“... finding a large mountain lion calmly standing under your bear bag, just staring at you”
That story scared the heck out of me. At that point, I would have just wondered if the tinkle draining down my leg would act as a repellent.
*laughing*
I don't know about that. However, we hung the oops bag as a crew and all nine Scouts saw the mountain lion - the couple of guys in the back only saw it silently slink into the tall grass, but that was enough for them. The rest of us got a fairly lengthy look at the lion from about fifteen yards away, in the light of our headlamps or flashlights, and it didn't seem bothered by us in the least.
Seems the Mountain Park camp at Philmont has a large field where mule deer like to graze . . . and where there are mule deer in a place with as large a mountain lion population as Philmont, the large field was a buffet and our chosen campsite was between tall, rocky outcroppings and the field.
We instructed the Scouts that if they had to go to the bathroom during the night that they needed to wake up their tent mate. The two should talk and sing for a few minutes, then get out of their nylon tent and roust one of the two Scout leaders. We'd all talk and make noise and find a place where the Scout would have some privacy to attend to his toilet.
It was an interesting night.
For some reason, nobody - no Scout, no leader - found a need to leave his tent that night.