cougar shenanigans (my brother, not me)

Part of our cougar deterrent costume

So my little brother is an avid kayaker, like one of those crazy kayakers who scouts creeks by himself up old logging roads. He posted this on Facebook a few days ago and made me spit out my coffee with his adventures.

“Today was an interesting day.

I was riding my bike down a logging road to go kayaking and I came around the corner. There were a couple deer in the road. They were totally uninterested in me, staring down the hill. I thought “that’s odd.” I gave them a minute, then tootled the horn on my Tiny E-bike. They bolted into the woods.

I continued down the road and saw a few more deer in the clear cut to the right boogieing away from the road.

After I went around the corner, I thought “there’s someone behind me.” I stopped and turned around and there was a cougar about 40′ away in the bushes sitting down, staring at me. I calmly got off my bike and grabbed my pepper spray and tested it off to the side of where I was standing.

I’m guessing because of my age she didn’t have much interest in me. I did some aggressive bear posturing and huffing.
No Effect, same blank quizzical stare.

I threw some rocks, she stared at me even more quizzically.

Then I tootled my bike horn non stop, Beeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!!
Success! If you’re obnoxious enough no one wants to be around you.

Later, I stirred up a yellow jacket nest, and maced the shit out of them (And Myself). That shit would be tasty on some tacos!
Not the yellow jackets though….”

It started me thinking about what I would do if I ran into a cougar (which could very likely happen) when Dudley and I do our evening slough walk back into the woods across from my house. I found a good sturdy branch that had fallen alongside the road and then a few giant skunk cabbage leaves where we turn around. I know that if we ran into a predator, I would most likely have to be the defender…especially since Dudley loves everyone and everything. So I fashioned my impromptu costume out of two giant skunk cabbage leaves and a big stick. I think we will be good if we run into a cougar, probably get the same reaction my brother did 😀

I have discovered now that the blackberries are getting ripe, I can pick blackberries while Dudley decided to take a break…so I will need to bring along a blackberry container as well. I can leave that by the blackberry bushes since they are closer to the house but my “walking stick” can’t be left along the slough as my neighbors will pick it up for firewood on their evening walk. A few years back, my husband was leaving sticks in the road back into the woods so he could see if cars were going back there. The sticks kept disappearing and he was convinced that Bigfoot was stealing them. Turns out it was the neighbors who were picking up our sticks and using them in their fireplace. My neighbor said “there was just this perfect little pile of sticks along the road”

Living out in the woods, it’s all about improvisation. My other neighbor was telling me about a yellowjacket trap he saw on youtube that he’s going to try out. chicken cutlets attached to a board and then flipped over a tub filled with water just below where the chicken cutlets are with a little dish soap added to the water. Apparently the guy that tested his homemade trap got 700 wasps as opposed to the 200 that the store bought traps caught.

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