gunsmith for killing a cat that jumped you, unprepared from behind.
Thats why, along with a .357 revolver , I carry a couple pretty good blades
when in lion country.
I think that the boom of a gun would also scare it off you.
afaik the cat would attack from behind and it would sneak up on you, I'm sure it would use its claws and paws to control your hands/arms too.
A pretty fearsome opponent.
I don't think that's quite right. I've no idea how a cat would try to control your arms or legs.
Caimlas as far as I know, cougars will got for their prey's throat and/or neck. If they don't break it, they want their prey to bleed out quickly. Cats are not like a bear, which will maul you. Cougars are efficient killers, because that's the sole source of their food: meat.
Cats have various attack styles. If they attack something like an antelope and through chance end up on its front side, they use front paws not to scratch the prey but to stick into it like velcro. Teeth lock onto the neck, and the back paws are kicked repeatedly to disembowel the prey. Otherwise their attacks seem to consist of biting the neck, with the paws simply maintaining their stance on the prey. And let's face it, there's not many people who could defend themselves well with even 100lbs suddenly strapped to them, it would be overwhelming. Some cats chew on the neck, and their teeth then saw through the spinal column. I don't think they need to wait for anything to bleed out, if they grip the neck in their jaws they simply clamp down and the prey can't breath, so it's unconscious before bleeding becomes a problem (lack of blood to the brain, and air to the lungs simultaneously).
The notion of stabbing an attacking cat may be romantic, but seriously how many people suggesting this have ever stabbed something with their knife before? And cat's are harder than most any prey, a guy I knew who petted a leopard said what amazed him was that the cat looked soft, but it was literally hard as a rock. Now try to stab an animal that is extremely tough, and do it from the disadvantage of bad position and having a weight strapped to you. It's a recipe for failure.
A pistol, on the other hand, everyone here
has experience shooting with. A whole hell of a lot more than they do practicing with their knives! As long as you can pull the trigger and point the muzzle you are fine. I honestly can't see any possible way a knife could be superior to a pistol when defending against a cat.
I've actually read a story exactly about a man hiking in North America who was jumped by a cougar, and he had time while it was going on to retrieve his swiss army knife and stab the cat with it. Unfortunately the stab wounds did
nothing to discourage the cat, and he was so amped that he didn't even notice when the blade (non-locking folder) folded onto his hand and he was actually simply cutting his fingers slowly off.
So the rule to remember is to put something between your neck and the cat, and possibly between your gut and the cat. Your face and scalp will get ****ed up quickly, but the longer you keep it away from your neck the better.
And P.S. I find it a ridiculous notion that a cat will scamper off and find easier prey, in the middle of an attack, because you inconvenienced it and the meal is going harder than normal. It has a ****ing predator drive, it probably feels as little pain as possible, and it's NOT going to stop trying to eat you because you make it's meal take 30 seconds longer than normal. You are going to have to do MASSIVE trauma to this animal to get it off you. It made it's decision to attack you, THAT'S when it decided if you were too hard or too difficult or too dangerous to attack. And obviously it decided you weren't, because it attacked you. Their instincts to keep them alive obviously choose the easiest meals, because being injured is a big deal and they don't want that. But once the fight starts, it's idiotic to think the cat will get bored if you struggle too long, it won't stop trying to kill you unless you do MASSIVE trauma to it. If you somewhat injured it it HAS to keep attacking, because it will need the food while it recuperates and is unable to hunt for that period of time.
.
