Does anyone have a Safety Briefing that covers a SAREX area where wild animals (cougar/mountain lion) may be present through the SAREX area? If so, may review your briefing?
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Yes. It goes:
Ground Teams, keep situational awareness. Remember to travel in groups. If you must split, inform the mission base. As large predators are active, be sure to make noise before going around curves, corners, or other blind spots.
Keep the safety briefs simple, short, and succinct.
Besides, while mountain lions can possibly occur in Iowa, as noted by the Ia DNR, the chances of encounter for CAP is astronomical in Iowa. Even in my state where mountain lions are plentiful, encounter is rare (while hiking) to non-existent for CAP operations.
I would reach out to the folks in Alaska. They should have plenty of advice.
Here is a nice article with bullet points that could be turned into a nice ppt presentation:
https://trailrunnermag.com/training/trail-tips/wildlife-safety-for-runners-bear-snake-mountain-lions.html (https://trailrunnermag.com/training/trail-tips/wildlife-safety-for-runners-bear-snake-mountain-lions.html)
Quote from: etodd on May 12, 2019, 09:36:53 PM
I would reach out to the folks in Alaska. They should have plenty of advice.
Ummm... maybe not.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Cougar_range_map_2010.png/800px-Cougar_range_map_2010.png)
Are there no deers in Iowa? No ticks? Warning about the mountain lions in a safety briefing but ignore the ticks?
Dave:
Thanks so much for the best safety briefing material, ever.
I for one wasn't aware of the extensive range and density of the contemporary cougar population.
Cheers
Spam
We even have our celebrity Mountain Lions in Los Angeles. Good old P-22 who lives in Griffith Park.
Even a major metropolitan area like Los Angeles has a bunch of hazardous critters.
We don't go a week without a news story about the Black Bears coming down from the mountains to raid the trash cans on trash day and in one case, to use a Jacuzzi!
Not to mention the other "fun" critters like the Rattle Snakes, Raccoons, Opossums, Bobcats and everybody's favorite, the skunks.
Our biggest problem in my part of San Diego County is coyotes. They tend to make outdoor pets (mostly cats) part of their diet. The rabbit population is also on their menu., but they have to share with the hawks.
Good heavens... imagine unknowingly getting in the Jacuzzi with a cougar.
This safety brief gets better and better.
;D
Cheers
Spam
Quote from: Spam on May 13, 2019, 04:39:05 AM
Good heavens... imagine unknowingly getting in the Jacuzzi with a cougar.
This safety brief gets better and better.
;D
Cheers
Spam
I haven't heard whether boiled, pickled long pig is on a cougar's preferred menu. But they do like warm meals. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jWpleN562WE (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jWpleN562WE).
I used to spend a lot of time doing field work in cougar habitat in WA state. And I still live close to known occupied habitat.
I've known two guys who were attacked by cougars, one about 10 miles from my home. He owned a few acres north of town. The other incident was in Montana. The fellow in WA was a bit shookup when he stopped by the courthouse where he made the report. The cat made it to within just a few feet of him when he shot it with a pistol. The local WFW enforcement agent was on site within 90 minutes and verified the cat was in attack mode when shot (between the eyes) at close range. I heard the Montana story a few years later while flying fire patrol with a FS observer. His encounter was very similar. I recall more than one field report of cougars stalking FS employees over my career. I also knew a man whose daughter successfully bluffed a cougar intent on making a meal of her long enough for the school bus to arrive and rescue her.
The thought of briefing ground crews on safety tips for bear (black bear or grizzly), cougar or wolf encounters seems prudent to me when a chance encounter might occur.
Thanks to everyone who responded to my request. I was able to put together a PowerPoint presentation for our Composite Squadron.
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