you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Ooo!

Ok, this isn't nearly as unique or exciting, but the last time I went backpacking with my dad in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness, we were hiking around a lake and saw some really nice deer tracks in the almost muddy soil of the lake shore, like you could make nice molds out of. We go a bit further, and I'm looking at the tracks because they're so pristine, deep, and perfect, and I see a cats paw join the tracks. The paw print was bigger than my hand, and I'm a grown-ass man.

I was half worried about meeting that cat; I'm no tracker, but I suspect the tracks had been made the previous night or that morning. The other half of me was sorry for that deer.

We weren't hunting and had no guns, but I bought a Pelican case for our next trip; that was our last one together, though.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)

    I always love thinking about what wild cats could do to a person.

    I think of what a five pound angry house cat can do to you ... it will roll around like a snake in your hands, dazzled in fur, spiked with razor blades. It will cut and scratch you until you bleed in 20 different places.

    Now turn that cat into a 100lb animal that has daggers instead of razor blades.

    EDIT: typos from fat fingers on a phone

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago

    My favorite story stems from a park ranger in Oregon (IIRC) who was giving a tour, and they were carrying a 15' (5m) long pole. As were about halfway through, they were taking about cougars, and they stopped next to a tree, and they explained that if a cougar is after you, climbing a tree is not a recommended defense; the pole was a demonstration of how high an adult cougar can jump, straight up.

    Those of us with house cats were not surprised, but still. It helped put things into perspective.

  • source
  • parent