Mountain Lion at work

Les Paul · Les Paul's Garage

The bear thread got me to thinking about a current situation where I work. I work at a huge chemical plant in the Texas panhandle. It is a fenced in compound 1 square mile in size. There are/were 21 units/areas. Imagine an oil refinery with more towers. You know the tall skinny things anywhere from 30-150 feet tall. This plants primary product was acetic acid. From that there were 28 or so other products sold. Mostly solvents of one sort or another. Sh-t that would burn to the bone or paralyse your lungs if you breathed it. Nasty dangerous stuff. But hey they've paid great. Cut to the chase.

About a month ago a Mountain Lion was spotted on the perimeter of the plant. Yea right everyone says. A couple of weeks later in the plant shooting across a road full tilt boogie. Another sketchy sighting by a dubious character. Then this week 2 guys are standing outside one of the control rooms and spot the cat calmly walking across the road between 2 units bigger than Dallas. Well, bigger than a big German Shepard.

All of the units except 2 have been shut down. so a place that was once so loud that you had to wear hearing protection or it would actually hurt your ears is deathly silent. All of the units that have as many as 100 electric or steam driven turbine pumps you can hear a pin drop in. This cat has made this place his new home. These critters are not a natural panhandle of Texas critter. Maybe 100+ years ago.

So everyone is getting spooked. At least the ones of us left. This place used to have 500 people working here. There are now 40. At night on shift there are only 3 of us. We are supposed to make rounds through all of the units to check for terrorists I guess. One of my coworkers takes his job seriously. He actually does go through the units. He has been feeding some feral cats in 2 of those units. In one the other night he put cat food in a pie plate. It would usually take 3-4 days for the cats to eat it. That night he came back through on his rounds and it was empty. So now he knows he's feeding the cat. The real big one.

Stay tuned if I don't post in the next week you know that sumbich got me.

m21sniper · 03-21-2009, 11:17 AM

I would call your local fish and wildlife and see if they can get someone out there to try and trap it or something. Or at least get some advice from professionals on how to proceed.

And pack a stoudt handgun, just in case (hey, you're in texas anyway, right?

)

Mountain lion attacks are pretty rare- but they happen. Based on the stats i saw in the sites i linked to in the bear forum, it seems like most attacks are against kids, but they will attack adults too. Check out the link in the Bear thread too, it has a lot of what did/did not work for previous people confronted by cat attacks.

Porsche_monkey · 03-21-2009, 11:52 AM

c.c.w. time.

HardDrive · 03-21-2009, 01:07 PM

LOL. Your job sounds like the story line of a wicked first person shooter game.

Look man, when the zombies attack, mountain lions will be the least of your problems.

DasBoot · 03-21-2009, 04:01 PM

Make sure you can run faster than your co-workers. You don't need to out-run the cat, just the co-workers...

TerryH · TerryH's Garage

Is the cat locked in somehow? I know cats can climb out of most anything, but is there razorwire or barbed that is keeping it in? I would call someone to extricate it pronto.

Question is.. do you feed it and keep it full or make yourself the next potential meal? The stray felines around is a good sign.

old man neri · 03-21-2009, 04:33 PM

Damn, I thought this thread was going to be about a 'cougar' at work and pics with a good story were going to be involved. Oh well. Stay safe.

Zeke · 03-21-2009, 05:15 PM

To begin with, big mistake feeding the little cats. Now you've got a big cat.

Duh.

Les Paul · Les Paul's Garage

Well to tell the truth at first I was going to be on the zombie patrol with incredible fire power. Then I got to thinking. How in the hell did this beast get in to our plant. Never mind why he or she might want to get into a plant with so many rednecks intent on blasting its brains out and mounting it on their wall. So now I'm how can we save this beautiful beast from getting blasted? Word was the powers that be were calling in the Texas wildlife comission or what ever they are named to trap this beast. Word was a goat in the road between the units pinned down Jurassic Park style. This afternoon a guy got a paw print on his cell phone. Supposedly big as a moose.

m21sniper · 03-21-2009, 08:27 PM

If you see it be very careful, they do attack. Don't run. Odds of escape are very slim.

LOL.

Mr.Puff · 03-21-2009, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m21sniper

If you see it be very careful, they do attack. Don't run. Odds of escape are very slim.

LOL.

I saw a story on the discovery channel about a guy who killed one with a pocket knife while he was being attacked.

m21sniper · 01:17 AM

If you get it in the eye or something i suppose anything is possible. The guy should probably consider himself to be like Lou Gehrig- "the luckiest man...on the face of the earth."

Those are seriously badass animals though. To give some perspective:

Based on the vids i've seen of this stuff online, cat's really seem to have no peers in straight up combat anywhere in nature.

I've even seen videos of big cats thrashing full grown crocodiles and gigantic 20+ foot anacondas in the water. (this stuff is all on you tube, one can easily spend several hours watching wild animal combat). Besides man, cats seem to me to be the ultimate land based predators. (just my opinion). I think Tigers are probably natures ultimate land predator to date. (also just my opinion)

Mr.Puff · 03-22-2009, 12:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m21sniper

I think Tigers are probably natures ultimate land predator to date. (also just my opinion)

Sometimes.

Mr.Puff · 03-22-2009, 12:31 AM

I actually got to pet some baby tigers while they were on a walk at Marine World. They were a little older than this.

m21sniper · 01:20 AM

Baby tigers i'd love to pet and stuff. Big tigers, no damn way. LOL...

Sometimes they do more than just hug...
(Fortunately the camera is mercifully out of focus.)

This clip is as awe inspiring as it is terrifying. I mean really, it really gives you an idea of just how truly dangerous these animals are. Human beings have absolutely no chance whatsoever vs a tiger. None.

In this second video, everyone involved are seasoned professionals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LjG7S8aqJg&feature=related
This link is the full attack, and what you don't see in the first video is that there is a guy with a rifle sitting right next to the mahmout elephant handler aimed exactly where they expect the tiger to be. Doesn't help them one whit. This one is at full speed.

Like i said- Tigers are both awe inspiring and terrifying.

Mr.Puff · 03-22-2009, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by m21sniper

Just watched one tonight of 2 male Lions horribly maiming a zoo keeper that was well known to both animals. There's a horrible one of a lion killing a zookeeper in India on you tube as well.

I think they're "adorable" and "beautiful" too, but i prefer to admire them from afar.

I agree, but there are some nice stories involving the big cats.

m21sniper · 12:50 AM

I love big cats- really, i absolutely love 'em.

But i would never get anywhere near that close to one. I just have waaaaaay too much respect for them, and they are way too unpredictable. Many professionals get mauled by tigers, and i'm no professional.

LOL.

m21sniper · 01:05 AM

Wow, just found this one....

A tiger climbing a tree to attack a helicopter in flight.

Park ranger mauled by leopard inside his truck.

3 man safari vs Lion. Lion charges.

You tube is the coolest site ever.

m21sniper · 01:23 AM

Perfect illustration of how unpredictable even "trained" wild animals are.

This is one of another zoo keeper being killed. This one is pretty (bordering on highly) disturbing, so be forewarned. It should certainly serve the purpose of convincing anyone who ever watches it that Big Cats are extremely dangerous.

grudk · 03-22-2009, 05:41 AM

Mountain lions are spotted near residential areas here in LA all the time. There is one that visits the Getty center area, which gets a lot of foot traffic -- right next to a major highway and a dense urban area. Given this, one might think you'd hear about 'attacks' all the time. But you don't, as these animals are very shy - ask a local park ranger and they will tell you this. Does it happen? Yes, but very rare given the number of 'close encounters' that must occur. Agree with the 'animal control' idea, but these cats have HUGE ranges, so he's probably not going to be there long.