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With the passage of Proposition 117 in 1990, mountain lions became a "specially protected species," making mountain lion hunting illegal in California. This status and other statutes prohibit the California Department of Fish and Wildlife from recommending a hunting season for lions, and it is illegal to take, injure, possess, transport, import, or sell any mountain lion or part of a mountain lion. Mountain lions may be killed only 1) if a depredation permit is issued to take a specific lion killing livestock or pets; 2) to preserve public safety; or 3) to protect listed bighorn sheep.
Assuming a person is being attacked by a carnivorous wild animal and the person did not provoke the animal to where the person will get attacked, fighting back is justified at times. Only downside is that the death of a cougar might mean another #MeToo moment.
I would not go hiking, running or anything else on trails or the wilderness out West without being armed with a 12 inch blade at the very least. If I kill it with a knife that means it was clearly too close for comfort and is self Defense. More often than not if it's smart it will hobble away after getting it's paw sliced clean in two.
However, the real danger lies in it potentially calling family and friends for back up. When in mother nature we need to operate in groups like we did as hunter gatherers.
Our strength decreased considerably as we evolved to have bigger brains most of the nutrients are going away from the muscles. Use your brain, don't enter mother nature unaccompanied and unarmed.
These things have 10x the pain threshold (or 1/10th the pain sensitivity) as humans. So you preferably need something with either physical or chemical stopping power. A 12 gauge is preferable because if the wind blows the wrong way that mace or bear spray won't be doing you any favors.
The guy in the story is the same as these people in NJ who don't take the proper precautions to stay adequately out of Bear territory.
Some here sound almost envious that the guy did not need a weapon to kill the animal. He obviously was strong enough to do it.
Keep calling him "lucky." He was not "lucky." He was fit and prepared, and the cat was young. Is it really that surprising that people can enjoy the great outdoors or exercise without a weapon? Thousands do it every day all over the world.
"...Ferrell explained that there were two main factors in the runner’s ability to survive the attack: The age of the animal and the runner's preparedness..."
...She described him in his early 30s, “in very good shape,” and as someone who’s done his homework on how to survive an encounter with a mountain lion. “He remembered reading about the situation in Washington, where two friends were out mountain biking when they were attacked by a mountain lion.” She says he’d read advice online “and followed every piece of advice exactly.”
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