Would a cougar growl if horses got too close to it? At camp last weekend when we were night riding we heard a deep growl which made my hair stand up. It was close to the horse trail on the right side. The horses did look to their right (night lights were on) but didn't spook. There was a creek along the left side of the wooded trail and on the right side was an incline bankment of sorts which was wooded and had low brush......Trying to figure out if it indeed was a cougar. I do know there have been quite a few sightings in MI. but the DNR denies it. I like night riding but that kind of made me a little hesitant of going again.  

I would think if the horses could smell it they would react,  what way the  wind was blowing?  I am from the UP of Michigan, this spring in the Local News Paper they ran an article that the DNR agreed Cougar's Confirmed in the UP over by Manistee area.  So many people have pictures of them on their night time web cams they set up to see what size bucks are eating at their bait piles at night.  I saw a young cougar kitten - July of 1991  I thought it was a bobcat until it got up and the tail was twice as long as it's cute little body.  I was only 25 yards from it  middle of the day.   

Most cougars want nothing to do with people.  There are lots of cougars in Utah, I see their kills fequently, But I rarely see a cat unless we are chasing it with dogs. And we frequently use the horses to keep up with the dogs, They don't see too worried about the prey we are chasing. So I'm not sure that the smell alone would trigger a spook in the horses. But then my horses have seen and packed a lot of crazy stuff. So maybe they are not a good example of normal horse reactions.

I hiked trails during hunting season in fresh snow. Only to return 30 minutes later and find cougar tracks on top of my tracks in the snow. So I know they have followed me out of curiosity to see what I was. But they very rearely show themselves.

I'm trying to think of what else it would be...

   interesting thoughts regarding whether or not a horse reacts to the smell of wildlife (like big cats, bears, etc.)  i would have thought there would definitely be a reaction to the bears if there was visual contact made, and/or the horses could smell the bears or big cat.

years ago, i was trail riding (by myself...wouldn't do that today) in texas hill country when my horse absolutely refused to go forward.  i tried everything but had to give up and go all the way back around to get to the barn.  was later told there had been sightings of a cougar in the area where my horse decided to stop.

so my suggestion is that if your horse DOES have an unusual reaction on the trail, even if you can't see or smell anything, listen to your horse's instincts.  (while it is doubtful a big cat would ever attack a horse and rider, why take the chance of your horse spooking, you falling off and getting injured?)  hopefully we haven't bred the common sense out of our horses so they don't even recognize their natural enemies anymore?

Add Wisconsin to the list of cougar sightings and incidents.  The Madison channel had a news story about an older arthritic horse that was attacked twice in one month by a cougar near Wonewoc.  It was confirmed as a cougar attack.  A cougar was also seen twice very near the Town of Palmyra just prior to the Memorial Day weekend..... close to the edge of the Southern Kettle Moraine State Forest.  It probably moved on as I have not heard of recent sightings.  Years ago when camping at Palmyra Horserider's Campground...we would hear Bobcats scream at night. Now its pretty much just the coyote's howling.  It depends on who you talk to in the DNR...they don't like to admitt we have them here either.

Haven't been to Bandera in years but we used to see them there and our horses never acted up.  I would hazzard a guess that the horses in the cougar areas (who have never been attacked) are used to the smell and aren't afraid because nothing has ever happened to connect the sent to trigger a danger response. 

Never assume they won't attack a rider/horse.  If they have lost their fear of humans they can and will if hungry enough.  There was a family (4or5 people) hiking up around Albuquerque awhile back and a cougar attacked and grabbed one of the kids by the head and tried to drag him off.  The family managed to keep hold till the cat gave up but the boy had deep puncture wounds in his head.  There have also been a couple of hikers killed by big cats.  Right now they are having problems with bear attacks.