Encounter a Cougar while hiking ...what would your scouts do?

[RememberSchiff]

03/25/2024:  Taylen Robert Claude Brooks, 21, and Wyatt Jay Charles Brooks, 18, of Mount Aukum, California, were the victims in the (mountain lion) attack, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Monday. Taylen Brooks’ death was the first by a mountain lion in California in two decades; there have been only three verified killings by a mountain lion in the state since 1986, according to California Department of Fish and Wildlife records.

...

According to the sheriff’s office, the pair were antler shed hunting along Skid Road, a rural part of the county about 30 minutes north of Placerville. While walking, they noticed a mountain lion alongside them. “Both Taylen and Wyatt did what they had always learned,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “They raised their hands in the air to appear larger, yelled at the lion and Wyatt even threw his backpack at the lion, all in an attempt to scare the lion away.”

...

Taylor worked as a house painter with his father, loved the outdoors and was “an extremely talented guitar player,” his family said in a statement. Wyatt is enrolled at the Mt. Adams fire academy and hopes to someday work for Cal Fire. A fund has been set up to support the family, and a memorial will be held at a later date.

“A brother is a friend given by nature,” his family said. “These two brothers were driven by nature.”

Source:

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/california-brothers-mountain-lion-attack-19367715.php

[yknot]

45 minutes ago, RememberSchiff said:

03/25/2024:  Taylen Robert Claude Brooks, 21, and Wyatt Jay Charles Brooks, 18, of Mount Aukum, California, were the victims in the (mountain lion) attack, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Monday. Taylen Brooks’ death was the first by a mountain lion in California in two decades; there have been only three verified killings by a mountain lion in the state since 1986, according to California Department of Fish and Wildlife records.

...

According to the sheriff’s office, the pair were antler shed hunting along Skid Road, a rural part of the county about 30 minutes north of Placerville. While walking, they noticed a mountain lion alongside them. “Both Taylen and Wyatt did what they had always learned,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement. “They raised their hands in the air to appear larger, yelled at the lion and Wyatt even threw his backpack at the lion, all in an attempt to scare the lion away.”

...

Taylor worked as a house painter with his father, loved the outdoors and was “an extremely talented guitar player,” his family said in a statement. Wyatt is enrolled at the Mt. Adams fire academy and hopes to someday work for Cal Fire. A fund has been set up to support the family, and a memorial will be held at a later date.

“A brother is a friend given by nature,” his family said. “These two brothers were driven by nature.”

Source:

https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/california-brothers-mountain-lion-attack-19367715.php

Horrible account. 

[RememberSchiff]

Bear spray? Air horn? Trek poles? Hiking staff?

 

Edited March 28 by RememberSchiff
add Trek poles? Hiking staff?

[skeptic]

"Encounter a Cougar while hiking ...what would your scouts do?"   

Hopefully not say "here kitty, kitty".