How to Keep Mountain Lions Away from Your Property?

This mother earth is open to all living beings, but we human beings, being the supreme among living beings, extended our dominance over all creatures for ages.

To be frank, you have encroached on their natural habitat, and now you complain that they are trespassing on your property.

Even though what I said above is hard to digest for all entire mankind, I understand that you are in an inevitable situation, and your worry is common.

Keeping this debate aside, whether it is right or wrong, let’s move on to what needs to be done to keep the mountain lions away from your property.

Indeed, they are a danger not only to your property but to your own life, kids, pets, and livestock.

How to Tell If A Mountain Lion Is Nearby?

Mountain lions and cougars are generally identified by their unique tracks that are much bigger in size compared to coyotes, dogs, bobcats, or any other animal in the same family.

Usually, there will be three lobes at the bottom of the pad and the tracks between 3 to 4 inches wide without any visible claw marks.

Mountain lions are hard to identify by their sounds, and they make little noise in the woods.

On the off chance when they make any sound, it will be much like a bird chirping or a whistling of any person.

How to Prevent Mountain Lions and Cougars?

When we talk about “Cougar” and “mountain lion,” keep in mind that they are usually the same animal.

The difference is just because different people will refer to them with different names depending on the region they live in.

Preventing mountain lions and cougars from entering is one of the best ways of protecting your property from these deadly creatures.

As the saying “prevention is better than cure” goes, we should maintain our property in such a way that no instinct should come into the cougar’s mind to visit your property.

You may ask how to achieve this. 

By following these simple ideas, it can be done easily…

• Don’t feed any wildlife that is the cougar’s favorite prey.
• If you have pets, don’t tie them outside at night and when you are out; let them be inside your home for their safety.
• Always let your children be on your radar even while playing or walking for extra safety.
• Protect your livestock by building a strong and high fence, which would make it difficult for the cougars to creep in.

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3 Ways to Scare Off Cougars and Mountain Lions

Since many lives are in grave danger, you must be desperate to find out ways to scare them away, in case they step inside your territory.

Here are a few of them that can work:

1- Timed Alarms

Well, a sudden alarm can jolt or frighten anyone for a second and make them run away in fear.

So why don’t you apply the same idea? When the mountain lions approach your property, they may get panicked and turn their backs and go away. 

Just make sure it’s very audible and in high pitch too. No doubt, this can disturb your sleep too.

It should scare the hell out of them.  But the trick here is to find the exact time; to set the timer, they venture into your property. 

Their favorite times are dawn and dusk to hunt, so you can plan accordingly.

Still, if you have trouble keeping a check on the right times, it’s good to set the timer for the whole day and be at peace.

Even though these timed alarms for cougars seem to work, on the downside, it requires a lot of maintenance to give efficient results.

Not many studies or research are conducted to gauge the effectiveness of these timed alarms, but it’s still worth trying your hands on, considering the importance of your life.

2- Motion Alarms

Another method to scare away mountain lions is by using Motion Alarms.

Unlike timed alarms, you need not set a timer. In this case, alarms will beep automatically when they sense any motion.

So, the alarm will go on when a mountain lion squeezes in.

However, there are some drawbacks attached to these sirens and motion alarms.

The sensors detecting any movement or motion need not be of cougars alone; it can be of any other thing or animal.

So sometimes, it can be a fake alarm as it cannot distinguish between a cougar or another thing or animal.

The key thing is you have to keep the motion alarm in the right place where your instinct says there will be cougar movements and align it properly.

If they come in through another way, then you will be at a loss as the alarm won’t sound.

3- Solar lights

Moving forward on the Eco-friendly path, you can install solar lights on your property to keep away lions, tigers, black panthers, and cougars away.

These lights will keep the predators at bay, and there is no question of setting timers and fixing motion alarms. You are free from those maintenance aspects.

This involves less maintenance, and auto turn-on and turn-off features are the advantages of this.

All the above methods employ a more humane way to keep the predators at bay.

Remember, by following these methods, you are not against their nature of killing instinct for their own survival.

But you are safeguarding your own life and properties.

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Tips to Avoid Mountain Lion Encounters and Attacks

What to do in case you encounter a visit from a mountain lion?

Head to Head, face to face, and above all, you are unarmed. It brings a chill down to your spine, thinking about what would happen next. 

You can follow the below steps to avoid/survive a cougar attack:

• First of all, you should never give an idea that you are its next sumptuous prey.
• Never panic and remain calm as it helps to make the right decisions swiftly. Slowly move back, still facing the lion, and never turn your back against it.
• Never take the stupid decision of confronting it by moving towards it as it may pounce on you anytime to attack you.
• Don’t go near small cubs as their mama will be near them somewhere, and they are very protective of their offspring.
• Always maintain direct eye contact with it and drop the plans of running away to escape from it, as it will worsen the situation.
• Their instincts to hunt you down will raise more when you run away. In case you have kids with you, ask them to be quiet and don’t run or move swiftly.
• No bending over as that posture change may make you look like a four-legged animal, and it will think you are its prey.

The above suggestions are valid as long as it is still on your opposite side.

But what are you going to do next if it approaches you with an intent to hunt you?

Read below further…

• Make yourself look larger by opening your arms wide, waving, or rotating your arms, shout loudly in a firm voice. 
• Hand clapping or hitting your sticks or anything you have against the ground.
• If it still persists in moving in your direction, throw whatever you have got, like stones or branches, without bending over.
• If you are in a sandy area, you can throw the sand against it, or you can use a bear spray or pepper spray towards its eyes as it will affect its eyesight temporarily, which would give you a few seconds to get out of that place.

If you are running out of any of the above options, all you have to do is make your ground and fight back bravely without giving up.

Protect your head and throat as it tries to attack those parts first.

Use a knife or stick or your arms to fight over it.

Who knows, you might be lucky to survive this battle, and in the meantime, if anyone else comes, thereby can lend you a helping hand.

So keep fighting till your last breath, and there is no other way.

If you come across sightings of mountain lions in your area, inform the concerned authorities about this without any hesitation.

Your timely reporting will enable them to take prompt action.

The conclusion

Mountain lions, tigers, snow leopards, jaguars, and cougars can be dangerous if they happen to enter your property.

However, there are natural ways like light, water, and sound (like talk radios) you can use to scare off these wild lives far away from your home.

Like many other wild animals, they also try to avoid danger.

And by installing outdoor lighting, jets of water, or alarms, you can hopefully keep these deadly animals away.