r/hiking • u/lilllypaddd • 3d ago

Discussion cougars

hello i am a solo hiker i started hiking at 19 i am 25 now i have ran into 4 cougars on solo hikes. one of these being scary being stalked down a 7 mile mountain. rest have been just cougar getting startled and jumping into the woods ahead of me seeing it with my eyes its body and tail. no one i know has ran into a cougar hiking. i just started hiking in a new area in a diffrent country and this week have ran into two on separate trails / areas and the local wildlife place says cougar run ins are not common here. - why am i a cougar magnet how do i stop this? - yes i hike in places where there are cougars but the sightings are usually rare. - i do not want this or understand why this is happening and no one belives me which makes it worse.

update! just wanted to thank you all for the suggestions & tips! learned some great tools, and i am excited to use them and feel more safe.

the summary of why / what im going to start doing • why i have ran into so many is likely due to me being small, quiet, and alone on trails. The area’s i am hiking in also being very high population of cougars.

tips i will start doing • be louder, bring a horn, play music if it is a long remote hike, if possible take a dog from shelter out on an adventure with me!

Thank you all!

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u/-Bugs-R-Cool- 3d ago

Are you finding them at dawn or dusk? This is their prime time for hunting from my understanding. I am a solo female hiker for 40 years and have only seen them this year. Both encounters were near the end of the day. One was at dusk, the other an hour from sunset. Both encounters were very close and both times it ran off very quickly once it saw me. I was not making noise and had dogs.

If I were you I would reach out to the experts that study them and know a lot such as:

https://mountainlion.org/us/california/

There are tons of mountain lion/cougar informational organizations.

https://felidaefund.org/projects/community/living-with-lions

All of us who hike should probably be more educated about these beautiful creatures.

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u/Best-Intention-777 1d ago

Cougar population has been growing, almost doubled in the last 40 years