A while ago, a pair of pit bull dogs came into our son’s farmyard and started to attack chickens. It was after most of the garden harvest was completed, so some of the laying hens were allowed to roam freely outside of the coop. After killing some of those birds, the dogs got into the coop. I was at the farm at the time, and when I heard the ruckus, I went to the coop and found the dogs inside. They had broken the fence that separated the two sides of the coop, and one dog was in a chamber that was closed, trapping the chickens. I yelled at the dogs, but they did not respond. I looked around for a weapon and grabbed a spade from the toolshed. By that time, the dogs had left the coop and were chasing the chickens around the yard, and our son had come outside to see what was going on. I chased one of the dogs, and it turned on me. I was able to fend it off with the shovel, but the second dog came around and attacked from a different side. I retreated into the porch of the house.
Meanwhile, our son was forced into the garage, but did end up with one bite. By the time the dogs left the yard, they had killed 14 chickens. They headed toward the neighbors. Phone calls were quickly made as the dogs found no animals outside at the first place they went after leaving our son’s farm. Animal control officers caught up with them at the second place and were able to capture them before they got to other neighborhood chickens and just before a neighbor with a shotgun dispatched them. We later found out that the dogs had been returned to the owners just the day before, after having been confined by animal control in response to another attack. This time, partly because they had bitten our son and partly because the owners had repeatedly failed to be responsible with their dogs, they were euthanized by animal control. Later, the landlord of the dog owners began remodeling the property, and they were forced to find alternative housing.

That is as close as I have ever come to being part of an animal attack. After it was over, I tried to reassess my strategy, which hadn’t been effective. I wondered if it would have been better to choose a sharp weapon. A pitchfork could have caused puncture wounds, but I’m not sure that an injured pit bull is preferable to one that is not injured. I don’t own a gun and don't have enough training and experience to fire accurately at a rapidly moving creature. At the time, I had no intention of dispatching the dogs. I simply wanted them to stop killing chickens and leave the yard. Because our son has young children, I wanted a strategy that would keep them away from the children. Fortunately, the children remained in the house during the entire attack.

I grew up in a place where bear sightings were common. We spoke of how to respond to a bear attack. I knew stories of people who had responded to black bears by making a lot of noise and holding up their jackets so they appeared larger than they were. I had been told stories of one who successfully survived a grizzly attack by playing dead. I wondered if I had what it took for either form of attack. However, I never found myself alone and face-to-face with a bear. On the occasions when I sighted bears in the wild, I was able to maintain a safe distance away from the animals.

Cougars were rare in our part of the state. There were cougar sightings in the northwest corner of Montana, and my uncle had killed one while hunting. I had seen one briefly from a car when we were driving near his home. The folklore surrounding cougars differed from that of bears. Generally, most advice about animals is to avoid running. I knew that bears run uphill faster than they run downhill and that black bears are adept at climbing trees. With cougars, the advice is a bit stronger. NEVER run if you see a cougar. They are adapted to chase creatures that run, and they will enter attack mode. Cougars can outrun any human and have been known to run fast enough to attack a person riding a bicycle. The second piece of advice with a cougar is always to fight back and never play dead. Cougars feed on dead meat. I had been bitten and scratched enough by domestic house cats to be pretty sure that I would not be able to fight off a cougar. The combination of sharp teeth and sharp claws is effective.

Over the weekend, however, near the center of British Columbia, a man was working near Lake Kathlyn when a cougar took a swipe at him. He punched the cougar in the face multiple times, and the big cat disengaged. The man escaped with only minor scratches and did not need hospitalization. Reports of cougars attacking people are rare, even in places where the cats are more common. Most of the calls about cougars received by British Columbia conservation officers are simply reports of their presence in a particular location. In the case of the cat that the man punched, it has yet to be located. A live trap was set, and officers watched the area, but so far, the cat has not been found.

I live in a protected residential neighborhood. Although I enjoy camping and visiting more remote locations, it is unlikely that I will ever encounter a large animal intent on attacking me. Most bear attacks are the result of invading bear territory. Black bears rarely attack. Generally, an attack is an attempt to defend cubs. Grizzlies seem to be the most dangerous just after they have emerged from hibernation and are hungry. Bears and cougars generally do not attack humans in groups. Still, I wonder. I’m not a boxer. I’m not sure I could punch hard enough to deter an attack. Fortunately, the man who found himself face to face with a cougar in BC last weekend was strong enough and knew the right way to respond.