Problems with bears and cougars....

I've confronted many black bears in camp and while hiking in the woods. Never had a problem.

I've never seen a cougar in the wild.

Had a pack of wolves eat the sewer cap off our rv in Idaho.
I can't remember a single bear attack here in Calif where we have plenty of them. There have been several fatal Cougar attacks. Their claws are like razors.

We see bear sign almost every trip -- scat, tracks, etc, adjacent to our campsite. See bear in the woods several times per year. Only once has a bear come close (50 yards) to our boondocking campsite. The dogs started barking and it scampered away.

Mountain lions are more rare. I do not recall seeing cat tracks around any of our campsites. That could be because cats prefer more rugged terrain with a vertical component while boondocking is primarily on flatter land, i.e. cats generally do not like the type of terrain suitable for boondocking.

Once, in the early morning, I found very fresh bear scat (still steaming in the morning cool) only a few dozen yards from where we were boondocking. The ground was hard and saw no discernible tracks leading away.

Tiger, where did you see the cat?? I have heard that they are found more at the lower elevations (around 4000 feet) than the high country.

And I am told that if you see one, you should stand tall (and perhaps lift your poles overhead) to make yourself look as large as possible. But apparently that is not the right thing to do for a bear.

I wouldn't call the bear incidents "run-ins", more like bears just doing what they do and just happening to be near where I was doing what I do. I've seen bears in the daytime at my boondocking camps. Found bear tracks near the camper in the morning when I know they were not there the day before because they were on top of my tracks. I boondock alone (no group) and keep a very clean camp.

Hiking is another matter. I've had a "face-off" with a cougar on the trail while hiking alone. That was in 1989 and I'm still getting scary shivers as I type this. It was apparently napping under a tree when I came around a corner in the trail. Wow! Nothing like knowing you are not the top of the food chain! It was maybe a car length away. We stared at each other for what seemed like forever and then it got up and walked away. It showed no fear. I was too scared to scream! Since then, I've started using hiking sticks both for support and as potential weapons. I also wear a whistle around my neck; when my vocal cords won't work, the whistle still will. BTW, you can fight off an attacking cougar. Don't run, because they you look like prey. I didn't know that in 1989; I didn't run because I was frozen in fear. And yes, I still hike alone.

Mostly what you will see of both bears and cougars, even in the wilds, is tracks and scat. They use the hiking trails. Why push through the undergrowth when there's a nice path right there?

In many places in California the bears and cougars come right into towns. Settlement is pushing them out of their wild homes and/or available food is luring them in. The town of Mammoth Lakes actually employs a wildlife specialist; his job is mostly to educate the public in how to prevent bear issues, but also to deal with problem animals.

Be careful out there.

Yes, mistook the bear for our chocolate lab one day while boon docking. Started calling her, looked down at my side and there she was. Well, place her inside, got the camera ran out to tell everyone and get photos. Boy, Arizona bears will run fast when then see people. By the way I am very familiar with Arizona wildlife.

In many years of camping, we have never seen a mountain lion -- we did see a bobcat crossing a road once.

We see bears all the time on hiking trails. And we see bears in campgrounds pretty often. But even though we boondock a lot, we have never seen a bear at our remote campsites.

There is a good reason that you are more likely to see bears in campgrounds -- when Willy Sutton (the bank robber) was asked why he robbed banks, he answered, "Because that's where the money is." Bears are smart -- they have to be, in order to find enough calories to maintain those big bodies. They are not going to prowl around a boondocking site, where the pickings are very slim. They go to the campgrounds, where there is lots of trash and the cars are full of coolers and "pick-a-nick baskets," to quote Yogi.

BUT if you really want to see a bear when you are boondocking, just leave food-scented trash around your campsite and in your vehicle. You might just get a little visit! (Humor alert -- don't do that.)

Only cougars I've seen were at the local bar:)

There are over 30,000 black bears in California, so the chances of seeing one boondocking are fairly high. We have seen them in the Sierra many times, but only once boondocking. It just walked past the truck without trying to get into anything. It was MUCH worse in a campground at Sequoia National Park. They came every night and made a lot of noise trying to get into trash cans.

BB_TX wrote:
We do not boondock. But at a large (450 site) RV park in southern Colorado we often go to black bears are not unusual at all. Common to get up in the morning and find trash pulled from trash cans. One night one opened our neighbors latched ice chest and took food from it. Occasionally they will wander thru the park during the day.

I know the place. Lucky to have only experienced the bears in late August, never in June or July.