Do I really need any other caliber than 9mm?

[BLB68]

Feral dogs and feral people are more likely problems than the wildlife up here. (Though don't tell that to the family of the guy who got gored to death by a mountain goat a while back.) So, 9mm should be fine. Add in some bear spray if you're going to be where bears may be.

 

[BLB68]

In short, if they want to eat you, the only use a gun is going to have is you hope she/he cracks a tooth, biting into it. Better money would be to buy a Kevlar vest, with plates. Some kind of neck protector as well.

Well, mountain lions aren't actually magical ninja killers, either. Sure, if they decide to attack you, you are going to get hurt.

But there are too many stories of people surviving such attacks and driving the cats off to buy into this kind of defeatist mindset.

From what I've seen, it doesn't take that much to do it. Cats are adverse to getting injured, especially around the head and face. An eye or mouth injury can prove fatal in the long run, and most predators will avoid the risk. This is exactly how smaller animals drive off larger predators.

Assuming you don't get instantly killed by the cat, your best defense is a second armed person with you. Which will lower the chance of the attack in the first place.

http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/lion_attacks.html#stats

From 1991-2003: Total attacks 73. Total deaths 10.

 

[Prosser]

Here we have a relatively high population. NOT endangered.
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/news/issues/lion/lion_faq.html
"Are mountain lion attacks on humans common?
Mountain lion attacks on humans are rare. There have been only 16 verified mountain lion attacks on humans in California since 1890, six of them fatal. The last documented attack occurred in January, 2007, in Humboldt County."

As for Ninja's: Here we have a lot of mountain lions, and very rarely are they seen, much less attack.

We do have LOTS of flea limos(deer) in this area, and I suspect likewise mountain lions, but, unlike geese and turkeys, they aren't road hazards.

 

[2zulu1]

Leave it to California to have a computerized mountain lion data base since 1890.

 

[sirsloop]

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=649532

Yes we need more than 9