The first dismount, I assure you, was NOT
voluntary. ;-) The second was well after the bear was
out of sight (I watched it go up and over a ridge) and just briefly.
After much reflection on the first wild ride which occurred in the open, I was
willing to take my chances on foot if it was going to be a repeat performance
through mountain terrain. Taking just moments to insure control was
the safer option in this particular incident. If the bear or cougar were
in front of me, no way would I get off – the safer option then would be
to stick on with all I’ve got!
Now back to scents!
-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Fleming
[mailto:pfleming@nwlink.com]
Sent: Tuesday, August
19, 2008 7:02 PM
To: lhanahan@mindspring.com; 'Mounted
search and rescue'
Subject: RE: [MSAR] Coyotes, or
are they really? And what stinks...
Bad Idea getting off of
your horse in front of a bear or cougar. Now your horse has only to out run
you!
From: msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Laurie
Sent: Tuesday, August
19, 2008 3:21 PM
To: spanishequines@yahoo.com;
'Mounted search and rescue'
Subject: Re: [MSAR] Coyotes, or
are they really? And what stinks...
Karen can you please
elaborate on scent training? If you start in a familiar environment, such
as home, will it cause the horse to become more spooky or jittery for a
while?
I have had 2 black bear
encounters in the past 3 months here in Northern
Virginia, obviously bear are
becoming more numerous but luckily they have been very happy to run in the
opposite direction from us. The horse’s reaction was not cool the
first time – she left the scene and I ended up on the ground. So
obviously I’d like to modify her reactions. And I ride more alert
nowadays! The second time as soon as I saw the bear was leaving our
area, I dismounted to avoid a repeat reaction. But I’d like to be
able to do better than that.
Thanks for sharing.
-----Original Message-----
From:
msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:msar-riders-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Karen Nesbitt
Sent: Tuesday, August
19, 2008 2:57 PM
To: MSAR
Subject: [MSAR] Coyotes, or are they
really? And what stinks...
Message: 5
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:31:39 -0600
From: "David Skofstad" <dbs54neigh@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [MSAR] cougar sightings
To: "Mounted search and rescue" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <380-22008821915313931@earthlink.net"
ymailto="mailto:380-22008821915313931@earthlink.net">380-22008821915313931@earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
You didn't expect a reply from the Chicago, IL, area but here it is. A
Cougar was shot and killed by Chicago PD in a north side neighborhood this
year. DNA testing indicated the same cat had been confirmed in the area of
central Wisconsin some months before. There have been reports for a
couple of years of cougar sightings in northeastern Illinois, some of them
from reliable observers. A casting of a footprint was taken about 18
months ago by a wildlife biologist.
Perhaps cougars are taking the evolutionary path of coyotes...formerly highly
shy and secretive, now not so much.
As a side note, local animal rights crazies have been very critical of the
shooting, stating that cougars "never attack humans". This
cat was a couple of blocks from a grade school. My opinion, it would have
been irresponsible in the extreme to pass up the chance to contain the
threat.
---message truncated for
space>>>>>>>>
In response to Dave and some generalizations...,
The so called evolutionary path of the coyote has
been to mate with domestic dogs and therefore the result of that mating is
neither a coyote or a dog, but what many refer to coy-dogs. These types
of animals are confused in their thinking and are a detriment to the
environment. Don't know what your big cats are mating with, but surely
not a housecat as size is everything. They are just gradually getting
into the suburbs due to urban sprawl which is compromising their
territory as well as our own areas to ride in.
Where a coyote is actually an asset, the coy-dog is
the nusiance because it does not know its own mind whether to partake in
domestic dog activity or wild. Where a true coyote will kill and clean
up its prey simply because it eaats to survive and its prey being mostly
small animals such as rabbits, ground birds, squirrels, fox, etc a
coy-dog will rather play with the animals it staulks, kill it and leave it
for dead than eat it a majority of time, becasue they are killing for sport
and chase. Wild coyotes conserve their energies to survive so they
generally do not hunt for sport and as a rule, a good HELATHYcoyote is often
heard, but never seen. Where ranchers have sheep, sheep can become
victims if they are young, weak or too old to defend themselves.
However a good sized HEALTHY sheep can pack a helluva a whallop in defending
themselves when it comes to a well pounded headbutt. A sheep can
literally break a human leg or worse if in a bad situation of defending
themselves. Especially bighorned varieties. Deer too. A
healthy deer can take out a coyote or out run it. Having been a rancher,
I would just asoon the coyote or wolf take my weak and let nature keep my flock
stronger by natural selection.
There has been romoured to be a large type
of cat in the Iroqouis County area of Illinois in my area,
however, in ten years I have yet to see, hear or lay eyes on any tracks of
one. Tracks mostly have been dogs, deer, rabbit, small housecat,
bird. They coyotes the train whistles...
We have sighted Texas Red wolves here which are not
native and due to some bonehead (for lack of a better word) decideing to try
ot raise them, and after finding out it was illegal to do without special
permits etc, he released them into the wild quite a few years back and now
the wolf is here in an area not its norm, but like the coyote, they kill to
eat, clean it up and hunt to survive. They don't as a rule hunt for
sport. Coyotes and wolves will scavenge, they also eat berries and
certain plants to survive.
Horses can feel threatened by the smell of foreign
urine and fece. They can get spooky. Suggested remedies is to
train your horses to accept the scents and learn his reactions individually
when possible.. You can get scents in your local hunting supplies
stores or by mailorder. Bear, coyote, cat all seem to be
offensive to many a steed and some horses will even get antsy if smelling
human urine or fece, other scents deer scant as well. and things such as
chemicals...gasoline, diesel, decomp etc.
Some horses will craze out and throw their
riders. Much of the time when your horses is spooking, it is more so on
scent then sight. Take time to learn how your animal reacts to weird
scenes as well as wild scents and also the scents of chemicals. Horses
can virtually see 360 degrees all around except in certain situations and
they cannot see directly behind. When startled, horses will bolt or
strike, kick and many will take terror and runaway with or without their
rider..
Equine accidents often are just that, accidents,
however criminals acting on a victim who they know are around livestock can
use that to cause injury or harm with virtually out a clue. They can
try scenting to cause the animals to react to harm their handlers or
other means such as noise to startle the animals. Learn your
animal. Turn its habits into protection for self. That is
YOURSELF.
I guess coming form the old school of preparedness,
ride prepared, then you can ride well. Riding or handling well, means safety
for both you and your mount.
Having been attacked by dogs on the bridle path, I
have found taking your horse into a speedy tail spin to confront the
would be attacker k-9 works extremely well, as you are bigger and
badder in their eyes and they generally will leave with tail tucked, but yes,
the 45 degree angle method of not taking your EYE off the intruder is good
too, but keep the other peeled for traffic. There seems to be a huge
amount of IDIOTS on the road these days and could careless that you as
ahorsemen have the right of way. There are of course some breeds of
domestic dogs that are chasers and a word of caution too is advised on what
you are going to confront as some of those can be persistant and relentless
in their harassments to equines. It is sometimes hard to tell in
the case of a coy-dog if it is a chaser, but assume that it is. In
which it is a good idea to have a mount under you which will defend itself by
either striking, kicking or rearing. Works on two legged offenders as
well. But distance is the key in safety. Never let anyone
approach your horse from the front so they can grab a rein. The
medevial dressage manuevers were
used with great purpose but not everyone can perform
a piaffe or levade without practice or training.
Now, about that snake... oh, you did not see that
one coming. But bet your horse smelled him before he struck.... sit
tight. SCENT is everything. But having a visiual, is not always
possible.
The million dollar question can often be, what
is my mount smelling that I don't see. And never forget that
odors can carry for miles. If you are only smelling a little of it,
your animal is smelling it alot!
Iroquois County - Illinois
|
|
