Yeah the cougars pretty much stay away from people. They might keep an eye on you as a defence so that they aren't surprised.

I have been out in the mountains and had that hair on the back of the neck thing going on. I sure felt like someone was watching. And that's the thing about these cats: They will stalk you. If you're in a heavy wood, you won't know they are after you until its too late. From time to time there will be a hungry juvenile that will go after a human, though mostly it is after your dog or small child.

Even though the fish and game folks won't admit it, we have them in KS. There's been numorous sightings, as well as attacks on dogs and livestock.

Decades ago, I worked for a commercial photographer in Los Angeles who built a niche for himself photographing wild animals for print ads. We were really busy at the time having two Bengal Tigers in our studio. It was unnerving being stared down by a HUGE tiger. We were using a 4x5 view camera and had to make every movement in slow motion (as per the trainer's advice). We also flew out to the Kansas Zoo to photograph Black Rhinos and Hippos. To our surprise Hippos have lightening fast reflexes. They are quick and potentially very dangerous.

Anyway, DuPont wanted this photog to build a set of the Arctic and use a live polar bear. The only "trainer" with a polar bear was in Florida! So, the polar bear trainer was contacted while the job was pending and agreed to come out to Los Angeles. Approximately two weeks after speaking with him, the studio manager called back to conform a date. The person on the other line informed him that the polar bear had attacked and killed the trainer--NICE! That made me reflect on whether it was safe to keep working with this particular photographer...

Wild animals can "f" you up.

Mike

We had a major snowstorm almost blizzard last night. I thought I'd get the chance to track this beast. No such luck winds were 30-40. Today it was mid 40's and the 10-14 inches of snow is melting crazy fast. There should be some tracks somewhere so I'm looking tonight. There have been numerous more sightings since last week so although I'm staying in a pickup I might luck on to some tracks. Looks like management really doesn't care what happens.

Where in the TX panhandle are you? My uncle spotted one about 15mi south of I40 here in Western OK. They are slowly making theys way back down here.

We got the snow too.