Question on Mountain Lions.. ?

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

I would think the dogs would flip out, but if the mountain lion is hungry enough to be coming so close to people and dogs, he would probably not run away as quick as usual. Anybody who is starving will take more risks for food.

Answer 2

Mountain lions go where the food is.  An adult lion will eat about one deer a week (or its equal).  It is increasingly common for lions to patrol in residential areas, where they can drink from pools, relax in thick bushy areas, and prey on the deer.  There are many urban and suburban areas where deer hunting is not allowed and population growth is unrestricted.  Also, as deer populations rise, so does  the number of vehicular incidents, providing either dead or hurt deer for easy feeding.  Older lions like to snatch dogs and cats, because they are pretty easy to catch.

The problem is when these big cats get accustomed to humans.  When they start to lose their natural fear of people, they start causing interaction problems.  Talk to you local wildlife control or fish and game agency.  They may or may not have a reporting procedure to help them track problem animals (Arizona does), but they can at least fill you in on what to do.  The local hounds will bay if they smell the cat, but the cat will so realize that they are penned up and pose no real threat.  Good luck.