Several years ago, my wife and I were driving home. It was dusk. A young deer ran across the road about 30 feet in front of us. I slowed down, and my wife said look at that! When I turned to look, a large cat was trotting up the embankment on the road, moving away from us. The cat had been chasing this deer. When it saw the headlights from our truck, it took off. Two years ago, in the winter, I stepped out on my back porch to check the snowfall. In the woods near our house, I heard what sounded like a woman screaming. I listened for a few minutes. The screaming sound was loud, and high pitched. When I looked this up on our Missouri conservation website, I learned that this is the sound female lions make when calling in a mate. I also learned that mountain lions range up to 100 miles. Ive read stories of people being attacked by them, but, I don't know that I believe this.ive also read that they've been known to circle behind hunters, hikers etc. Again, I don't know for sure about this. The big cats are very reclusive, and move around at dusk and in darkness. As areas get developed, these big cats move to new places. Do you have mountain lions in your area. Have you ever seen or had an encounter with one?

There are plenty in my area...even my neighborhood. One was spotted just last week along a hiking trail just a 1/2 mile from me. That's pretty cool. Although I haven't encountered one in the wild, I know folks that have. Generally they leave you alone, but if they're following you, making yourself "big" and standing your ground is the best defense from becoming a happy meal. The game dept. used to be able to use dogs to track and tree problem cougars. A tranquilizer dart and a free ride to the wilderness was the prize. However, an animal rights group got a measure on the ballot and used an animal cruelty campaign about "hunting" cougars with dogs to get it passed by voters who have no clue about wildlife and game management. Now, there are more human encounters than ever before, often resulting in euthanizing an innocent animal for just doing what its instincts tell them to do. It's a tragic situation. I have a hard time understanding how an "animal rights" group pushed an ordinance that ended up killing animals rather than setting them free. But that's the kind of "logic" we live with now.