Cougars in Nova Scotia ?

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I heard briefly today on the radio that cougars are considered to be "officially" a predator in NS. I know there have been sightings over the years, I guess they are more frequent than ever ?
Anyone hear anything of this ?

Also input from guys that live in cougar inhabited provinces would be great. What do you look for when you're out hunting, and how do you act if you have a cougar stalking you. Just any tips would be cool.


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I can already tell exactly how this thread is gonna go....
To locate a cougar, try using a mating call. Like "hey don't you play hockey with my son?".

Cougars (the cat) are somewhat rare around here, but do exist. I had an experience with an unknown large cat once, found some extremely fresh scat that I didn't recognize at all. It had a bit of fur and undigested bits, clearly a predator poo. Seconds later there was a hideous yowl that sounded like a house cat on steroids, it made every hair on my body stand on end and I proceeded to walk out of there in reverse with the muzzle loader at the ready. Spooky. Heard about cougar sightings in the area a few days later, not confirmed what I bumped into but I'll always suspect it. They typically hunt from ambush from what I hear anyway, there are quite a few stories of people running them off with rocks or fishing rods when they realize they're being followed.

The other kind, try some bad cologne to keep them off. Might not work on the smokers though. ;)
 
If a cougar is stalking you while you're out hunting you won't know it. I have never worried about cougars. Seen a few tracks but never seen a cat in the wild. Very few people see them unless the cat wants to be seen or unless you are tracking them with dogs and can tree it. Wolves are more worrisome to me then cougars. Much more unpredictable.
 
We have a few sightings in Ontario once in a while, they have been seen in the eastern part, where I sometimes hunt.
 
If a cougar is stalking you while you're out hunting you won't know it. I have never worried about cougars. Seen a few tracks but never seen a cat in the wild. Very few people see them unless the cat wants to be seen or unless you are tracking them with dogs and can tree it. Wolves are more worrisome to me then cougars. Much more unpredictable.

I would think this is most likely across Canada
 
If a cougar is stalking you while you're out hunting you won't know it. I have never worried about cougars. Seen a few tracks but never seen a cat in the wild. Very few people see them unless the cat wants to be seen or unless you are tracking them with dogs and can tree it. Wolves are more worrisome to me then cougars. Much more unpredictable.

Pretty much what he said..

There are some here. They tend to get shot by deer/elk/moose hunters who then claim self defense (damn thing was coming after me!) because there was no open season locally (now there is b/c there are more cougars). They are the ghost of the forest. sometimes see the tracks, rarely see the animal. If you happen to spot one that doesn't immediately run away, do the same as for black bears: act big & tough & loud. Throw something at it, back away slowly. Don't turn & run! If the stalk is on, either you'll never know because the animal gave up or lost interest, or you'll only know when it's on you! Then fight like hell. Lots of stories of men & women fending off cougars and also some where the outcome was different...

As for the wolves... we have WAAYYY more wolves here than cougars, but they are heavily persecuted and pretty much NEVER cause threats to humans... locally, at least
 
If cougar does not like to be seen you don't even mention it existance, NEVER...

Officially e Ontario puma Foundation just declared their existence in Ontario in the quantity of 550-600 heads :)
http://www.cottagecountrynow.ca/community-story/3575444-cougars-are-officially-back-in-ontario/

My buddy has a photo made when captured his friend after successful hunt for elk and on background you can clearly see a cougar head in a bush... was discovered only home, not in the field.
 
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