HOT or NOT?

[Tinbucket]

Cats attack from the rear, or attack and then behind and on top. They bit the back of the head and neck or bring you down as they can before administering the coup de gras.
Ten years ago we had a cat with cub above the house, here.
TWRA said she was a female between 150 -175 lbs, based on the tracks.
Cats as many other animals are stronger than humans especially , sedentary individuals, which most of are these days.
Male cats can be larger but I have no idea of thee limits.
I think I understand about 140 lbs is a good average weight.
When a cat looks at you the stare will scare most people. He can tell if your are prey or challenger. You have to have a lot of testosterone of large size and aggressive personality not to be scared.
I wouldn't want to tackle a cat with a pocket knife or bowie.
If I see him I want him a hundred yards away and for him to not see me or smell me, which is unlikely.
I want an auto shotgun loaded with buck.
I have wrestled with a buck deer and never want to again.
Puss puss will kill us if he thinks he can. Food for now or later, unless he is full and then he may try just for the hell of it.

[jetinteriorguy]

About twenty years ago I had a run in with a cougar and it scared the living crap out of me. I was visiting a customer about doing some work for their construction company, when I pulled in the yard there was a cougar with a collar on tied to a heavy stake with a good stout chain in the yard. I asked my customer what gives with the mountain lion, she said it belonged to her son. He worked as a big game guide in Wyoming and rescued the lion cub when the mother was killed. His name was Hubcap because his big round eyes reminded them of baby moon hubcaps. Supposedly the cat was friendly and I was told I could pet it, it was just about a year old. So after concluding business I figured I'd check it out when I was leaving. As I approached the cat got down on its haunches and its ears went back as if it was getting ready to leap. I could clearly see where it reached the end of its chain by how the grass was worn, and as I approached this border I stopped because all the cats body language told me this wasn't going to go as described, and sure as heck it leaped at me with claws out and a mouth full of teeth wide open. Geez, I did a tumble backward so quick I had no idea my reflexes were that good. Lucky for me the collar and chain held, I just got up off the ground and got the heck out of there. So if this is how a supposedly tame friendly mountain lion can react, I would hate to encounter a wild one with the same intentions.

[Ricklin]

A fair amount of years ago I was invited to an after cocktail party at a computer convention I attended.
A guest brought his "tame" full grown Cougar, I'm sure the company paid him to be there for the "entertainment"

The animal's handler was fairly hinky, I chose not to stay around. Just was not comfortable with Kitty at a cocktail party.

Kitty did not strike me as being tame. Drugged? Perhaps.

[ShootistPRS]

That is what the lack of fear for humans will get you. Cats in the wild will run from dogs and people. That cat responded just like a dog that is leashed to a post and has been teased. You approached slowly and carefully to a point he had to try to get to you. It might have gone differently if you had approached him in a more casual way like you were going to play. It could just as easily gone the way it did. This is a wild animal - even if it is treated as a pet, it is a wild animal with all the instincts and reactions of one in the wild. House cats are only a young domesticated animal and they still resort to their instincts. Dogs have been domesticated for over 30,000 years. Cats have been domesticated for somewhere between 4,000 and 10,000 years. Your cougar friend will never be a domesticated animal. Without a fear of man he wouldn't last long in the wild either. He will eventually end up in a zoo.

[44 AMP]

I realize I'm contributing to thread drift, but I have to comment on this statement..

Well, since the cat was unable to cause any serious damage is evidence that they are not a big threat. That the cat was killed with a pocket knife is another example of how much of a threat they are.

The conclusion here is incorrect. The correct conclusion would be "how much of a threat that cat was".

That individual cat. Cats (and all animals, really) can be just as individual as humans.

One African fellow I knew put it this way, "there is a saying in my village, you meet a lion in the bush, you yell, and he runs away. Tomorrow, you meet his brother in the same spot, and we wonder why you do not come home that night..."

Maybe the cyclist just ran into a dumb, but aggressive cat. Maybe the next time he'll meet a smarter cat and things will be different.

Getting a little back to topic, the 125gr JHP will handle any cat you'll meet in the Pacific NW, IF you do your part.

Bears are not armored, either, BUT the vitals of Mr Bear are inside a shaggy loose fitting bear suit, and not quite where people who haven't studied the bear think they are. Also the skull is a tough target, even rifle rounds have been known to glance off, due to the angles of impact. The round might punch through properly or it might not, if the stars line up just the right way. For bear, I would not choose a 125gr jhp, but would use it if no better choice was available.

The best "weapon" is your brain, using your eyes, ears, (nose sometimes) and feet. Walk, don't run is more than a song title. IF you run from a predator, that's what prey does, and they will chase. They may chase anyway, but running is a virtual guarantee...

Oh, and here's something no one else has mentioned, RABIES.

If its a mammal, it could carry rabies. If you are bitten, you WILL get the full rabies shots, unless you can deliver the intact brain of the animal that bit you, to ensure it was not carrying rabies. Untreated, rabies is 100% fatal. And I understand that if you develop symptoms, its too late, the shots won't help. So you get the (reportedly very painful) series of shots unless you can conclusively prove you don't need them.