Random Wildlife ? (Missoula: live, statistics, food)

[alaska961]

WYOEagle...dumb question for you...does bear spray work on cougar as well? I guess if it burns the cats eyes it would really work on any animal right?

[MTSilvertip]

Hey Nature girl?, pepper spray works on anything with eyes, but it isn't an infalible cure for all situations.

One of the biggest problems with the stuff is wind. If you are in the precarious position of being downwind from an animal, and you spray, you will receive most of the spray, not your target and being downwind of an animal is the worst time for things to happen because they can't smell you. They aren't bothered, and you are blinded and in agony and can't respond or move or defend yourself.

I worked in a place that sold that stuff for a while, and in one instance someone was playing with a can at the front counter. It went off, the spray went out and hit the front window and clouded the whole place inside, the store cleared out quickly
In another instance, a rep selling the "new and improved" spray was giving the sales people a demonstration out back. He went through all the steps and proceedures, how to handle it, how to aim it ect, and then he proceeded to shoot a stream right into the side of a truck sitting nearby, and co-incidentally, upwind in a light wind situation. The staff quickly learned that it works pretty good on sales people

There are a lot of animals in these hills, all shapes, all sizes. Some can be pretty nasty, some won't bother you, (usually), and some have a reason such as cubs or fawns, or starvation, injury or disease and will make them act differently than they would if in normal condition.

The best defense is to pay attention to your surroundings. Tracks, rubs, wallows, smells can all tip you off long before you see anything.

Making noise as you hike can help, avoiding problem areas like berry patches, staying away from cover where a lion or wolf could be watching you from, if you have a dog with you, keep it under control so it doesn't go out and pick a fight with something and then bring it back to you.
Avoid wearing perfumes or scents that animals could misconstrue, especially musks. Boar bears are always looking for a girlfriend and have no sense of humor about being "teased". The advice about avoiding camping during hormonal cycles is very accurate. ( I saw that doesn't apply to you, but a lot of people read these boards )

The griz population is exploding and they are moving out of remote areas and closer to humans all the time. Cougars are everywhere, wolves too, and even coyotes have attacked people in recent memories. Black bears have more incidents with humans each year than most wildlife, and they will even come into towns, so they are everywhere.

Your best weapon is your intelligence and paying attention to your surroundings.

Most animals will avoid you, or pay no attention to you if you aren't percieved as a threat. There aren't bears around every tree, or a cougar behind every bush, but a fox with rabies is just as dangerous.

Learn about where you are going, know the trails, don't go alone if you can help it.
Carry bear spray, but a good 12 gage riot gun loaded with slugs and 00 buck works every time.
You may have to pay a fine for killing something if you don't let it chew on you first, but the fine is a lot cheaper than a funeral

Use you head, listen to people who are familier with the area you want to see, stay away from perfumes and deoderants in the wild, use good clean practices for food handling such as not eating or preparing food anywhere closer than 100 yards from where you will sleep or camp, and store unused food in a tree or secured bear proof box.

There is a lot of country and animals to enjoy, don't be scared of what is out there, but be smart and come back alive because if you do something stupid, it isn't just you that pays the price, but the animal.

Be smart, be aware, and enjoy our wild outdoors.

Good Luck

[Reziac]

Good to know bear spray works on salesmen, I'll have to get some for the door-to-door types

Hey Nature Girl, what did you used to be known as? I saw the post about your having forum-amnesia. I use the same nym everywhere, saves a lot of wondering who I am today.

[alaska961]

MTSilvertip,
Your post was very helpful and well thought out...thank you. Basically a person just needs common sense and I hope I have that!

Reziac,
Yes I feel really dumb...I have about 15 different usernames and password combo's for all my accounts and have to keep track of them with the use of a word document. I have since changed my method and use the same one for all my new accounts.

The username I had was alaska961. I had not really spoken to a lot of you, but the ones I did speak to were very welcoming and friendly. The moderator emailed me and told me that he can merge my old info with my new one so that helped a lot.

[Reziac]

Ah. I don't remember, but then again I don't remember what I said here yesterday, so that's no surprise. Great mod we've got here. Welcome back. Don't step on the bear!

[alaska961]

I was not on long enough for anyone to remember me, but I will work on that

[magoomafoo]

All over Montana Grizzly, wolf and mountain lion interactions with humans have increased. Wolves have been verified in Central Montana. Missoula is surrounded by wilderness. There are deer in the middle of town (any town in Montana lol). As long as there is prey, there will be predators.

[rainroosty]

Originally Posted by alaska961

My last question of the day...I have been reading that there is a big collection of wildlife in the Rattlesnake Rec Area such as bears and cougar. My question is this...is it safe to hike in this area alone and being a female? Not sure of the gun laws in your state, but will read up on the subject.

Originally Posted by alaska961

Thank you in advance

Sure ya can! There's plenty of the locals there that kill all that stuff before you ever get to see it! No problem!.....Oh!...Did I say "kill"?
I meant, "harvest"......

[alaska961]

Oh no don't harvest it all before I get there!

[MTSilvertip]

Originally Posted by alaska961

Oh no don't harvest it all before I get there!

You are in luck then!!

Montana has some of the highest per capita ratios of hunters, fishermen, trappers and oudoorsmen anywhere in the nation.
This means the animals are treasured and valued so millions of dollars every year go to management, buying habitat, protections going through the legislature that benefits the wildlife and the citizens of this state, and game wardens and biologists are hired to make life for the wild animals as good as possible.

Hunters and outdoorsmen treasure and deeply love our wildlife, and do everything they can to protect and promote diverse, thriving populations.
We even treasure some non-native species like the Rainbow trout and Ring Necked Phesant. They enhance the outdoor experience and enrich the chance for families to engage in hunting traditions that go back generations.

During the off season, Hunters work in concert with the Fish and Game department and landowners, donating thousands of man hours of labor to make the wildlife a valued asset to the landowners, research, and to promote the species that inhabit private ground.

This is part of the reason that wolves are so nearly universally despised here. They are an invasive alien species that destroys vast numbers of elk and deer. Areas once rich with the sound of bugling bulls are now silent. Gaunt mountain slopes where once could be seen herds of elk in the thousands are now vacant and empty. In one area I hunt, we used to see hundreds of elk, this year there were only 8 solitary elk in a small herd hiding in a deep heavlly timbered draw, all others were gone. Canadian Wolves are no different in our eyes than the Asian Carp or Snakeheads or Kudzu that have infected the east and destroyed populations of native animals.

Hunters have always stepped forward and sacrificed through increased taxes they levied on themselves, by limiting their opportunity to hunt in areas where the animals are struggilng, by limiting the numbers or size of the animal that may be harvested or killed. In some areas you may only take does or females some years when the herds become too large for the carrying capacity of the land so the herd numbers are reduced to avoid disease and starvation. Volunteer hours for cleaning waterways, doing bird counts, sending in creel reports, teaching safe hunter courses, Hunters and fishermen are always at the front of the line trying to help keep our herds healthy and strong.

Outdoorsmen are on the front line every day to promote the outdoors and safe, responsible use of our natural resources.

We even have to fight the animal rightests who would harm our herds for their political agenda using not biology and sound management techniques to help the animals, but through emotion used to raise money for court cases and to pay for high salaried corporate officers at the headquarters of the "non-profit" they run.

As long as hunters and trappers and fishermen work hard, pay huge sums of money, and sacrifice for our traditions, the herds will flourish.
If the enemy wins and shuts down our rights to hunt and enjoy the wild places, the animals will dissapear as they will no longer have any value to people, just as has happened in many places such as Africa where emotion instead of sound biology were put in place, and as the animals had no value except to poachers, the populace had no reason to protect them, and some species are now on the verge of extinction from being "protected".
South Africa went the other way and made the wildlife valuable, and they have so many animals they have to cull the herds because they have become too large and outgrown the land's ability to provide for them.

Montana still values it's wildlife, and when habitat is created or improved for game species, all the non-game species that live there benefit as well from better cover, food sources, nesting sites and from people who hunt who love to see them when they are using the great Montana Outdoors.

Come and see what our hard work has done, but hurry, the animal rightests and their wolves are making it hard to keep our animals safe and wild. The work and sacrifice of Montana's hunters have made our game herds and non game wildlife and diversity the envy of the world, and we will keep fighting to protect our heritage from all out of state trolls.