RUN!: A new study punches holes in the theory that it's better to stand still than try to flee in the face of a big cat attack.
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Veteran campers and hikers know the drill, especially those in areas where mountain lions roam. And anyone who doesn't need only consult the Web site of the California Department of Fish and Game for the best tack to take if he or she happens upon a big cat while communing with nature: "Do not run from a lion," the site advises, warning that "running may stimulate a mountain lion's instinct to chase. Instead, stand and face the animal."
But is it really safer to stay put than flee?
Not necessarily, says a new study, which warns that standing still may up one's risk of becoming mountain lion chow.
Richard Coss, a psychology professor and expert on the evolution of predator–prey relationships at the University of California, Davis, studied the behavior of 185 people who were attacked by mountain lions (aka pumas or cougars) between 1890 and 2000 in the U.S. and Canada. His findings, reported in Anthrozoos: A Multidisciplinary Journal of the Interactions of People & Animals: half of the 18 people who ran when they were attacked escaped injury. The study also found, however, that those who ran had a slightly higher chance of being killed in an attack—28 percent (five) of those who fled died as a result of injuries, compared with 23 percent (eight) of those who remained motionless during big cat attacks. About 39 percent, or 28 people, who moved away slowly when approached by a mountain lion escaped without injury.
On the other hand, people who froze were the least likely to escape injury when a mountain lion attacked. Only 26 percent of them escaped. They also had the greatest frequency of severe injuries: 43 percent of those who stood still in the face of a lion were badly injured compared with 17 percent of those who fled, according to the study.
"Immobility may be interpreted by the mountain lion as a sign that you are vulnerable prey," Coss tells ScientificAmerican.com, adding that not moving could lead the predator to think you're not aware of its presence or are incapable of escaping. Staring down a puma can let the animal know you’re aware it’s looking, though distance can reduce its effectiveness.
Thus, running might be the smartest move, Coss concludes, particularly if you are in a situation that allows you to sprint in a sure-footed fashion. Running on uneven ground such as rocky terrain or snow could make it seem like you're limping, and mountain lions might consider you more vulnerable, Coss says.
Many wildlife organizations suggest standing one's ground defensively and even attempting to intimidate a mountain lion by shouting or throwing rocks. But Coss says that might not be as effective for pumas as for other wild animals, such as African lions and leopards. The reason, he says: those creatures co-evolved with humans over the past million years, whereas mountain lions have been exposed to humans for just thousands of years—too short a span for natural selection to enhance puma caution.
"I was surprised by the numbers," says Kathy Etling, an outdoor writer in Missouri who collected much of the data for the study to write her book, Cougar Attacks: Encounters of the Worst Kind, published in 2001. "If you’re a good runner, and you have a clear path then perhaps running is the best way. I don't think I would run. I'm not a particularly fast runner. I'm sort of clumsy. I would probably fall." She adds that turning your back to a cougar might be risky because many of them target the spinal cord when attacking their prey—and so might be tempted to lunge.
Through her anecdotal research, Etling found that hitting the animal with a walking stick or a gun butt often saved people from attack. She says that perhaps the best advice is to stick with a group; that sharply reduces the risk of attack, because animals typically target lone prey who have no chance of backup support from a herd.
Coss says he and his colleagues did not did not study mountain lion encounters or near-attacks because they wanted to get a handle on the best way to put off a lion bent on attacking.
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14 Comments
Add CommentI was stalked by tigers on two occassions while I was a soldier in the US Army Infantry in Vietnam. On average, in our battlation, one soldier died each month from Tiger attacks.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe great majority of soldiers who were successfully attacked by tigers were asleep when attacked.
On both occassions when I was stalked by a tiger, I was on "night ambush patrol" near a jungle setting at night. I was part of a small squad laying in wait for the enemy.
On both occassions, the tiger simply walked nonchalantly by observing me, while I was hiding while observing, looking at me out of the corner of it's eye.
It, from it's experience, knew that I would not shoot it and give away our position.
At the same time, it was not making an overt move to threaten me such as to force me to shoot while further reconnoitering me and the other men in my squad.
Tigers, in Vietnam, moved towards gun fire.
Why? They knew that there would be human carcases to feed at the site of the battle which brought forth the gun fire.
From the aforementioned, it is clear to me that big predatory cats have a repotoire of predatory knowledge and skills concommitant with predatory insticts that are much more refined that is presupposed.
Given the aforementioned, I suggest that staying alert and making sure that the Mountain Lion is aware of your alertness is paramount with regard to preventing an attack.
Also, do not presume that the mountain lion is unequivocally acting out of instinct. But, rather, assume that the lion is making judgements based upon his knowledge, skills, and instincts.
Make your decision as to what action to take to avoid attack given the aforementioned without any rigid preconception as to what to do.
By the way, I, on both occassions, alerted the other men in my night ambush patrol not to fall asleep because of my sighting the tiger.
If you are with a group of friends all you need to do is out run one of them...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI saw the title and said "Neither". Being an expert myself in dangerous animals and wilderness travel, I know the answer, it's the same for all predators. Do not run and Do not freeze. Act like they are not a threat and if they become aggressive you must do so to. Yell, bang things together jump up and down. My first Mountain Lion encounter I froze and was lucky, but I was 8 and it was a female. Standish-hicky state park in Northern California, one mile down a trail at 6 in the morning I was hiking by myself. I have seen all the big cats but a Tiger in the wild and live in Alaska and travel in bear country often. I have been only attacked by a Bobcat (which jumped on my back and bite my ear) and thank god no rabies.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://professionaladventurer.com/?goto=snap
I have not read the Coss "study" but the general premise that one opines the best protocol to avoid attacks by studying less than 200 reported attacks is generally pretty silly. Far more relevant for use developing attack avoidance behavior would be careful study of the many tens of thousands of contacts that did not constitute "reported attacks."
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisActing normally and showing no fear has worked twice for me.
Good grief. Watch the animal warily and if it gets aggressive shoot and kill it.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is not hard, people. You shouldn't be heading out into places where you can run into mountain lions without being armed.
Good grief? Is that all you have to say about killing an animal that is doing what it has to to survive and in doing so, it disturbs your recreational activities?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI have been in mountain lion country countless times with no ill effects, maybe partly due to luck and in part because I am wary. But I know the risks and I have knowingly gone there knowing them. I would never however resort to taking a weapon to "even the odds" and make up for my own stupidity. If you don't have to be there and you don't feel safe without a gun, then simply don't go. Your trigger happy attitude just doesn't cut it anymore. In a world where anyone is capable of accessing even the most remote regions and taking along enough firepower to kill anything that moves, we have to rethink the equation or every large land animal will soon be extinct. And yes, that IS a bad thing in case you didn't know.
OK. We have an anecdotal study of mountain lion attacks. Shouldn't we do a study of mountain lion prey? Is a man considered prey by mountain lions? If so then how do mountain lions select prey and what is the normal behavior of prey? If not then what conditions would cause a mountain lion to attack a man?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHere in New Hampshire we have only a tiny amount of wilderness and more men have died here in the wilderness by their own stupidity in the last ten years than mountain lions have killed in the last 100 years in the rest of the country.
I live near San Francisco in a town that is adjacent to chaparral and wooded open space, and we have lions. "Places where you can run into mountain lions..." is across the street and we don't walk around with guns. We are advised to keep out of the woods at dawn and dusk, make ourselves look large if confronted (raise a jacket or backpack with our arms for example), yell, throw rocks and to fight back if attacked.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis article is confusing to say the least! First, it says that Coss studied 185 people who were attacked by mountain lions. What's the definition of "attacked?"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd then: "About 39 percent, or 28 people, who moved away slowly when approached by a mountain lion escaped without injury." Wait, hold on here,... these folks were approached by a mountain lion, but were they attacked???
And finally, at the end: "Coss says he and his colleagues did not did not study mountain lion encounters or near-attacks . . ." Um, er, ... huh? So, the folks above who were "approached" were actually considered part of the 185 that were "attacked?" And, just what the heck is a near-attack as opposed to an actual attack?
Lastly, I'm sorry, but cats are cats, and the chase-the-running-prey instinct is prevalent in all of them, even tame ones like my tabby. Yah, yah, I know, it's often questionable whether housecats are actually tame since to them I'm the one who's tame. :-)
This is useless. The relevant numbers are too small, unknown, or unknowable. How may potential attacks did not occur and why not? It might be, for example, that wearing a hat (animals do not wear hats) is the greatest preventative activity, and if prevention fails, hats may reduce chance of significant harm. Such factors may well be more important than standing still or running. Is it more or less likely that those who run are, by virtue of being more active, are more likely to report attacks than those who stand still. And is it known how many of those who did not survive had stood still and how many had stood still. And what else did those who stood still do? We are not told how many victims and non-victims wore hats (a marker in my experience of belonging to the human race). This might be quite significant as might be what else they were wearing. Does wearing a blue shirt (there are few blue non human mammals) confer protection. And so on.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is an excellent point. The other point about the absurdity of being loaded for bear every time you go into the wilderness is also good. But even in my home state of Kansas, the cougar is repopulating. This is because Montana, I believe it is, has changed cougars from varmint to a hunted big game species. That is, killing them is regulated. This has resulted in male cougars migrating eastward as the cougar population increased. They migrate because a male cougar will not tolerate another male cougar in its territory. Male cougars fight to the death. Young male cougars have to get out of Dodge to establish territory. Cougars have been sighted and photographed near Kansas farmhouses--eastern Kansas. Public meetings have been held in Iowa towns telling people how to handle things if they see the big cat. Like coyotes (and bears come to think of it) these animals can adapt. They are far from common and perhaps still even rare, but they are out there in the Midwest. Plenty of deer for them though so there should be little reason for one to attack an alert human. When I go hunting along back home now, I remain more vigilant and check my backside more often.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thismeat is meat
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMan i sick of how people says "who would they attack man"
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswow wtf meat is meat lets see
if your in the water and a shark bites you what does it bite
a big piece meat.
if an hungry lion sees you what are you a big piece of meat.
ppl are the same as the animals that they eat
in there eyes we aren't any thing big and mighty if they catch you out there they will eat you end of story.
Hello, I just wanted to share my story of when I encountered a mountain lion a few days ago. It was early in the morning around 5:30AM in Colorado. I was on my way to work on my bike when I came across one. I was riding my bike half up a hill on the sidewalk, I was getting tired so I started walking with my bike. I was walking towards the apple tree. I heard the tree shaking & heard apples dropping. I ignored it and kept walking, as I got closer I heard it again. Right before I went under the tree I looked up at the tree, there it was eating apples in the tree, it was still a litle dark the sun wasn't quite up yet. Their was vehicles driving by on the street in a residential area, but it didn't seem to be bothered. It was bigger than me, it terrified me. I knew what it was because of the long tail.It was acting like it was trying not to fall out of the tree and eat the apples at the same time. I pretended that I didn't see it and immedidiately turn left to cross the street and walked faster & faster away from it. I looked back to see if it was following me, but it didn't!! When I got to work, I reported it right away! They didn't catch it as far as I know. They have also reported bears in the area also. I was very fortunate not to get hurt. I think about it and wondered what could have happened if I did go underneath the tree. (SCARED STILL, JUST THINKING ABOUT IT)
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