killer mailbox

When out hacking there is nothing scarier to a horse than the sight of a mailbox springing up out of the ground ready to attack! Lately however we have had so much snow that they are hardly noticeable at all. Secret and I are confident now that we are no longer being stalked by mailboxes at every corner but have replaced our fear of mailboxes with something a little scarier. That same day I rode into the woods but the snow was much too deep and I began hearing wolves. Secret was snorting and didn’t want anything to do with them. I obliged him and turned around to head back onto the road. I could almost hear him say “you’re scared too!” and after that all he wanted to do was get the heck out of there and I had to hold him back from galloping away with me. Later I discussed the wolves in the woods with my boss and he said that the area has had an increase in cougar sightings!

This seems very scary to me since I know that wolves generally don’t attack humans but have heard recently about cougar attacks.

In order to prepare myself for a possible future cougar sighting I read up on what one should do if under attack:

“Aggressively defend your position. The idea is to deter their attack by making them think that it isn't going to be easy for them. Pick up a branch or a rock to help fight them if needed. They are just big kitty-cats, so you don't want to appear as smaller prey to them. In particular, running away makes them think you are prey, and will encourage an attack.”

That seems reasonable enough – get a couple twigs and scare the kitty away…but then I went on to read:

“However, you may not have to worry about taking action to prevent an attack, since mountain lions ordinarily either lie hidden, waiting for prey to approach beneath them, or approach unseen, and then attack and kill by a bite to the back of the neck that severs the spinal cord. “

So apparently I have nothing to worry about because I will be dead before I know it!