What To Do When Encountering a Mountain Lion While Hiking

Encountering a mountain lion in the wild is both a thrilling and terrifying experience.

Also known as cougars, catamounts, panthers or pumas, these huge cats thrive in virtually all environments in the Americas, from southern Argentina to the Yukon. They’re one of the most widespread large land mammals in the Western Hemisphere.

In the United States, too, they’re very common and encounters between humans and mountain lions become increasingly frequent as more and more people enjoy the state and national parks in America.

In this post, I’ll talk about mountain lion safety and what to do when you see a mountain lion while hiking.

First of all, it’s important to know that mountain lion attacks are very rare. They do occasionally occur, though. When they do, they’re often a surprise and always frightening.

Therefore, you need to be aware of the animals’ presence when hiking in mountain lion habitat and know what to do during a mountain lion encounter.

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Mountain Lion Safety Tips While Hiking: What To Do & How To Behave

How To Avoid a Mountain Lion Encounter

Similar to avoiding black bear encounters or grizzly bear encounters, a mountain lion encounter can usually be avoided by making your presence known. When hiking in cougar country, it’s important to be aware of your surroundings and be loud.

Never hike with earphones or headphones. Talk loudly, sing, whistle or clap your hands regularly. This will let any animal in the area know that you’re a human and not a normal prey or predator.

Another great piece of advise is to not hike alone in mountain lion territory. A mountain lion will think twice about attacking two people, while one person might seem like an easy catch. Hiking in a group is even better.

Many cougar attacks occur in the morning or evening—dawn or dusk—when the animals are most active. However, mountain lion encounters in broad daylight are well-documented and do occur as well, especially around farms and by juvenile animals.

What To Do If You See a Mountain Lion

A mountain lion encounter in the wild is exceptional. I’d love for you to realize how fortunate you are to experience this, but it’s even more important to know what to do if you encounter a mountain lion. These are wild predators, after all. You have to take the situation seriously.

It’s also critical to know that mountain lions are stalkers. They’re very quiet and will typically track and follow their prey for a while before pouncing. You might, therefore, not even see a mountain lion attack coming.

Sometimes, however, they might come closer and show themselves, as they’re trying to figure out whether or not you’re a potential meal. Either way, when hiking in a region where mountain lions live, you have to let them know you’re not prey.

As mentioned above, you can do that by making noise and hiking in groups. Other tips for how to survive a mountain lion encounter are the following:

• Remain calm – Always hold your ground and walk away slowly, never turning your back to the animal. Keep facing the mountain lion and stand tall.
• Make yourself as big as possible – Lift up your backpack and hiking poles, pick up children, keep pets close and stand close to your fellow hikers. You can also waive your arms slowly and open your jacket. Try to appear intimidating. Never bend down or crouch.
• Give the cougar a way to escape – Never approach a mountain lion, particularly if it has kittens or is feeding.
• Never—ever!—run away – Deer are the favorite prey of mountain lions. Running away might make them think you are one. Again, never turn your back to a cougar.
• Be loud – Another essential tip for what to do if you encounter a cougar is making noise. Any way possible. Bang your water bottle, shout, yell, clap your hands. Make any sound that makes it clear you’re not prey. Speak slowly, never shriek.
• Throw things – If the animal doesn’t back away, start throwing things in its direction. That includes rocks, stones and branches. Do that without bending down or turning your back to it. First, try not to kit the cougar, since there’s no need to hurt it (yet). If it keeps moving toward you, throw things directly at the animal.
• Fight back! – In case the mountain lion attacks you, you have to fight back with all your might. Use whatever tools or weapons you have, from rocks and sticks to hiking poles, knives and even your bare hands. Plenty of people have successfully fought off a cougar before. Additionally, a mountain lion typically goes for its prey’s neck or head, so try to keep standing on your feet and face it.

Bear Spray Also Works on Mountain Lions

It may be called “bear spray”, but it also works on mountain lions. Whenever you’re hiking in places where cougars live, I strongly advise you to bring bear spray.

It’s the most effective way to deter wild animal attacks, so why not just make sure you have it with you?

Good Practices

• Know how to use your bear spray before heading into the backcountry.
• Practice using your bear spray with an empty can. Practice grabbing it, removing the safety with your thumb and spraying.
• Keep it accessible in a quick-draw holster, not stored somewhere in your backpack.
• It’s not necessary to be able to aim perfectly. Putting up a screen of spray between you and the mountain lion is often enough.
• Check the expiration date of your bear spray and make sure it’s EPA-approved.
• Never use bear spray like you would insect repellent. Do not spray it around your campsite before going to sleep. It does not work that way and might even attract wild animals to your site.

How to Use Bear Spray

When you’re trying to scare off an attacking mountain lion, bear spray almost always does the trick. Make sure you know you to use it properly, though. Cougar attacks are split-second events and you should be able to use your spray on auto-pilot.

• Remove the safety tag.
• Aim at the cougar’s face and keep in mind the direction of the wind.
• Continue spraying until the mountain lion leaves or changes direction.
• Spray directly into its face in case a mountain lion is about to physically attack you.
• Get out of the area as quickly as possible, without running.

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Where To See Mountain Lions in the Wild

Super-adaptable animals, mountain lions live all over South, Central and North America.

While rare in the (north)eastern parts of the U.S., they’re abundant in the West. They live in all sorts of landscapes, from forests and mountains to wetlands and grasslands.

Because they stalk their prey, their preferred hunting grounds are open woodlands, edges of forests and grasslands with patches of trees. They like to hunt at dawn and dusk, which is when your mountain lion encounter chances are highest—if you’re looking for that.

Arguably the best place to see mountains lions in the wild in North America is Vancouver Island, Canada, which has the continent’s highest mountain lion density. The Santa Monica Mountains near Los Angeles, California are also well-known for their large mountain lion population.

In the United States, they’re abundant in all western states, including Washington, Oregon and California, as well as Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Arizona, Utah and Texas. Some national parks where you may encounter a cougar are:

• North Cascades National Park, Washington
• Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
• Olympic National Park, Washington
• Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
• Sequoia National Park, California
• Yosemite National Park, California
• Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Montana and Idaho
• Glacier National Park, Montana
• Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
• Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
• Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
• Big Bend National Park, Texas

Recognizing a Mountain Lion or Cougar

There are a handful of wild cat species in America, including lynx, bobcats, jaguarundi and mountain lions. The latter are by far the most common and the easiest to distinguish.

Mountain lions are the largest cats in North America—the fourth-largest cat species in the world—and can grow up to 8 feet (2.5 meters) in length.

Despite their size, they’re generally not considered a “big cat” because they can’t roar (as opposed to lions, tigers and leopards). Instead, mountain lion sounds are pretty silent. They communicate via growls, purrs and hisses, much like domestic cats do.

You can recognize a cougar by its round head and erect ears, as well as its unusually long tail. If you see a wild cat with a tail that’s longer than its back legs, you can be 99% sure it’s a mountain lion.

In terms of skin color, mountain lions typically have a neutral, sand-like color—kind of like actual lions, which is one of the theories explaining their name.

Aside from an actual mountain lion encounter, you can also know that you’re in mountain lion territory by looking for paw prints.

Like all cats, and opposed to canines like wolves and coyotes, cougars have retractable claws, which makes it fairly easy to distinguish their paw prints.

A mountain lion paw print consists of one large center sole print and four toe prints without the nail. An adult paw print of a cougar is about 4 inches (10 centimeters) long.

You can find much more information about everything related to mountain lions, including mountain lion protection, biology and behavior, on the website of the Mountain Lion Foundation.

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Have You Ever Experienced a Mountain Lion Encounter While Hiking? Please Do Tell Us About Your Adventure in the Comments Below!

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Other Wildlife Safety Tips

• Bison Safety
• Black Bear Safety
• Grizzly Bear Safety
• Moose Safety
• Rattlesnake Safety
• Shark Safety