hunting of mouintanlions and hence these animals eventually overcame a fear of canines that was at one time instinctive.  

Now they see Rover as lunch, so until a mountain lion has a run-in with a pack of dogs, or an extremely large and phyiscally fit dog (like a rottweiller that is trained in shutzhund, or runs with a biker 10 miles a day) no,  mountain lion won't balk at the sight, smell, or sound of a dog, but will instead come closer and investigate.  If it seems like an easy meal (a singe lone dog not paying attention) it will take it for lunch.  However, like they tell young women on college campus, there is some safety in numbers.  Having 3 dogs (provided they are all medium sized) will be somthing of a deterent.    

Really, what your community needs to do is lobby for the reintriduction of mountain lion hunting at a sustainable level, to reinstill the fear of both man and dong into the pumas.

                                                                              

Answer 8

As we continue to take their habitat away from them they will continue to move into ours!!   On the east coast (been that way for a while on the west coast) we are experiencing a population explosion of coyotes.  We even have them in the nations capital... they're like rats & c**k roaches....