Tell us about your mountain lion encounters

In My Humble Opinion
1

I hike a lot in mountain lion country. I have only seen them once. There were three, probably a mother and her year-old cubs. I saw them walking away from me as I rounded a turn on a dirt road in the mountains. They were about 200 meters away and didn’t see me.

Now I know that cats have probably seen me when I haven’t seen them. I see their tracks along with deer tracks all the time. They prey on deer.

I carry bear spray, which is a high-powered pepper spray originally designed to fend off attacks from bears, but has been used on lions as well.

Mostly, we’re told that they don’t bother people, but it only takes one to think that you are lunch. There’s no shortage of advice on the web on how to deal with mountain lions.

So tell us about your encounters. What would you do if one was blocking the only trail back to your car or camp?

2

I can only tell you what happened to me.

When I was about eight months old.

My parents went hiking/camping in Big Ben National Park (I think that was the park…it’s pretty well-known), and Little Audrey was on her mother’s back in one of those baby-back-pack things, and they were just about to crest the top of the “mountain.” Of course “mountains” in most of Texas are really just large hills, but we call them mountains because we don’t have a frame of reference. :smiley:

All of a sudden my father said, “OH MY GOD, LOOK!”

And less than fifteen feet away was a very large mountain lion, obviously as surprised to see us as we were to see it.

My mother, fearing for me and for life in general, immediately started barreling down the side of the mountain, while my father lingered to watch the big gorgeous cat. This is where he said his famous oft-quoted “No, no, I want to hear it growl!” (My mother has yet to let him live this down, lo these 27 years later.)

The cat, after freezing for several seconds, ran away just as eagerly as my mother.

There are people in that park who’ve lived there for twenty years and never seen a mountain lion; they are notoriously shy and clever animals.

FTR, at least in my parents’ experience, the cat was just as frightened by her encounter as we were, and fled just as swiftly.

From what I’ve heard, unless they are either very very hungry/desperate, or extremely scared/defensive (if she had cubs and she felt threatened) the big cats are no more eager than you are to hang around and see what happens.

3

Isn’t that in England?
My own experinece was in Montana, where on a short hike north of Yellowstone Park I saw a mountain lion at a distance of about 200 yards. The lion looked at me for perhaps 10 seconds, then ambled on its way.

4

Well, no moutain lion experience, but I was attacked by a (possibly grizzley) bear. After that experince, I’m looknig forward to a cuddly wittle kitty-cat. :stuck_out_tongue:

5

Actually, you’re father’s instinct was better than your mothers. Turning tail and running can possibly stimulate the predator’s instinct to attack, and in any case, you aren’t going to outrun a mountain lion.

I see sign of them in the San Gabriels on occasion, but I’ve never seen one. The only time I’ve ever seen a mountain lion was in the Grand Tetons, as it was moving uphill and away from me at high speeds. While attacks by mountain lions have become more frequent in the past few years (owing both to increasing populations and human encroachment on their already restricted territories) the odds of being attacked are quite small, especially compared to being attacked by domestic dogs or a car accident on the way to the trailhead. On the other hand, if a hungry cat decided that you’re dinner, there isn’t much you’re going to do about it; they prefer to attack from above and behind. There’s not much chance you’ll have time to draw a gun or grab some pepper spray.

Stranger

6

I saw one from a hiking trail two weeks ago. They had signs, and every year we hear of sightings, but still I figured the cats would stay hidden. Nope, just sitting there staring at me like a squirrel would do. I was kind of rushed by the experience until I passed a rattlesnake on the path back. That seemed a lot more deadly to me, and I doubt I’ll use that trail again.

7

You saw a rattler and a cougar in the same day. Count yourself lucky as most don’t see either one in a lifetime.

Myself - I’ve told this story before. But here is the abbreviated edition. I was Hiking

8

They say brevity is the soul of wit, but this may be a trifle too witty.

9

Aw, come on. Elaborate a little. :smiley:

10

Damn Hampsters!

Anyway I was Hiking Usury pass in Mesa, I was there to get sunset shots of Phoenix skyline. Anyway the sun went down and I started the 1 mile walk back to my car when I heard this terrible scream! I thought it was a woman screaming for something but there was something oddly animal about the sound. Upon rounding a corner, I saw a large female mountain lion walking across the trail and downn into the ravine. She saw me, and screamed another scream. She wasn’t more than 50 feet infront of me. Close enough to warrent a charge had she felt like it. I immediately grabbed my side arm and cocked it. She didn’t like that sound as she quickened her trott into the ravine.
Now the only thing I was worried about was that I knew I had to enter the ravine to get back to my car. And that worried me as the ravine was very dark - sufficed to say I made it back with no more sightings. However the surly park ranger was non-too impressed by having to wait for me to come back… and even then when I told him my story he scoffed it off :mad:

11

Oh sorry about that folks. I was typing, answering a phone, and drawing a few doodles as I typed the end response! - The whole story is a lot better with a cold drink and a barn fire. :slight_smile:

12

I have two: both in California.

  1. Didn’t see the cat, but I did see the paw prints. The fresh paw prints. I was biking, and paused at an intersection to decide which way to go. I just happened to look down, next to the road, at a patch of dirt that was all sticky and muddy from a recent rain and saw about three big paw prints. The prints were fairly clear: no leaves had fallen down on them, and they hadn’t been marred by any other bikers (or cars cutting the corner). To judge by the placement, said cat was just meandering along. It probably was in the area to catch some of the wild turkeys, as I had seen a mother with her chicks bee-bopping behind her maybe a week eariler.

  2. This time I saw the cat, and oh boy was it pissed. You know the look cats get when they’re contemplating just how best to respond to the indignity a human has visted upon it? Well, it had gotten clipped by someone in an older SUV-like vehicle, and the driver and the animal control officer were using a blanket to put the (I hope drugged!) kitty into a cage for transport. I’m not sure if the kitty was so po’d because they had gotten clipped, or po’d because it wasn’t in any shape to teach those silly humans a lesson.

Now if I were somewhere and my path pack was blocked, it’d depend on the situation. Are there signs of aggression and/or illness? Is the area well traveled by humans? Etc., etc. Overall, so long as I wasn’t being treated like a snack on two feet, I’d let the large kitty in question call the shots. :slight_smile:

<< All you need is WD40 to make things go, and duct tape to make them stop. >>

13

Barring firearm laws, a short-barreled .44 magnum revolver.

If weapons are an issue, try keeping a compressed air horn. Cats don’t like loud noises of that scale.

I always wondered if a stungun would work on a big cat; that or keep some cayenne pepper spray. Shoot kitty in the face with if kitty gets too close.

14

[QUOTE=cerberus
I always wondered if a stungun would work on a big cat; that or keep some cayenne pepper spray. Shoot kitty in the face with if kitty gets too close.[/QUOTE]

At first, I thought you said shotgun, and I’m thinking,
“Of course a shotgun will work on a mountain line!” :stuck_out_tongue:

15

I saw one crossing a road just outside of Estes Park, CO. I was in my car so it wasn’t up close and personal.

I hike and camp in some pretty remote places (not as much as I used to), and have seen bear, moose, elk, etc. up close but that is still the only lion I have ever seen.

16

I’ve never seen one in the wild and am quite jealous of those here who’ve had. This year we were camping in the Tetons in Wyoming around Photography point. Getting up early one one morning I decided to go to the waters edge and make some coffee. Once there I saw these cat prints all over the place. Little strips of mud prints all over the rocks by the waters edge. Definitely freaked me out.

17

First of all, from all I read and hear, none of the sprays are really effective on mountain lions or bear.

Second, the standard advice when meeting one, as somebody pointed out, is do NOT run! . Stand still, raise your ams, or spread out your shirt or anything else to make yourself look larger. Yell as loud as you can and make any other noise possible, such as banging pots and pans. If it seems to be approaching, throw rocks, sticks or anything you have at it.
If it starts gnawing on your head, pray.

Seriously, I’ve hiked hundreds of miles through the AZ desert and in the Calif High Sierra, and have net to see one, worse luck. Seen plenty of footprints and scat, so know they’ve seen me. Ironically, my wife who never hikes except around our streets, was looking out the kitchen window while washing dishes a couple of years ago, and there was a lion gazing in at her.

Probably thinking, “Wow, what a big human den.” She yelled for me to come and see it, and that startled it enough to make it flee before I got to see it.

We also see lots of bobcats which enjoy walking by our house and peering in the windows too, as well as coyotes, fox, roadrunners, and once even a ringtail. And hiking, I must has seen or heard many dozens of rattlers. I don’t pet them.

Still hope to see a mountain lion sometime.