"Q." <LostVideos-AT-hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "loki" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
>
news:[email protected]...
[...]
> > I agree. Further, from my understanding of this incident and mountain
> lions
> > in general is that they are ambush hunters. They lie in wait in cover
> along
> > a likely path and ambush their prey. Now I don't care if one is a
combined
> > Army Ranger, Israeli Special forces, Navy SEAL Russian Spetnaz and
British
> > SAS, in this situation you are not going to beat the reflexes of the cat
> to
> > draw your gun even if you were on foot let alone on a bike.
> >
> > The best advice is to not act like prey. That would a little difficult
on
> a
> > bike. In general to be in a large group, to not try to flee if facing
one,
> > stand your ground, make lots of noise. Someone else humourously
suggested
> a
> > dustbuster. That probably would work.
>
> So, on the one hand mountain lions are super bad ass killers (I agree) and there ain't a darn
> thing anyone can do to be saved even if they're Rambo
on
> acid ... on the other hand you're supposed to stand your ground and make a lot of noise? If you
> have time to pull out a dustbuster, you have time to draw a gun.
I did not mean to say that a dustbuster would be a viable counter; merely that the sound might
probably startle the cat enough to cause it to abandon its' stalk. I was thinking of producing a
lot of discordant noise [music] continuously. And, no, that isn't a serious, practical
suggestion either, just something that would probably be more effective than a firearm at
preventing the attack.
Also I did not mean to imply that those other tactics are necessarily feasible while cycling,
merely that they would probably work in general to discourage the cat. As I said the act cycling
makes it difficult and makes the cyclist seem more like prey hurtling along a trail. Probably the
most reasonable, practical action to take is to be a part of a large group.
Actually, if the media reports are accurate; the victim had separated some small distance from the
group - just like oh, say, a straggler antelope that gets too far from the herd - which is probably
how the cat saw it: an ideal target.
The other suggestions might work for another of the group to scare the cat away once it has
attacked. Small comfort for the attackee, I admit.
> In all fairness though ... I don't see why pepper spray wouldn't be almost as effective as a gun,
> if faced with a standoff situation. They do have a highly evolved sense of smell and that can be
> exploited. Yes, many times I'm sure the victim couldn't react quickly enough to be saved and in
> that case nothing would have mattered ... it's the times when you have a few precious moments to
> react is where a weapon would be desirable. I'm
sorry,
> but given a choice of easily carried devices in that situation I would
want
> a firearm. That's just me though. I have no problem with people choosing to respect nature by
> being snack food. It's a personal choice.
>
> What I haven't seen mentioned yet, is something people in India do.
There,
> the tigers don't like to attack a person face to face
That's part of 'not fleeing' and 'standing your ground'.
Once the the cat has attacked though, I'd think you'd be better off using what evolution gave you
and get primeval on its ass: Just beat on it like the hairless apes we are. I can't image in the
midst of the attack one having the ability nor presence of mind to draw any weapon. Having a weapon
that easily at hand doesn't seem realistic while cycling, especially off-road.
--
'Just because you're wearing a tie Doesn't mean you're bloody important'
- chumbawumba
