Idaho boy, 10, escapes clash with mountain lion

The knife did not make the predator back down. Standing up makes humans appear much larger than the cat, causing a normally cautious cat to back off. Yelling can frighten them, also causing them to back off. However, yelling can also accelerate their aggression, causing them to lash out, so yelling may or may not be a good idea. Neither, for that matter, is playing dead.

The best response is standing up, looking large, maintaining eye contact with the cat while slowly backing away. Throwing rocks and sticks helps, but I wouldn't bend over to pick them up, as it reduces your apparent size.

Of course, shooting it works exceptionally well....

10 yrs old and pulled his own knife to make ready to fight a mountain lion... Kid, You earned your bragging rights amongst the kids at school for yrs to come! Happy your Old Man was close by with a firearm! Sorry about your dog, and also sorry the cat made the choice to hunt domestic animals. Once they do the outcome is always the same.

Smart kid to have the presence of mind to call out and try to defend himself. I probably would have been a puddle of goo and then kitty chow myself. It is sad about the dog and the mountain lion though.

Glad this young boy was able to react and survive his encounter with this animal.

Stamp that kid's Man Card!

Brave lucky kid. Not so lucky hunting dog. Pity about killing the mountain lion. Perhaps there was another way.

I imagine it was protecting its kill, which was this boy's dog unfortunately. Mountain lions are magnificent animals, but what can you do when they attack a person?

I'm not a supporter of killing animals out right. However, the cat was in a populated area, had already killed a pet and found food there and would likely return. It was a danger to humans. Yes, it was initially the cat's world, but it isn't anymore. That's a fact that will not change. I would rather see it dead (though maybe, if they were lucky, they could have found a refuge that would have taken it, but that takes time, money money money and resources they probably didn't have) than take the life of a child. It was a possibility that couldn't be casually dismissed in favor of the animal. Sorry.

Cougars can be all around us and we don't even know it! They are silent stalkers, I believe they only come after people if their own natural food is not there, which is the problem happening all over this country with loss of habitat, and forest fires, et. I have a picture of one in the background, I didn't even know was there! Many other animals , same thing. They see us, we don't see them.

Good thing the father was right there, and that kid has spunk! I can tell you, most people don't believe you if you tell them you've encountered a wild animal that is unusual, so the kid is right on that too. I'm glad he is ok, the mountain lion I am afraid was just hungry when it came upon the dog, they do feast on pets and humans when there are no other prey out there, ex. rabbits have been decreasing where I live for years, and it maybe due to the fact, they were overhunted by cyotes, wolves , but it's rare to see one in the wild anymore , in woods where I go. I used to see them constantly, tons of them, for years they have been reduced in numbers. I'm sorry the dog was the victum of this cat.

Mountain Lions have returned to my state, as well. Children, who once would go horse back riding in the county forests, are forbidden to do so now, by their parents. Most adults who still use the trails to exercise their horses, carry guns, and a warning alarm (air can type.) They've trained their horses to not shy when it's sounded, but if they should run into a lion and the noise don't work, then the gun comes out. No one has said if they have seen any lions, yet. However, they have seen tracks crossing the trails, and they have notified the Rangers as to where the tracks were seen. What is expected most is that the big cat will be captured and relocated, because a lot of people live at the edge of the forests. I'm saddened by the lost of their dog, but I thank God that the boy only received a few scratches from the lion; it could have been far worse. Kudos for him, keeping his wits in a dangerous situation.

Hello Kitty.

"The boy ran from the predator but stumbled and fell."

Dad should have taught the boy never to run from a cat. Everybody knows this, right??? But then maybe had he not stumbled he could have out-run it.....

Quote: The boy came across the mountain lion while searching for a missing hunting dog with his father near their home in a rural subdivision about 15 to 20 miles northeast of Boise. More wild amimals along with our beautiful natural environments will disappear if this relentless urban sprawl propelled by uncontrolled legal and illegal immigration which is accelerating our coming over population problems. In my NW Indiana county, both Indiana and Illinois have approved a bi-state expressway cutting across some of the best farmland in the state. Sadly, the majority of people don't care because the new road will open up the southern half of the county to developement, which is what it's all about. Land speculators and developers are already snapping up farmland and can't wait to pave it under asphalt and concrete. Given that agricultural exports are one of the few remaining export strengths this country has along with growing demand due to the increasing world overpopulation, what we're doing is pretty #$%$ foolish.

In this case, as a deer hunter, I feel sorry for the Cougar.
The Cougar make a kill...and was defending it! The fact the kid tried to run away is a NO NO!
You run, you become the prey!
The cat scratched him....it did not even bite him. Even so...watch were you walk.
I predict in 300 to 500 years cougars will be extinct (along with most wild animals over 50 pounds) because they were a "danger" =( =(

Glad to hear the young boy is ok...Sorry to hear that the Mountain Lion killed the boys dog...very sad!

Once you turn your back on one and run, they think you are prey. If you dont stand down, look at them and take afew steps toward it, its usually enough they walk away. If you have a loose jacket on you can open that up to make yourself bigger, that also tends to scare them away. There have been some rare sightings of them in upstate PA, and taverns started posting up signs what to do and what not to do if you would encounter one.

Walked down my driveway to ge the mail, and there right by my mailbox were two cougars watching me. I casually ducked behind a big oak tree and backed away quietly and quickly, observing them the whole time. I think they were somewaht confused that i just vanished from their view until I was on my front porch and they just walked away. Don't think i would have been so lucky if I hadn't seen them soon enough and two at a time is enough to make anyone a bit nervous.

"These kinds of events are extremely rare in Idaho" where they KNOW they have cougars; well for years people here in Ct. have been reporting sightings of cougars, and the state DEP has said 'no way; there are no cougars in this state. If there are, why do we never find one, dead or alive?' then last year a cougar was hit and killed on the road, in Greenwich. So that presented them with a problem; after the necropsy, they said this cougar had wandered to this area all the way from the Black Hills of South Dakota. ????? You mean between there and here, it found no better hunting grounds? BS. With the overpopulated deer herds in this state, and very few hunters, and far more rural areas than most non residents realize, the likelihood is we do have native cougars in this state. It's well documented we have thousands of coyote/wolf hybrids, there's no logical reason to not assume cougars have found a niche here, too.

Young mountain lions are unpredictable - they have no fear of humans like most of the older cats do. Anything that runs from them is fair game. They will attack you from the rear, if possible.