Oregon Cougar Action Team

Who are Oregon's cougar?

They are an apex predator necessary for the health of our ecosystems and a measure of wildlife health and sustainability.

They are misunderstood and shrouded in myths based on fear and ignorance.

Cougar young are called cubs and they have spots on their coats up to a year old.  Oregon has no plan to protect the lives of cubs from poachers, hunters, and hound dogs.

Cougars can be domesticated.  They are called Domesticated Cougar. If taken from the wild as cubs, cougar are one of the few wildlife that can be immediately domesticated. 

Cougar training....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO7Cg6IJoRY&feature=related

Cougar cubs are sadly all too often sold on the Wildlife Black Markets as pets or used as bait to train hound dogs to hunt cougar.  Or raised and released during State Legislature periods near schools to promote fear and the false impression of a cougar population explosion.

Cougars do not see as humans see.  Their eyes focus like fuzzy pixels.

Cougars see better at night than humans can see.

They rely on their ability to smell rather than to see.

Cougars open their mouths in order to enhance their ability to smell.  It looks scary when they do this because it shows all their impressive teeth!

Cougars chirp, purr, and scream, but do not growl!

Cougars are cowards and will leave you alone if you do not run or bend over but instead make yourself look large by holding your arms out with your coat extended on them, or blow a whistle. 

As quoted by Dr. Wielgus:  Young cougar dispersing from their mothers are not the cause of human conflict.  Young cougars who have been orphaned have conflict issues with livestock and humans.  The more cougar that are killed by humans, the more conflict issues arise.  Leaving the cougars alone creates less conflict.

Stop the Killing (WARNING, NOT FOR CHILDREN! Shows a hound hunter killing a cougar): 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_pjPg9jeww&list=UUn59ZjTtLsFSrs-h053ENrA&index=8

They do not drop down from trees on riders or horses.

Cougars raise their young for two years before becoming pregnant again.

Wolves will kill cougar.

Cougars also regulate their own numbers and male cougars will kill cubs.

Some years more cougars are poached than legally killed in Oregon.

Oregon Department Of Fish and Wildlife has no humane and sustainable plan for our cougars, and their existing plans are not only flawed but are all killing plans.

Jayne Miller on K2 News broadcast with investigative reporter Thom Jensen:

Oregon's plan is to kill our cougar - even the cubs!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=colv5FIZHrw

Cougars and their cubs are still managed by ODFW's flawed and inhumane plan.

1600 cougars have been killed by the Federal Wildlife Department.  They always kill the cubs.

These cubs were lucky, 1000's are not.

http://bigcatrescue.org/artemis/

These are links to free reference materials from Oregon Cougar Action Team's fellow cougar protection organization, Mountain Lion Foundation's library.  Click on the links and download or copy off!   

Good Neighbors Protect Cougars.

 http://www.mountainlion.org/Good_Neighbors_Excerpt.asp

The Effects Of Sports Hunting and Safety and Livestock.

http://www.mountainlion.org/sport_hunting.asp

Simple actions to protect cougars, pets and livestock.

http://www.mountainlion.org/4simplesteps.asp

Animal husbandry.

http://www.mountainlion.org/husbandry.asp

Predator Pen Protection Plans.

http://www.mountainlion.org/permanent_pen.asp

http://www.mountainlion.org/Light_Load_Pen.asp

http://www.mountainlion.org/secure_livestock_enclosures.asp

Keeping Cougars and you out of trouble!

http://www.mountainlion.org/Keeping_Cougars_and_You_Out_of_Trouble.asp

When balance is not enough.

http://www.mountainlion.org/When_Balance_is_Not_Enough.asp

Defenders of Wildlife offer a free 26 page book you can paste the link and download.  This link talks about living with wolves, but the same practices and concepts apply to cougars - of which we have more of!  "Livestock and Wolves:  A Guide to NonLethal Tools and Methods to Reduce Conflicts."

http://www.defenders.org/publications/livestock_and_wolves.pdf

Here are links to Domesticated Cougars:

BigCatRescue cougar data very good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feavfdrhBwc
Proof cougars can be domesticated and released into the public.

We know you love your cats, but Oregon Cougar Action Team does not support cougars for pets.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1tih6dsjCg&feature=related

...because when cougars start to claw your furniture they end up living in boxed in areas in sheds or garages.  This is no life for any large cat.  Often the the cougars teeth are pulled as well as their claws.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5i4hRQogj8&NR=1

What We Do. 

Oregon Cougar Action Team is dedicated to the preservation of Oregon's cougar and wolves and the ecosystems they sustain.  We promote education in our communities. Honest and humane sound science behind Oregon's Cougar Management plans and

policy making.  We are also strong supporters of M18 and future cougar and wolf protection policies.

What you can do!

Donate today and help protect Oregon's cougar!  They are YOUR cats who live in YOUR wilderness!  Take charge and save their lives!

No minimum gift is required to become a member of Oregon Cougar Action Team. Just make the donation you can afford using any of the following methods.

1.  Mail your check to:  Oregon Cougar Action Team, PO Box 2682, Corvallis, OR  97339

2.  Or soon you can sign up online with Paypal to make recurring monthly gifts with your credit card or bank account. Just choose your own monthly gift amount and get started helping save Oregon's cougar!

What your donation will do:

Your donation will support classroom and public presentations on cougar biology and how to safely co-exist with them.

Your donations cover the operating costs, educational linking and research that is reflected on this website.   Included are the website expenses and all the safety literature and links that can be downloaded and used by schools and the public - all for free - 24/7 seven days a week.  We look for the facts and make sure you can have this information!

Our board members and director are all volunteers.  Your donations cover the costs for our Director to attend State Legislature hearings where she is able to promote humane bills, help defeat hound hunting cougar killing bills, and be the voice for Oregon's cougar.  We are 100% cougars and all our attention is directed to their concerns.

Oregon's cougar are your cougar and they need your help!  Please donate today!

Oregon Cougar members and staff are humbled....

Weary after the long battle educating the Legislatures about our cougars and why we must not kill them for sport or with hounds; I was overcome with joy and humbled to receive a grant for Oregon Cougar Action Team from the Zuniga Forbes Family Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation. On the behalf of Oregon Cougar Action Team and all our members, I thank the Zuniga Forbes Family Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation from the very bottom of my heart to the Heavens above. Oregon Cougar Action Team will use this grant to further promote a safe wilderness for Oregonians, their children and our wildlife by protecting our cougar and working to insure ODFW has a better plan to manage our cougar. A plan that is safe, humane, honest and based on sound science! Thank you and forward we go!

http://www.oregoncf.org/