When it comes to women and sex, do the hormones that raged in the teens kick in again at the half-century mark? Nancy, a real-life cougar, would like to explain.

She says: "Being with younger guys feeds the ego. It feeds the empty spots, even if it's just temporary, like all addictive drugs. It's about hunger and hunting. I think the term cougar is apt, because — objectively — it's predatory.

"Being with younger guys is a high. There's the high of the chase, then the high of getting what you went after. The prey doesn't have to be particularly hard to get. (It becomes stalking if it goes into that zone.) But if he's too easy, it's boring, or he's looking for a mom to make all his life decisions for him.

"I like to think of 50, not as the new 16, but as 16 redux. It's just as intensely hormonally as being 16, but with a different set of skills. You feel like it's 'fire all of your guns at once and explode into space' time. I liked being 16, but I think I would have liked it even better if I'd had a 50-year-old brain to go with it.

"I'm almost 60 now. I don't go out and actively pursue anybody. So, even though I'm involved with a much younger man, I don't consider myself to be a cougar. I'm a retired cougar. I look but don't touch. Eye candy is for the eyes. It's a much gentler high: no crushes, no pursuits, just art appreciation, with a twinge of nostalgia that at 60 I'm becoming invisible as women do in this culture.

"At 50, I was still being hit on. It's not happening now. That's okay. I was rarely pleased with the men who hit on me — mostly married guys who thought their wives were boring. I found that so disrespectful I'd tell them to take a hike.

"My long-term involvement is long-distance, and that's okay with me. It may be rougher to be on my own when I get older, but I'll work through that when it happens. After having been married and having lived with a guy, I find I hate living alone less than I hate living with someone. I'm grateful that I don't have to answer to anybody else and can just pick up and go somewhere without justifying it to anyone but myself.

"60 is 24 redux for me, without the biological time clock or my parents telling me to reproduce. I'm not putting that kind of pressure on my daughter. I'm glad I had her; otherwise I'd feel nothing but regret that I married her father.

"The man I'm involved with long-term is 13 years younger than me. Being involved with younger guys has run in my family for several generations and across several branches. I recently found out that my mother was not two years older than my dad, but six.

"Hormones happen. 50 is the replay of 16, but with better hunting chops."

Are you a cougar? Are you attracted to cougars? Send your tale, along with your questions and problems to cheryllavinrapp@gmail.com. And check out my e-books, "Dear Cheryl: Advice from Tales from the Front" and "I'll Call You. Not."