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towshab
Jun 30, 2004, 8:38 PM
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Out here in SoCal, mountain lion attacks are all over the news. Most of the attacks I have heard of lately are involving hikers and bikers. I was wandering if anyone has had an encounter with a mountain lion while approaching a climbing area, while belaying etc...
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iclimbtoo
Jun 30, 2004, 8:55 PM
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yeah...while hiking...just threw my pack up on my back to make myself look bigger and unintimidated and scared it off. If they ever confront you though, you're supposed to fight back. I've only heard of them stalking smaller people though (like women and children), and even then rarely. I ran into one purely by accident. otherwise I don't think it would have been in front of me... :shock:
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gds
Jun 30, 2004, 9:15 PM
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Sadly these encounters are more common. Here in Tucson there have been several ML sightings and the result has been some state sponsored hunting. The result has been at least one dead and one captured ML in the past few weeks.
While it isn't a happy thought when a hiker (or anyone else) gets attacked it seems like the ML's have a lot more to fear from us than we do from them.
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trenchdigger
Jun 30, 2004, 9:15 PM
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If they're stalking you and going to attack, you probably won't even realize their presence until they're in the process of taking you down. Happening across cougars by accident will likely scare them as much (if not more) than you. They tend to attack runners and bikers because of their likeness to more common cougar food (deer) and because of their hunting insticts. Run from a predator and they'll instinctually chase. Because of that, your odds of getting munched while you're belaying are even slimmer than the miniscule odds that you'll be attacked while hikin or biking.
And don't watch so much TV... :roll:
~Adam~
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macherry
Jun 30, 2004, 11:46 PM
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my only encounter was walking my dog (then puppy) on a street in my neighbourhood, about 7:am in the morning. Scared the piss out of me, but the dog noticed nothing. The cat watched me, but did nothing and i backed away slowly, heart in hand! Lost lots of neighbourhood cats that summer. beautiful beasts those cougars.
There's a good population of the cats where i live, i run across kill all the time on the local trails.
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gds
Jun 30, 2004, 11:46 PM
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In reply to: The cat watched me, but did nothing |
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chanceboarder
Jul 1, 2004, 12:00 AM
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i came across one on the approch to williamson about a month ago. it was getting a drink of water and i almost didn't see it. probably 100' away and it just looked at me while i hiked by. it was a small one and i must have looked pretty big to it with a full pack on. it just took off running up the hill and didn't look back. i'm just glad its mom wasn't around to tear me a new one.
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padge
Jul 1, 2004, 12:00 AM
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A couple of weeks ago I saw two mountain lions at Bollards Bar Reservoir. They were pretty stealthy, I happend to be looking in the right direction and they just floated by. They looked pretty skinny though, kinda scary.
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macherry
Jul 1, 2004, 12:06 AM
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In reply to: In reply to: The cat watched me, but did nothing And that is the normal cat behaviour.
so true> i've come across fresh kill (almost steaming half of a doe), the dog could sense the cougar and i knew it was probably watching us, but nothing happened. These animals need to be threatened, injured or starving to attack..............i guess that doesn't help all the domestic kitties being eaten! :?
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itakealot
Jul 1, 2004, 12:08 AM
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One attack was in Socal in the OC and the other was in Central Cal in Kernville. There have only been 15 mountain lion attacks in california since 1980 with only a few being fatal. Both attacks happened in areas of encroachment by development or natural disaster. In healthy wilderness areas there is no reason for a cougar to change its eating habits.
Healthy Cougars, Panthers, or Mountain Lions usually do not attack people, for instance, the attack last week was by an "emaciated" animal. We have a better chance of getting killed by a punk popping a cap than a cougar.
I have come across a cougar in Topanga Canyon and it ran away, and once two of us came across a cougar hiding a deer carcass in Malibu creek by the fire road, and the animal hissed and growled but then we jumped up and down yelling, then it ran away.
The trick is not to look or act like prey. For instance, the runner that was killed awhile ago in Northern Cal was jogging with a white water bottle behind her back, which made her look like a mule deer.
I wouldn't worry about becoming cougar food, but in case you are attacked, if the cougar has the back of your neck, your are finished, but if not, stick your arm down it's throat and you can sufficate it, and the worst case scenario would be a bionic arm, rather than being dead.
If anyone is curious, I learned all of this on the Discovery Channel-entertain your brain!
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therelic
Jul 1, 2004, 1:50 AM
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During the winter I have a 12 mile out and back in the local mountains that I hike 3-4 times/week. The route is usually covered with snow from mid-November to late April. When the snow is soft and deep enough to require snow shoes the only tracks I see from big game are generally elk and sometimes deer. However, when the snow is easier to travel through I see fresh cougar tracks almost every time I am out.
Often I see more cougar tracks on my return trip than I see when I am on the outward leg of my hike. It is not uncommon for the cougar tracks to follow mine for 1-5 miles. The largest cougar that followed me this past winter had tracks that were 4.33" diameter. This particular cougar seems to have a heavy body by the depth of his tracks and is not collared. I know the biologist who is in charge of the regional cougar survey and he tells me this is not one of his cougars. One time when I was on a ridge and watching my back trail I saw this animal and he is indeed quite impressive looking. His color reminded me of a Golden Retriever only he was quite a bit larger. This past winter I was followed four times by this cat.
As I pass through these critters territory and they use me for their morning entertainment there is one fact that sometimes causes me concern. The local cougar population is dying at age 3-5 yrs. This is because an intestinal parasite is causing them to hemorrhage internally. It could be a cougar as large as this one might be weakened by this parasite and see me as easy pickings.
The result is I always do my best to hike where an ambush would be difficult, I really do try to be aware of what is around me, I am always looking for critter tracks and I carry a 44 mag revolver. I of course would only use the gun as a last resort as I do really enjoy knowing the cougars are in the country where I hike and I am always hopeful I will get to see one.
Bill
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towshab
Jul 1, 2004, 3:03 AM
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Hey Adam,
It's not the TV that got to me. It was the presence of a ML victom in a hopsital that I work at, but thanks for the advice.
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towshab
Jul 1, 2004, 3:11 AM
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Hey everyone!
Thanks for all of the stories and helpful facts. I am small, but I will remember to try to be as intimidating as heck if I ever do venture across this beautiful creature.
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roughster
Jul 12, 2004, 3:35 AM
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About a month ago, I was hiking alone out to a fairly remote crag. I heard a rustling of leaves and a few snap crackle pops of small twigs and then nothing but dead silence. The hair on my head and back of my neck stood straight up, it was scary!
It was most likely either a bear or ML would be my guess. I jumped up and shouted a few times, and banged the bushes by the trail with my stick clip a few times before hiking on.
I am originally from Eastern Washington and have had heard a few hunting stories about being stalked by MLs. They are beautiful creatures for sure, but they are also extremely dangerous.
Be careful out there!
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davidji
Jul 12, 2004, 3:51 AM
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In reply to: They tend to attack runners and bikers because of their likeness to more common cougar food (deer) and because of their hunting insticts. Run from a predator and they'll instinctually chase.
Which is why I'm more concerned about lions when I'm biking. Or with kids.
In reply to: And don't watch so much TV... :roll:
OK, how many people here have been up close and personal with a mt. lion? I'd guess a few of us. How many have been bitten? Anyone else besides me? It wasn't a very big deal, and it wasn't from an encounter in the wild, but it wasn't a whole lotta fun either. And I think it's given me a good reason to not look forward to meeting 'em ("once bitten...").
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davidji
Jul 12, 2004, 3:58 AM
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f_thomas
Jul 12, 2004, 4:31 AM
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Mount San Jacinto - S. Ca
Went up on my own for a night and threw down the bivy bag and laid a cotton T shirt on a rock 4 ft from my head. My food bag was hanging from a rock flake about six feet off the ground close to the shirt.
Got up the next morning and the right shoulder and arm were shredded. A friend of mine, a naturalist for the State Park, believes it was a mountain lion due to the size and layout of the tears in the fabric. BIG CLAWED DUDE!
Guess I need to change deodorant and move that food bag a bit further away next time.
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f_thomas
Jul 12, 2004, 4:38 AM
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There have also been Jaguars spotted in Arizona and S. Ca. that are moving in from Central America and Mexico. A range they inhabited over 100 years ago. Food must be missing S. of the Border or they are over populating their existing turf.
BTW, there was one fatal mountain lion attack close to my home in Orange County and another attempt on a woman mountain biker in the same area and same day.
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itakealot
Jul 12, 2004, 4:47 AM
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In reply to: Mount San Jacinto - S. Ca Got up the next morning and the right shoulder and arm were shredded. A friend of mine, a naturalist for the State Park, believes it was a mountain lion due to the size and layout of the tears in the fabric. BIG CLAWED DUDE!
Probably a black bear dude. Cougars like flesh wand would of eaten you, whereas the omniverous black bear eats junk food.
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chuckd278
Jul 12, 2004, 5:15 AM
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I have been stalked twice by mountain lions. Both times have been during the winter. The first time I was in Northern New Mexico and I came up on it. It was in a tree about 30ft away. It hissed and watched me as I walked passed. On my way back I saw where it had followed me for about a mile. This last winter I was cross country skiing and stopped to get a drink of water. I looked behind me and there was a mountain lion about 200ft behind me. I carry a 45 when in the forest so I fired a shot to scare it away and it did. That was a scary feeling to see something stalking you.
Chuck
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