Customer Reviews

Stalked by a Mountain Lion: Fear, Fact, and the Uncertain Future of Cougars in America

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

BEWARE THIS BOOK! If you've read "Cat Attacks: True Stories and Hard Lessons from Cougar Country," be advised that "Stalked by a Mountain Lion..." is the exact SAME BOOK, only with a new title and some (very few) updates provided. That's not to say it isn't a good book - it is, and I enjoyed it when I bought it the first time as "Cat Attacks..." But I am really unhappy at being fooled by a new title into buying the book twice. For that little manuever (not the content) I give this edition one nasty star.

I bought this book after my own "close encounter" with a mountain lion while running on a remote trail to try to understand the animal a little better and to try to understand why my encounter turned out the way it did (the lion walked away) as opposed to other encounters where serious injury or death is the result. The answers are less than satisfying, since no two encounters seem to follow the same pattern--there really is no pattern. This book is extremely well-written and sometimes more graphic than I might have liked, but very informative. I'll never run alone again.

Wonderfully written book. I learned a great deal from this book that people and Parks don't tell you. For example, if someone is being attacked by a mountain lion (which by the way is not that common) and another person jumps the mountain lion to save the person being attacked the person rescuing the person attacked hardly ever gets hurt more than maybe a couple scratches. I found that kind of information very helpful. This book has great stories and truly inspiring entries. They are not all terrible but there are some stories that will rip your heart out.

This is a great book for understanding the personality, intelligence and determination of these cats. Having a cougar that is frequenting our neighborhood and knowing we have the largest population of them in our state less than a mile away, this book is a tremendous help. People need to respect the mountain lion, but if in lion country they better also understand its drives and keep an eye on their back. I have seen our lion and she has watched us as evidenced by tracks leading to a sitting spot outside our bedroom window. This is just a great book.

Deurbrouck has assembled several mountain lion attack stories. They all seem to have someone's head scalped and a lot of blood. After a few of the stories, I became desensitized to the violence of the stories. There are some brief moments, when the author assembles some deeper thoughts into mountain lion behavior and research; I was looking for more research and less individual case stories. I was left looking for the bigger picture.

This is a very thorough review of past incidents regarding Mountain Lions and contains some of the best up to date findings on the subject. It should be must reading for all naturalists interested in these large cats.

If you've ever caught the cold eyes of a cougar watching you, or had one purring loudly outside your tent, then reading Jo Deurbrouck's revised (2001) Cat Attacks, Stalked by a Mtn. Lion (2007) sheds some new light on the nature of these increasing encounters, as she seeks to answer the unknowable why of animal/human conflicts. She details the tragedies of historical cougar attacks and some truly amazing stories of survival. But most of all she educates us as to how to live with these unpredictable predators and what we can do to protect ourselves and our loved ones in cougar country. A must read!