BELLINGHAM — Earlier this week, a Bellingham resident reported a close run in with a cougar on Galbraith Mountain, during which the mountain lion ran right in front of a biker’s front tire, according to the social media post.
With hiking and mountain biking picking up over the summer across Washington state, these kinds of encounters are more common in the warmer months. So what should you do if you’re approached by a mountain lion on a trail in Washington? Here’s what experts say.
What should you do if you see a cougar?
According to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, cougar sightings are relatively rare in Washington, considering how many of them live in the state. The animals are “reclusive,” and “prefer not to be seen,” according to the Washington Trails Association, so if they hear you coming, they tend to stay away.
“While cougars are often around us, they’re rarely seen,” DFW Communications Manager Jennifer Becar said in an email to McClatchy. “Getting to see a cougar is a rare occurrence, and it’s not always a safety concern.”
According to Josh Rosenau, the director of policy and advocacy at the Mountain Lion Foundation, we tend to overestimate the risk of hiking around mountain lions, and the odds of a confrontation are low.
“There’s a mountain lion biologist who I was talking to about this,” Rosenau said. “We were trying to come up with, what are the things that are more risky than mountain lions. And it’s like, you’re more likely to get hit by lightning on your birthday.”
Rosenau said that as long as a cougar knows you’re a person and not prey, they’ll have no interest in you.
“They know that we’re not food,” Rosenau said. “They’re interested in deer, they’re interested in elk, and they’re interested in other mountain lions.”
If you do run into a cougar, DFW advises the first thing you should do is stop and, if you’re with any small children, pick them up.
“Do not run,” Becar said. “Running and rapid movements may trigger the cougar to chase and perhaps attack.”
Instead of running away, Becar recommends retreating slowly without turning your back.
“Face the cougar,” Becar said. “Talk firmly to it while slowly backing away, and make sure you leave the animal an escape route.”
If the cougar isn’t letting you simply retreat, Becar said you should wave your arms and throw things at it, in order to scare it away. According to Rosenau, cougars are scared away relatively easily.
“Mountain lions are, for the most part, basically scaredy-cats,” Rosenau said. “So if you act like you’re bigger and tougher than them, they’re happy to believe you.”
While it’s not common, it’s possible that the cougar continues to approach you or even attacks. In those cases, DFW says you should use pepper spray or bear spray if you have, and if you don’t, prepare yourself to fight back. You can also call the Fish and Wildlife Enforcement at 877-933-9847, or in an emergency, call 911.
Tips for hiking in cougar country
There are a handful of things you can do to make an encounter with a cougar less likely when hiking through their habitat.
DFW and the Mounatin Lion Foundation both recommend hiking during the day, hiking in groups, and making noise to alert any wildlife that you’re nearby.
“Make it clear that you’re a person, not a deer,” Rosenau said. “To the degree that you’re not annoying other hikers on the trail, making some noise, some people I know who do solo hikes will even just play a podcast on their phone.”
If you’re hiking with small children, keep them in sight and close by. Becar said it’s also important to stay away from dead animals, especially ones that have been killed recently, since they could be a sign that predators are in the area.
Additionally, pay attention to your surroundings and carry bear spray, an air horn, or a walking stick in case you’re approached. But according to Rosenau, most of these precautions aren’t specific to cougars and are just worthwhile precautions to take when hiking around wildlife in general.
“There’s not a lot that I would do just for mountain lions,” Rosenau said. “The number of times that people even see a mountain lion, let alone have a scary encounter, are so small.”
Where are Washington cougars?
No, Washington cougars are not just in Pullman. According to DFW, cougars can be found in any part of the state as long as it has suitable shelter and prey — primarily deer, elk, mountain goats and sheep. DFW estimates that cougars can be found in 35,000 of Washington’s roughly 67,000 square miles of land, with the only exception being the central and southeastern parts of the state.
“In most of Washington state, if you’re hiking, you’re in mountain lion country,” Rosenau said. “There are a lot of hikers out there and almost none of them see a mountain lion — which is exactly what mountain lions want, and for the most part, it’s exactly what the hikers want.”
You can check DFW’s map of predatory wildlife encounters for specifics on where cougar encounters have been reported to the state. While the department doesn’t monitor the cougar population closely, it estimates that there are 2,400 independent age cougars in the state.
