Either way, nobody wants to hear a mountain lion as they are trying to drift off to sleep whether it is at THEIR home OR their parents home, and as there is some pretty unsettling growling going on which is louder than any I have heard in recent weeks it leads me to the conclusion that we may have a pretty hungry animal on our hands. Also there is a full moon out which makes beasts from the wilderness and the Kepa road bush more likely to roam into neighbouring properties. I assume.
Because of the tone and vocal timbre of the growl I am leaning towards a cougar or a catamont at this point,
but it could just as easily be a jaguar, puma or lynx. (note the picture below this jaguar looking like a gremlin)
Either way, I am not flippen going out there as I don't feel like having my face bitten off or my stomach ripped open by some mountain lions hind legs. Odds are though that would probably not ever happen to me personally as one day when I was bored i spent about two hours researching what to do in the unlikely event of a mountain lion attack and I feel reasonably 'well read' on the topic. if you have even gotten this far reading this mindless crud I am talking about, you are probably also curious about how to not get killed by a mountain lion, so I will try and summarise some tips to the best of my knowledge and feeble memory.
I think the most important point and first step is to never go hiking alone in areas where there is usually deer but for some reason now there isn't. This means that there will be mountain lions hanging around there waiting for the deer, but probably quite hungry as there are none there to eat. This makes you a target and the mountain lion first to spot you will probably think 'Jackpot! This jerk is moving a lot slower than the usual prey'.
Another key point to note is that mountain lions are more attracted to children as a target as opposed to adults. One theory on this is their size and the fact the animal can take the child and easily carry it away like they do with small prey. So it is a good idea if you are hiking through cougar country to go with a kid which you can use as a diversion and buy you some time as to get away. It is preferable that the kid is not yours and not one that you are overly attached to as a friend or overly responsible for the well being of.
Point number 3, maybe the most important:
If indeed you are attacked by an animal in the wild, report this attack to Fish and Game, or the Ranger in the area as soon as possible. I can only assume that they are referring to making a report after the attack occurs as it might be quite hard to get your cellphone out, call directory and then transfer to Fish and Game or the Ranger to tell them about it when you are in the middle of being attacked. Also if the mountain lion is growling or eating you at the time, odds are the ranger will probably not be able to hear you very well. And don't forget, you could be out of cellphone range. So probably better to just try and defend yourself with a bit of metal or something similar and then make the call afterwards if by chance you make it out alive.
That is about all i can remember, however if i were to add my own 'two cents' i would say always travel with bacon, because not only is it a delicious snack which is pocket size and nutritious, it is also the candy of meats and likely to be a good distraction for a mountain lion if you were to throw it towards them, do a side step and high tail it for the woods. Which is what I would do if I had run out of kids.
By the way if anyone reads this and thinks 'that idiot, there are no mountain lions in New Zealand', then i can only assume that you did not watch the 60 minutes documentary about the mysterious giant black cat that was roaming around the south island with various sitings. So therefore you are now the idiot for not keeping up with current affairs.
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