The ability to see wildlife in their natural habitat is a true gift that your local zoo cannot give. While mountain towns like Breckenridge attract outdoor adventure seekers and nature lovers, it’s also lucky enough to be home to many animals, including cougars. While it is highly unlikely that mountain visitors will encounter a mountain lion, precautions should still be understood in the rare event that a sighting occurs.
- Make safe decisions early: Whenever you set out to spend a day on the mountain in Breckenridge, take a few precautions that will help reduce the risk of wildlife attack. Never walk alone. While pumas are unlikely to approach humans, they are even less likely to approach a larger, more threatening group. Children should always stay close to adults and never out of sight.
- Spotting a Mountain Lion: Although they may appear threatening, pumas are beautiful and magnificent creatures. Tawny in color with black tips to their ears and tail, pumas are one of the largest cats in North America. While males can grow up to eight feet and weigh up to 150 pounds, females are slightly shorter and lighter, measuring seven feet long and weighing up to 90 pounds.
- Mountain Lion Activity: As their name implies, pumas obviously make the mountains their home. While the danger from cougars is low in Breckenridge (your chance of being attacked by a cougar is less than your chance of being struck by lightning), sharing your home still means you need to be prepared for a sighting. As with all wildlife, stay away from a mountain lion. Stay away and give the animal an easy way to escape.
- Taking extreme measures: In most cases, their mere presence will scare off a nearby mountain lion. In the event that the lion does not escape, avoid your instinct to run. Running will increase the animal’s instinct to chase you. Stay calm and make eye contact with the lion. Avoid squatting or crouching as cougars are more likely to go after smaller prey. In fact, do what you can to look big by raising and waving your arms or opening your jacket. Throw stones, branches and shout at the puma in a strong and firm voice so that it begins to understand that you are not prey, but that you actually represent a danger. In the extreme case that a mountain lion attacks, do all you can to defend yourself with a rock, stick, jacket, or whatever else you can get your hands on.
- Protection of children: It may not be so easy for a child to control the instinct to run when faced with a mountain lion. Similarly, since children are shorter, a mountain lion is more likely to mistake them for prey. If you are exploring the mountains with children and come across a mountain lion, pick the child up. However, try to avoid crouching or turning away from the cougar when you do this.
- Contact a park ranger immediately: If you do come into contact with a mountain lion, notify a park ranger immediately to prevent further threat to others.
Remember, mountain lion sightings are extremely rare. Attacks are even rarer. Still, staying informed and prepared is the best way to travel the Breckenridge mountains.
