Hunting cougars used to take place solely in the wilderness. The culturally mysterious creatures once lurked coyly and elusively, escaping capture and definition.
But nowadays, finding a cougar to mount -- or at least the tools to properly prey on one -- is no more difficult than a click of the mouse.
Just visit Urban Cougar, Date A Cougar and Go Cougar -- all dot-coms that instruct both hunters and hunted in the saucy and secretive lifestyle of older women and the young men who love and lust after them.
"The whole idea of cougars and cougar-hunting has become accepted in pop-culture," said Ron Cantiveros, the 32-year-old owner of Winnipeg-based CougarHunter.ca. "It's this phenomenon that people can't stop talking about."
'Rate a cougar'
Cantiveros, who daylights as a marketing and media consultant for a local publishing company, started the online resource with the help of a co-op student just over five years ago "just to have some fun with it" and provide information on the formerly risque topic.
The light-hearted site now boasts everything from tips for surviving a cougar attack -- including what to do when you wake up next to someone whose name you don't remember, how to sober up fast and how to prevent a hangover -- to stories of bawdy and bashful cougar affairs.
Visitors are invited to "rate a cougar" and can -- at least in jest -- learn how to hunt cougars, who the site says "ignore all older, softer and more veteran prey" in favour of "the young, strong and athletic."
While Cantiveros wouldn't confirm his cougar-hunter status, he said he "subscribes to (his) own website philosophy" and seems somewhat an expert on the game.
He said visitors to the site are mixed and come from IP addresses worldwide -- and orders for "cougar gear" come from both sexes looking to boldly display their feathers.
Cougar Hunter offers women products proclaiming their body as "a wonderland" and inviting exploration, and shirts that boast "taste me I'm a cougar."
Hunters can get goods emblazoned with equally coy slogans and titles, ranging from the uber-tame "cougar trap" and "cougar bait" to racy announcements like "I pump cougars" -- and everything in between.
"I don't know the breakdown of who visits, but it's everyone from university and college kids and women who've been recently divorced," Cantiveros said. "There are definitely women out there wearing the cougar title loudly and proudly and want to be part of the hunt."
