Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
| Messages 1 - 106 of total 106 in this topic |
Greg Barnes
climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 16, 2009 - 05:22am PT
|
And nearly four hours later I'm more jittery than right after almost getting creamed by rockfall.
No more solo night mountain biking at Henry Coe state park.
And what is up with the "mountain lions are reclusive and always avoid humans" thing? Two of the lions were about 80-100 yards ahead under a big tree (open, grassy ridge-top), and the other was only 20-30 yds ahead. That one jumped up and ran off as soon as I came over the rise, and it kept running, but the others just watched. I turned my night lights to super-ridiculously-bright mode, I could see them clearly, and I even took some flash photos to "scare" them (way, way beyond the range of the little point and shoot flash). They still took quite a while before they decided to get up and slowly walk the other way. If I had been a poacher it would have been no problem to bag either one.
I got pretty darn lucky - if it hadn't been for a flooded creek, I would have been coming down that trail at high speed, and the big ones were hanging out over a rise along a steep, loose section of the trail.
For Coe aficionados, it was near the top of the Spike Jones trail. Here's a close-up map for those interested, it was about at the 2200' contour: http://www.wlevey.com/coepark/maps/Tm3x4mi/HhEntWsnoPnd.htm
|
|
Lamahotel
Trad climber
Sydney, Australia
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 05:35am PT
|
wow.. that's pretty awesome seeing three. sounds like a wild mountain bike ride.
i was standing at the bottom of nutcracker (in the valley) about a year ago and a mountain lion strolled right on by within about 10ft of us. he was staring at us the whole time. it was pretty cool as i've been told it's pretty rare to see them.
cheers
JR
|
|
hooblie
climber
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 06:04am PT
|
what a great reward for getting out there in the dark. rockfall vs. cougar buzz? well ya, rocks aren't highly skilled, don't get hungry and make devious plans. red letter day, eh?
|
|
neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 07:28am PT
|
hey there greg... say, oh my.... :O
well for one thing, i am SURE glad you are still with us... :O
say, i remembe henry coe park.. but its been wayyyyyyyyyy long, since i been up there... kind of wildnerness, as i remember it from (hehe) hmmm, 35 years back, i reckon.... :O
well, it was not much of anything back then... but lovely great outdoors... :)
|
|
wack-N-dangle
Gym climber
the ground up
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 07:29am PT
|
Are you sure it wasn't just two cougars, or maybe even one?
edit: Glad you are o.k.!
From my understanding:
Mountain Lions are relatively solitary and have large ranges.
Because of the other incidents of predation on bikers, it might be worthwhile to report it to Fish and Game or Fish and Wildlife.
If the cats were the same size, does it seem possible that it was the same cat based on the location and timing of the sightings? Were the sightings, far, far, then close?
Maybe someone should go up there with a paint gun, mountain bike, and something like this.
Text
If there is a spring at the top of the trail, it would be a good place for deer and cougar to hang out.
|
|
TwistedCrank
climber
Ideeho-dee-do-dah-day boom-chicka-boom-chicka-boom
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 09:37am PT
|
Read "Beast in the Garden" by David Baron (http://www.beastinthegarden.com/);. It will open your eyes to how reclusive the mtn lions really are.
It'll also open your eyes to some things about the People's Republic of Boulder, Colorado
The book reads like "Jaws".
|
|
jmap
Social climber
NC
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 09:38am PT
|
you see the craziest things mtb'ing.
when i first moved to nc i was out riding the fletcher creek trail. fletcher creek has a couple of wildlife fields, which arew open spaces the forest service maintains for habitat. i was smoking through one of the fields, coming back into the forest when i saw something about 10 feet off to my left eating berries off some scrub. my first thought was "that's the bigget rottweiler i've ever seen" second thought was "dogs don't eat berries" and third thought was !@#$@#$!"
the bear reared up and did some crazy woofing sound and i laid my dekerf down and took of the other direction. after about 10 minutes of short-checking i ventured back and all that was left was bear tracks in the mud.
i've ridden at henry coe. what a beautiful remote place. i remember camping up on top of a hill and watching lightening storms over the sierras. incredible.
|
|
Banquo
Trad climber
Morgan Hill, CA
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 11:00am PT
|
Mountain lions are usually pretty solitary so I would think a mother with cubs likely.
I have never heard of one relaxing when people are around. Some of the people who think they saw a mountain lion actually saw the much more common bobcat but if you say you saw lions, I believe you saw lions. One guy said he saw a lion on the Coyote Creek bike trail near Morgan Hill but when asked if it was 8 feet long it became clear it was one of the bobcats I had been seeing there for a couple years.
Thread here:
http://tinyurl.com/yzelrnx
Lions are seriously big cats, 3 ft tall, 8 feet long, 100 lbs, almost twice as big as a German Shepherd. The bobcats that I have seen around Morgan Hill and at Henry Coe are very comfortable around people. I've seen them at Coe lounging in meadows in broad daylight as hikers passed.
Lions use stealth attacks from the back and usually bite the back of the neck. If you see them, I would think you are safe. Wear a helmet and a backpack to protect your back. Read this bicycle/lion attack story:
http://tinyurl.com/yke5p25
|
|
Patrick Sawyer
climber
Originally California now Ireland
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 11:03am PT
|
On another thread about cougars/mountain lions, somebody posted a photo of three cats walking across some, I think, parking lot somewhere in Colorado. The pic didn't look doctored so if it was real they will travel in pairs or more, and as Dingus wrote, a mother and two adolescents perhaps?
|
|
cragnshag
Social climber
san joser
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 11:08am PT
|
Consider youself lucky. Most guys your age would be very happy to go out at night and have not one, but 3 cougars, interested in them.
I hear cougars like it when young men take their pictures....
|
|
ryanb
climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 11:20am PT
|
There is video of a mother and two cubs in one of the planet earth dvd's...the cubs look just as big as the mom.
|
|
rhyang
climber
SJC
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 11:24am PT
|
Man, that is freaking cool !
Riding a mountain bike is risky enough for me in the light of day though .. the prospect of breaking my neck again is extremely frightening.
|
|
couchmaster
climber
pdx
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 12:17pm PT
|
No pics at all? Damn. (cry)
From the website:
"Coe Park is the largest state park in northern California, with over 87,000 acres of wild open spaces. The terrain of the park is rugged, varied, and beautiful, with lofty ridges and steep canyons. Once the home of Ohlone Indians, the park is now home to a fascinating variety of plants and animals, including the elusive mountain lion. "
There's a large rifle range on the outskirts of this city called tri-county rifle range, it's really the burbs, which has 3 Bobcats living there.
|
|
Greg Barnes
climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 16, 2009 - 12:20pm PT
|
Guess I wasn't clear enough - 3 at once, the close one was 20-30 yds off, the other two were 80-100 yds under a tree.
Not bobcats.
Dingus is almost certainly right from what little I've read on their solitary habits. Plus that, on a mountain bike forum, another biker saw a small playful mountain lion cub on that trail in the same area last year (playing with a butterfly - how cool is that?), and saw deer parts along the trail.
Which reminds me - one time at the Windy Wall at the Buttermilks, we climbed there one day, came back the next, and there were fresh deer bones and lion tracks. Nice!
Also saw fresh mountain lion tracks at the creek just past Pratt's Crack one time. That was back when the forest service was warning all the residents of Rovana not to hike, run, or bike up the road by themselves.
|
|
Greg Barnes
climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 16, 2009 - 12:39pm PT
|
Wack-n-dangle - what other incidents are you talking about? I thought that they'd determined that the 2-biker incident (in socal somewhere?) was the first guy died of a heart attack, the mountain lion found the body and was scavenging it, and the second biker came up and the lion was defending its food.
|
|
Fish Finder
Social climber
THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 12:42pm PT
|
Where are the photos?
3 large males would not be hangin around shit(purring)talkin
|
|
Matt
Trad climber
primordial soup
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 01:29pm PT
|
closest i have come to seeing one of these cats is a single, huge, solitary track in the snow (among rocks etc) on the very bottom of the longest western descent of tenaya peak, kinda near to the clouds rest trail.
we were hiking up on TG weekend several years ago when a long dry spell had opened the road.
you are lucky, yes, in more ways that one!
|
|
Greg Barnes
climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 16, 2009 - 01:31pm PT
|
The photos are useless black, it was 20 times the range of the flash - I took them hoping to get the eye reflections (nope) and to 'intimidate' them. I had taken some deer eye reflection attempt photos only 20 minutes before, and the deer were much closer - no luck there either.
They were not the same size - the one that was close was maybe 5-6 feet long (not including tail), the left one by the tree was really big (8'?), the right one by the tree was similar size to the close one. Probably mom and kids.
|
|
Hard Rock
Trad climber
Montana
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 01:54pm PT
|
I've seen mountain lions 3 times biking behind my house. It sure does get your attention. Coming downhill and quiet your on them quicker than you like. One of them took off downhill 90 degrees from the road. I swear it was the whole width of the road (with tail). Came up on a wolverine that way. Had a Griz walk through a inventory plot when I was working once. I was looking up but my dog told me to look down. Bear spray was in the rig. Glad he wasn't interest in me. Anyway, that wildlife sure can get in the way. My wife has had to cancel patients in the morning when the moose won't leave the driveway.
Anyway - enjoy the views - kurt
|
|
Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
obsessively minitracking all winter at Knob Hill
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 02:01pm PT
|
You may never see one, but you know they've seen you. Might be the last thing you don't see.
Dang greg, that's kinda freaky.
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 02:07pm PT
|
Twice I've seen mtn lion tracks in Texas canyon southern Utah, both times (years apart) in the same place. The second time they weren't there when we hiked to the crag but there when we hiked out.
Once, on the Headlamp illuminated descent from Patterson Bluff East ( 60 miles east of Fresno) my partner, Richard Leversee, calmly commented,
"Someone is tracking us"
Then he turned his light on a huge Mtn Lion. We hiked on, and every time I thought about it, and swept my light around, I could see reflective, green, cateyes a couple of feet off the ground.
In 1965 on a family hike in the Maroon Bells in Colorado, we were hiking back to the car when we came across lion tracks and part of a carcass.
"They're watching us, I know", said my mom.
Cool, if scary, sighting, Greg!
Edit,
Coz, Leversee told me that that area in California (and I know you've been there, more or less, with Leversee, no less) has the highest Lion concentration in the state. I don't know how he came upon that fact, but I believe him!
|
|
msiddens
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 02:07pm PT
|
Greg,
AWESOME.....only ridden at night at Coe once and never alone. Still, pretty cool bud.
|
|
Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 02:12pm PT
|
Whenever I'm up in the San Gabes, especially when there's no one around, I always keep my eyes peeled. A few years back, a biker claimed he was attacked by a mt. lion on Mt. Lowe, which I think some folks later disputed. Still, it's both cool and kind of freaky at the same time. Nothing like being reminded you're on the food chain.
|
|
wack-N-dangle
Gym climber
the ground up
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 03:21pm PT
|
G Barnes,
I was being a little facetious about heading up with a paint gun and riot gear. Also, maybe the word "predation" wasn't entirely accurate. I didn't hear that one hiker had a heart attack, and the other incident involved a cat defending its food. Still, the result was pretty negative for all parties involved (including the cats). Also, if the victims were consumed, I would call it predation. Maybe this is why Fish and Game usually puts down animals that exhibit this behavior.
I suppose the only incident of "predation" I recall was a 20 something old running around his college campus (in Maine?). Was the woman in SoCal dragged off of her bike?
Finally, I agree that the sightings are rare (and a lucky occurence). If they happened in an area with a spring, and near a part of a trail that would make escape more problematic, it seems all the more incredible. I studied ecology in a previous life and the questions were from a somewhat sarcastic (morbid) scientific curiousity. Should, I link the creation thread here? Would the cougar bible say that god gave cats dominion over man (at least some of the time)?
|
|
Jingy
Social climber
Flatland, Ca
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 03:30pm PT
|
Greg - I got to it late but...
"No more solo night mountain biking at Henry Coe state park."
Yeah.. that was probably a bad idea to begin with..... I'd assume that with the growth of the San Jose area creeping into the foothills, that it may have pushed the lion population into that last remaining area (Co Park)....
Glad to hear you made it out in one piece!
Cheers
|
|
Srbphoto
Trad climber
Kennewick wa
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 03:37pm PT
|
This list was from an article in 1995. Most would be predation (see article). #11 always gets to me, used to do a lot of hiking and mtn biking up there.
http://www.aws.vcn.com/mountain_lion_fact_sheet.html
Here are a few documented mountain lion attacks on humans:
1. Spring, 1986 - Orange County, California - Laura Small, age 5, was attacked by a mountain lion in the Ronald W. Caspars Wilderness Park. The female lion attacked her head and dragged her off. Laura suffered paralysis of her right side and was confined to a wheelchair for a period of time. She has had 11 operations. Now Laura has a steel plate in her skull. Her right leg is weak, her right arm is partially paralyzed and she is blind in her left eye.
A lawsuit of $100 million and $750,000 in personal damage was filed against Orange County. Small was awarded $2 million dollars. Orange County appealed the ruling.
2. August 1986 - Justin Mellon, age 6, was hiking in Ronald W. Caspars Wilderness Park. He was attacked and mauled by a female lion. Mellon suffered bites to the head, leg and stomach. His injuries were not as severe as that of Laura Small. Note: Due to the lawsuit over the Laura Small attack, the Board of Supervisors for Orange County decided not to allow minors into Caspars Wilderness Park at all. (Information compiled from Ronald W. Caspars Wilderness Park, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, Sacramento, California and various news reports.)
3. 1989 - Evaro, Montana - Jake Gardipe, age 5, was killed by two or three mountain lions (possibly a female with two kittens) while riding his tricycle in his front yard. The boy was dragged from the yard and the body was found nearby several hours later. The boy's home was 100 yards from U.S. Highway 93 just outside of Evaro. (Associated Press, September 13, 1989)
4. 1989 - Apache Junction, Arizona - Joshua Walsh, age 5, was mauled by a mountain lion near Canyon Lake, some 30 miles northeast of Phoenix. Without warning, and near a parking lot and boat dock filled with people, the mountain lion attacked Joshua, bit him on the head and began to shake him with its jaws and drag him away. Tim Walsh, Joshua's father, leaped down a 20-foot embankment, grabbed a rock, threw it and hit the lion on the head, scaring it. The lion dropped the boy. Joshua was air-lifted to Phoenix Children's Hospital where it took 100 stitches to close Joshua's head wounds, including re-attachment of his right ear which was nearly severed in the attack. (Phoenix Gazette, May 1, 1989, page A-1)
5. 1991 - Nevada Test Site, north of Las Vegas, Nevada - Mary Saether, was attacked by a 120-pound female mountain lion. She suffered minor cuts and received 21 stitches on her head, right arm, and back. The cougar crept up on Saether and two male companions and attacked before they were aware of its presence. The two men beat the lion with their cameras forcing it to release Saether. A Wildlife Services Specialist arrived the next day. As he was doing a preliminary check, he heard noise in a tree and turned to find the lion charging. The man had only enough time to draw his handgun and shoot the lion at point blank range. The lion was found to be in good health. (U. S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, Reno, Nevada and various news reports)
6. 1991 - Idaho Springs, Colorado - Scott Dale Lancaster, age 18, was killed by a lion while jogging near his high school. Lancaster was attacked by a 90 - 100 pound female cougar and dragged some 60 feet away. When asked how severely the boy was mauled by the lion, Undersheriff Dave Graham replied, "Bad!" It took authorities two days to find Lancaster's body. (Clear Creek Courant, January 16, 1991, page 1)
7. 1991 - Riverside, California - Searchers found evidence that Travis Zwieg, age 3, of La Quinta, California, was possibly attacked by a mountain lion. Shoe prints thought to be Zwieg's were found a half mile from where the toddler disappeared. The prints stopped at a rocky overhang where mountain lion prints were found. "Where the shoes stopped, there was a slide area and what they believed to be drag marks," said Sgt. Craig Kilday. (Associated Press, February 26, 1991 - Note: We found no record of the boy being found.)
8. 1992 - Gaviota State Park, near Santa Barbara, California – Darron Arroyo, age 9, was attacked by a mountain lion as he walked along a park trail. Darron was hiking with his two brothers when a lion rushed from the bushes and attacked, attempting to drag him off in the brush. Steven Arroyo, Darron's father, was walking about a hundred yards behind the boys. He heard the screams and saw the lion dragging Darron. Steven rushed toward the cat, picked up a rock, threw it and struck the lion between the eyes. The lion dropped the boy and left the area. Darron sustained bites to the face and head and scratches to the chest. (Information compiled from Santa Barbara News Press, Gaviota State Park and California Department of Fish and Game, Sacramento, California.)
9. 1992 - Wenatchee, Washington - Jessica Vanney, age 5, suffered cuts and puncture wounds when a 60-pound mountain lion attacked her as she walked along a path through trees at a 100-site campground in Lake Wenatchee State Park. Her father, Michael Vanney, witnessed the attack. "Jessica was 4 or 5 feet in front of me. She walked between two trees and I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye. Then I saw the cougar run around a tree and jump on her. Its front paws just wrapped right around her head and shoulders." Vanney grabbed his hunting knife and attacked the animal. This is the third known lion attack in the state. (Associated Press, June 18, 1992 - Note: What if this was a full grown lion weighing 150 pounds? What if Jessica was walking that path by herself?)
10. 1992 - Vancouver Island, British Colombia - An 8-year-old Kyuquot Indian boy, Jeremy Williams, was fatally mauled by a mountain lion in the village of Kyuquot. The boy's father and a dozen youngsters witnessed the attack. Jeremy was attacked as he sat on the grass in the elementary school playground. The cougar rushed and attacked the freckled, red-haired youngster as other children ran for help. Kevin Williams, Jeremy's father and a teacher at the school, hurried to the scene and watched helplessly while children screamed in panic. The school's janitor shot and killed the 60-pound lion. Richard Leo, a Kyuquot Indian chief, said angry parents accused the school board of ignoring the danger of wild animals. (Associated Press, 1992)
11. 1994 - Auburn Lake Trails, California (near Sacramento) - a 40-year-old vocational rehabilitation counselor, Barbara Schoener, was attacked and killed by a mountain lion. Schoener was jogging in the popular Auburn Trails area when a cougar attacked her from behind. The force of attack caused Schoener off the trail. Schoener made two strides before falling 30 feet. Schoener the stood up and moved another 25 feet down the slope where the final attack occurred. Wounds on Schoener's forearms and hands showed attempts to defend herself, but the 5-foot-8-inch, 120-pound woman was no match for the lion. The lion dragged Schoener 300 feet downhill and, after feeding on her, buried her with leaves and debris. Schoener received two fatal wounds - a crushed skull and bites to the head and neck. (Sacramento Bee Final, April 27, 1994, page B1 and B4)
|
|
Greg Barnes
climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 16, 2009 - 04:15pm PT
|
coz, I know I'm lucky. My dad has been hiking, backpacking, peakbagging, driving at night through the Sierras, and jeeping all over CA since the 1950s, and he may have seen one dashing away from his headlights one time in the 1960s.
These were the 4th, 5th, and 6th ones I've seen. First was coming into the Valley in the late '90s. It was a big huge male between Crane Flat and the Foresta road at about 1:30 am, it bounded across the highway, stopped about 20 feet up the hill, and looked at me while I slowed to a stop - then bounded into the brush. Second was in late fall last year in Tuolumne, driving right before dusk near the store, and saw it walking along a LONG ways into the meadows - 400-500 yards. Dark tan on light tan grass. The shape, size (bigger, longer, lower than deer), and especially the walk marked it as a lion. The third was just a few weeks ago, on a cloudy cold day in Coe, and I startled it while blasting down a remote fire road at 30mph - it jumped and ran fast down a hill and dove into the bushes. That was a small/medium size one.
|
|
FeelioBabar
Trad climber
One drink ahead of my past.
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 05:02pm PT
|
Sweet! they are amazing creatures. Spotted one while it watched me roped-soloing in the Kolob a few years back. Yikes! Good motovation to NOT BAIL! Also seen a few while fighting fires in Utah's west deserts. Amazing, freaky, and gorgeous all at once. I am 6'4, 245...and I have no doubts that it could have destroyed me a hurry had it wanted to.
More of em out there than most folks think.
|
|
Joe
Social climber
Santa Cruz Mountains/Los Gatos
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 05:07pm PT
|
nice Greg.
I'm totally jealous.
never seen one.
|
|
Greg Barnes
climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 16, 2009 - 05:12pm PT
|
That's funny Joe, since I'm sure there must be one living within a couple miles of your house!
My friend Barry saw two running away from him (in broad daylight) across late spring snow on the flanks of Mt. Tom about 10 years ago.
Hoping that Mike or Paul will chime in with their story of being followed by one at night on the way down from Mt. Humphreys, with only weak LED headlamps to look around (and see the eyes following them...). When they finally reached the car they jumped in, then within a few hundred yards they had a flat which rolled off the wheel, and they had to change the tire while looking over their shoulders...
|
|
Fletcher
Trad climber
Shivasana
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 06:37pm PT
|
I was lucky enough to spot one when running in Monte Bello Open Space Preserve above Palo Alto almost 15 years ago. I was just running onto a dirt road just off of Page Mill when I spotted the big cat going down the road in the same direction as me, maybe 200 to 300 feet ahead. It wasn't aware of me, but since we were going in the same direction, I wanted the creature to know about me. I'm not into surprising cougars. :-) I yelled and it took off into the woods.
I'd just seen a wild turkey on a trail between the road and parking lot and I always wondered if the cougar was hunting it.
As I recalled, I did report the sighting to some agency for the open space preserves. Figured they'd want to know.
Beautiful creatures.
Eric
|
|
Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 07:21pm PT
|
I used to trail run in the Verdugo Mountains near LA years back and never saw a single cat. In the last 5 years I have seen a few a year, thankfully from a ridge away. I expect to see more since the Station Fire burned much of their habitat in the Angeles NF, they will probably migrate across the Crecenta Vally to the Verdugos still comparatively lush vegetation.
How have the number of Mt Lions changed since the hunting ban and is there a critical population level? Too many lions not enough deer or other food?
|
|
Mtnmun
Trad climber
Top of the Mountain Mun
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 07:37pm PT
|
Greg, nice siting and most unusual. I have had weekly hikes, runs rides and spent 30 years on trails in CA and I have never seen one. Fresh prints a couple of times, but not the real deal. My x-wife's neighbor had a lion tear the rear leg off their dog as it entered the dog door. Now it is a three legger.
|
|
Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 08:12pm PT
|
Hey Greg,
The chance of an adult getting attacked by a mountain lion is almost zero. You were in more danger driving to the park than in your encounter. I bet it was scary as hell though. I wish I had been with you. Go with a friend next time and report back if you see them again. To see a mountain lion in the wild is a rare privilege. You are a lucky man.
Zander
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 08:44pm PT
|
Back during the drought for a while they moved down into Zion Canyon proper from the surrounding high country, at least three, perhaps more.
They impacted the fawn population but preyed more heavily on the turkeys.
Several times I'd watch them from ledges while soloing.
At least one of them knew it and would crap at the bottom of my rope.
A couple of times I watched them spying on hikers from within 100' of the trail,..
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Oct 16, 2009 - 10:07pm PT
|
Oh, and Greg,
regarding the thread title; if there were three of them then they were not on a solo ride.
|
|
Banquo
Trad climber
Morgan Hill, CA
|
|
|
Oct 17, 2009 - 08:52pm PT
|
Like Rokjox sez, you can sometimes get an image where there seems to be none, especially in the underexposed parts. Blown highlights are usually gone. Post the original, full size images and see if sombody here can find the big cats.
|
|
chez
Social climber
chicago ill
|
|
|
Oct 17, 2009 - 10:26pm PT
|
Cozzy,
Ned Guy was walking in Yosemite one evening and saw a lion ahead. He decided to try and get a closer look but after failing he looked benind him and there it was sitting on the trail and eye balling Ned. Needless to say he hightailed lit out of there.
|
|
chez
Social climber
chicago ill
|
|
|
Oct 17, 2009 - 10:30pm PT
|
Another time a friend was watching our daughter at mill pond which is enclosed by a chain link fence. She checked to see where our daughter was 50 feet away and another 50 feet beyond was a lion sitting insid the fence looking at the both of them. All happened rather quickly in a " now you see it now you don't" kind of way.
They are sneeky.
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Oct 17, 2009 - 10:45pm PT
|
Maybe it had a bicycle.
|
|
Greg Barnes
climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 18, 2009 - 01:25am PT
|
Wow, there might be a slight chance of seeing something, just a quick messing with the brightness and contrast lets me see the tree they were under on 4 of the shots (I think I took 5 of them at the tree, and one or two before that of the first cat running into the bushes, but one has a lot of flash-illuminated grass in the foreground and the cat is way down the hill, and the other appears to be totally black even messing with contrast).
But I don't have photoshop and I certainly have no idea what I'm doing. So - how do I post the full res photos? Or if someone is good at this I can just email you the originals.
Or let me see if they will load straight here - being almost entirely black means they are smaller than normal size. An attempt for the first one:
So someone tell me if they can get the full-size jpeg off of that?
|
|
Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
|
|
|
Oct 18, 2009 - 01:32am PT
|
Looks solid black to me, both on screen and when I saved it and blew it up. Not even any grey that's visible. Sort of an ice (polar) bear in a whiteout situation.
|
|
Greg Barnes
climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 18, 2009 - 01:35am PT
|
Here's the same photo after a little messing with contrast and brightness.
It wouldn't let me upload it into an edit of that last post, so hope this works:
edit: this one is saved at lower resolution since it's a lot smaller file.
|
|
Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
|
|
|
Oct 18, 2009 - 01:42am PT
|
Greg, the first photo you posted was about 8 KB, the second about 4 KB. In other words, very low resolution, and so difficult to do anything with.
I saved both to my hard drive, blew them up, and played with contrast and such. Despite the second photo being smaller/lower resolution, when I did that I was able to faintly see green shading at the bottom, which I take to be vegetation. To some extent I can see the 'edges' of the green, but no more detail than that.
Photo-manipulation isn't my forte, but I suspect that a much higher file size photo is needed.
|
|
Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
|
|
|
Oct 18, 2009 - 02:00am PT
|
wow, spooky back in there at night, no doubt.
i think i know where you were, is there a steep downhill into a waterfall area?
cuz i remember trying to pedal out of there in august and it was Not fun.
all the good ol boys (read:poachers) have died off as gilroy and san martin have grown from hog farms and migrants shacks to golf courses and wineries.
so, the food chain is a mile long, and starts at Silver Creek retirement and exteds all the way down to hollister,
before, hillbillies and vagrants back in the uvas canyon, bikers and other misfits from coyote, all those 2 percenters, they enjoyed organic meat year round.
so these cats are gettin fat.
the worst fear i have is getting spiked by a 6 pointer, couple of close ones up behing bustabello road and windy hill.
i started illegal mtn biking at night with my friend paul namm, who is now head of Romp here in the sf area, go figure.
my knees are still sore from a truck up regnart canyon with a gel cell half the size of a car battery.
but when that 100 watt halogen MR-16 flipped on, the place lit up like a frickin christmas tree, i kid you not.
but the downhill, i need good brakes with all that extra lead.
any illegal single track over here on the west side i have done.
duveneck windmill, st creek, never saw one cat.
|
|
Greg Barnes
climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 18, 2009 - 02:24am PT
|
Cool Mighty Hiker, I didn't think that ST would save a full 1.2Mb size photo (the original).
I cleaned it up even more, now it's too big to upload the max res, but here's what it looks like:
I went through all 4 and there's nothing definite - a couple "maybe" spots but nothing solid at all. The modified ones saved at max res are now almost 8Mb each, but if anyone actually knows what they are doing with this sort of thing I can just email you the originals (all either 1.3 or 1.4Mb, the 1.2 was one with nothing I could find).
|
|
Mighty Hiker
Social climber
Vancouver, B.C.
|
|
|
Oct 18, 2009 - 02:35am PT
|
One thing that you'd think would be visible is reflection from the eyes, depending on the range and shutter speed.
|
|
Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
|
|
|
Oct 18, 2009 - 02:39am PT
|
this is the best i could do with limited pixels,
is that him, that green thing?
|
|
Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
|
|
|
Oct 18, 2009 - 02:51am PT
|
OT: check it:
i built this back in 84,
it has a bar graph battery charge indicator,
a switch for the tail light in case you do not want tyo be seen from behind but still need a lite,
a switch that controls the 8 track/fm radio on the blackburn rack,
a voice activated "bright" switch seen under that strip of black tape,
a scr dimmer control that varies the duty ccycle with a 555 chip so you can run a 5 watt bulb at 1 watt for being sneaky, and it will last 24 hours, no restor heat,
\
a 100 watt halogen for hight speed d3escents,
only thing is, if you stop moving, it will catch fire, even with the hi temp rtv and ceramic socket, so don't crash otherwise you will start a brush fire and burn yourself up.
i used to have a "on coming car" headlamp dimmer, but it was too hard to calibrate, street lamps would trip it, so i yanked it out,
you can't get a system this good, even today 25 years later.
i mean, is my sh#t together or is my sh#t together?
i stole the mount from a cateye and splice it on the back for quick release,
that knob bolts to the handlebar right next to the brake lever so you can constantly modulate the low beam, this does 2 things:
keeps you fro0m being spotted,
you will always have battery charge left at the end of Every ride,
|
|
Greg Barnes
climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 18, 2009 - 03:09am PT
|
Went back and tweaked the 4 images and compared side-by-side, and I'm about 90% sure that the big one (momma?) is actually visible in that last photo I posted. Here it is with the probable cat circled. Even though this is where I remember it, and even though it appears to change shape comparing between the photos, this could still just be a big downed branch. I think it's the big cat though:
|
|
Greg Barnes
climber
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Oct 18, 2009 - 03:14am PT
|
In contrast, here's a photo of a deer about 20 minutes before running into the cats. Before, and with the same sort of tweaking. The deer was probably 20-30 yds off.
Before:
Tweaked:
|
|
Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
|
|
|
Oct 18, 2009 - 03:21am PT
|
OT:
heres my ride, 1983 Stumpjumper, the first really good mountain bike.
all i had to do was change the suntour rear to shimano, and the SRv seat post stripped the first bump i hit, so it's wearing a campy seat post now.
looks basic, but it features:
chrome dropouts, chain hanger, vertical rear dropouts, alloy sealed headset, double butted chromoly rear stays and forks, dual heavy duty water cages, motorcycle brake cable housing, bullmose ritchey outlawed cause they crack handlebars,
these punks nowadays?
they see me comin they pull over on their fancy full supension nonesense and hydralic brakes, faggy helmets and goofy lycra, cut me some slack.
and screw the clip in pedals, if you don't dab constatly, you are not a trials rider, and if you anit a good trials rider, you really can't call yourself a hardcore mtn biker, no way.
and you have to crash every time out, otherwise you are gay, i mean check the seat.
those suntour xl2 bear traps are the best pedals ever made, Period.
quick off, quick on, Bang! your feet are centered and pumpin..
experience is the whole deal, if you wire a trail 50 times, who can beat you?
|
|
Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
|
|
|
Oct 18, 2009 - 03:41am PT
|
now if you think i'm blowin hot air out the rectum, ask this guy about my chops:
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
|
Oct 18, 2009 - 05:19am PT
|
Obviously, two long in the tooth, Cougar stalkers...
|
|
seankirsch73
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA
|
|
|
Oct 18, 2009 - 12:07pm PT
|
I've flown over Henry Coe quite a few times and have seen a couple from the air. They are definitely mtn lions and at least one of them was good sized.
They are usually fleeting moments, but it sure would be nice to get some pics from above.
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Oct 18, 2009 - 12:27pm PT
|
But have you ever seen three on one bike?
I think not!
|
|
phylp
Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
|
|
I was amazed by this sfgate article! It's really spooky that they followed the two guys back to their car.
My husband and I hike a lot in the Bay area hills, but I won't hike alone because I'm concerned about the mountain lions. I haven't seen one in the Bay area yet, but several people I know have, in broad daylight. One was in Rancho San Antonio in Los Altos Hills and the other was I think in Wunderlich in Woodside (the latter was a story Bruce Morris told me - I think he may have had more than one sighting up there.).
|
|
aspendougy
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
|
|
A few years ago, a woman was killed by a mountain lion while she was biking near San Bernardino Mts.
Some years ago, I visited a guy at a wildlife refuge. He had a semi-tame mountain lion in a cage, and he let us go in and pet it. He said that the mountain lion responds to visual cues. A good size man standing is too big to be natural prey. But a smaller child is about the same height as a deer, and so the mountain lion would get excited whenever people brought their kids. Same with dogs, they are the right size.
The woman on the bike was short enough to look like natural prey, so the mountain lion went after her.
They show up once in awhile in the suburbs right next to the mountains, sometimes they drink out of people's swimming pools.
|
|
Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
|
|
i wanna chase one of those guys around,
if i hang some steaks in the trees, will they go for that?
what is the best way to get eaten by a mountain lion? which trail do i take?
|
|
rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
|
|
A friend and i were descending , on mt. bikes , this old logging road in the magdalena mts. talking about mt. lion attacks and minutes later almost ran over one...... we caught it off guard and scared the sh#t out of it...i kept looking over my shoulder the rest of the descent...
|
|
StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
|
|
Went to climb the Becky route on the Hermit with the late T Burke. The night before we were camping where the approach starts. Had the fire going, hanging out with da kine and libations. The car was parked on the edge of the fire light. We noticed a light colored shape on the edge of the fire light. At one point it jumped on top of the car like it was nothing. We got the headlamps out to investigate, but found nothing.
The next morning I woke up to get the joe going and Tom was still sawing logs. When I walked over to kick him awake, I notice big ol' paw prints all around his ground cloth and pad, inches from his head. Same for my spot. Still gives me the willy's.
|
|
Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
|
|
i think it would be smart to carry one of these>
they took my concealed weapon permit away after that punk at 7-11 tried to get smart with me.
i didn't mean to shoot the motherf*#ker, but he deserved it,
|
|
dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
|
|
The first one I ever saw was near Darwin Falls in the Death Valley area. My family was camping there in the late '60s. As we were driving off we saw the cat and my dad stopped the VW van to try and get a photo. Our mid sized German Shepherd "Mustard" jumped out the window and went after it. They took off and disappeared over the rise. This was a fast dog, we had clocked her at over 30 mph. About 30 minutes later the dog returned looking pretty sheepish with cactus in her paws. We were glad to see her.
I also saw one once in Woods Cyn. (yo Mike O!) (Laguna Beach). It was a juvenile with leopard like spots. I came within 25' of it when I stopped to wait for my dog after a fast mtn. bike descent. My dog Washoe was just behind me and never saw it. I told all my friends and was informed by Joe Know-it-all that it was impossible for a Cougar to live in Those hills as it was too small of a habitat and the rangers had assured him they weren't there. The trad view is that one adult cat needs a 50 square miles area. Mary Ann Kelley has seen them there as well. Saw another juvenile in Peters Cyn. (Tustin) a few years ago, also with the leopard spots.
Another time I went for a rainy day hike in Laguna (Woods Cyn.)up the famous "Telonix" trail and saw full adult sized mountain lion tracks. They are very distinctive from a large dog if you know what to look for (no claw track (unless running)and slightly different pad spread). It was wet and the tracks were practically steaming they were so fresh. Just above the "sonic s turn" I found where the cat had dragged a fresh deer kill into a rut just off the trail and kicked leaves over it. My skin was crawling and I felt like I was being watched by the cat!
Later I was returning down the trail and stopped at the kill and the carcass was there but the deers head was gone! What the f#%k? Later I started telling my friend Tom Sherman (who also then lived in the canyon) and he related to me that he too had been hiking that day and found the deer. He had busted out his knife and hacked the head off. The deer had a proud full set of antlers that he wanted as a trophy (we used to collect shed antlers as a sign of new trail exploration). He took the head and hid it off the trail intending to recover it after nature had cleaned it up a few months later. We returned later to get the head and it was gone! Sherman has had more sightings than anyone I know.
We do a lot of night rides and have had quite a few sightings in the Santa Anas and Rancho Mission Viejo area. It's not as scary if you have a few bros there.
Saw a giant one run across the road after midnight near the Ponderosa on the way to the Needles. It looked like it could have been close to 200 pounds. OK, maybe it was the lighting!!!
|
|
REIGN 1
Trad climber
Mt. Woodson, Ca
|
|
This thing belongs in a museum
|
|
philo
Trad climber
Somewhere halfway over the rainbow
|
|
Any quick moving creature, like a biker, could easily spark an attack. Put bells on your bike. Prey does not usually carry bells. Mountain lions do not normally associate humans with food. But human behaviors that mimic prey animals will stimulate instinctive responses. The jogger who got mauled when she bent down to retie a shoe is a classic example. She changed from a bipedal threat to a four legged snack. Crunchy on the outside chewy on the inside. Better to be a ding a ling than a din din.
|
|
REIGN 1
Trad climber
Mt. Woodson, Ca
|
|
I kinda think the reason they don't seem to be afraid of us anymore is because there isn't a bounty on them anymore. I'm in ramona and we see tracks all the time on our night MTB rides. Mountain bikers in the southern california mountains have been killed or mauled. One guy that used to ride with our group got killed by a cougar and the same cougar mauled a women a day later. After the fish n game killed the lion they found some of the guys vital organs still in it's stomach and the womens blood on the lion. If you ride at night try to ride with someone and use a bear bell. When your in the hill and mountains, your on their turf and they will usually win the battle because of the suprise attack.
|
|
phylp
Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
|
|
These are cool stories. Stahlbro, I got goosebumps reading yours.
I only saw one once. I was driving back to the Bay area from the east side early AM in the winter, so I had to go the route up 395 past Lee Vining up to Minton. It's a beautiful drive and I had my camera on the seat next to me. Just after dawn I saw a big one cross the road up ahead of me at a wide pullout near the river. It disapppeared out of my sight down to the river. Excited and without thinking, I pulled over, grabbed my camera, left the car running and the door open and ran towards the embankment to see if I could get a photo. Seconds later, I realized, WTF! What am I thinking, running after a lion, all alone in the middle of nowhere! I kind of slowly backed up to my car.
|
|
rottingjohnny
Sport climber
mammoth lakes ca
|
|
Evans...your skin tingling and crawling may have been a sasquatch in the area...rj
|
|
Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
|
|
"Later I started telling my friend Tom Sherman (who also then lived in the canyon) and he related to me that he too had been hiking that day and found the deer. He had busted out his knife and hacked the head off"
hah! i used to have a friend just like that. Ralph Kraus.
craziest mofo i have ever met.
had a dead rat with blue jay wings on it, hung it from some fishing line in his room, we get high, and i swear that think was looking at us,
every time we would pass roadkill, no matter what species, he had to have the parts.
if i spilled my beer on the dahsboard, i knew we had just passed something dead.
sometimes it was the fur coat off a dead skunk,
it was like "dude, i thru the glands over that guys fence.."
i'm like, ooo kkkkkaaaaaay...pass the schlitz malt, will ya?
this guy was like the Nudge, only on crack.
|
|
dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
|
|
I prefer "Yeti."
One time I was on a solo mtn. bike ride up near the Needles. I was going north from Windy Gap towards Slate Mtn along that classic trail. It was cold, windy, raining lightly and the clouds were at ground level. Visibility varied between 20 feet and a hundred feet. I didn't have my dog so it was a little spooky. After a couple miles some huge lion tracks intercepted the trail and continued up the trail ahead of me. They were super fresh, the water on the trail hadn't seeped into the imprints yet. At first I thought, "oh, how cool, there's a lion up here." As I proceeded I started to fantasize about a lion encounter. I scrutinized every tree that overhung the trail and gradually became more and more paranoid. Every shadow morphed from cat to bush, tree or rock. The tracks continued and just got fresher. After awhile I was starting to freak out a bit. I could just picture the cat dropping out of a tree or circling back around to get me from behind. Finally I couldn't take it any longer! I spun my bike around and blasted down hill, bombing the trail nonstop back to the car.
Whew!
I knew he was waiting for me just around the next corner.
|
|
Srbphoto
Trad climber
Kennewick wa
|
|
I prefer Yeti also.
They live at higher altitude and it makes the meat more tender.
|
|
dee ee
Mountain climber
citizen of planet Earth
|
|
I have given some thought to an encounter with a female yeti. This dates back to a classic issue of R. Crumb's Mr. Natural comics series.
Might be kinda' fun, but, I hear they are sorta' stinky.
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
|
|
I was in the yeti's 'hood (Pamirs) BITD on a solo jaunt. The
weather was good so didn't bother with a tent that night - just
laid there staring at the cosmos. In the morning I packed up and
discovered Snow Leopard tracks 20' from my bivy - got pics. About
a mile along I came across a classic ambush site where, indeed, an
Asiatic Ibex had fallen to a Snow Leopard. I guess they (there was
a cub and Ma) didn't like the smell of 'Merrycan. Can't blame 'em.
|
|
Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
|
|
yeah, it's like, ok, i'm a gonna get a concealed weapon permit so i can pack it around legal like, in the open space.
but these cats can drop out of a 60 foot tree and land on your back, no problem, so why bother with the 40 s&w?
|
|
Beatrix Kiddo
Mountain climber
Littleton
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 10:29am PT
|
My partner and I were backcountry skiing last night up on Jones Pass and had a CRAZY mountain lion encounter. I'm still high on the adrenaline. We were about 3 miles in and getting ready to ski out. I sat down on the ground to take my skins off of my skis. I heard my partner say my name and then say, "I think we're about to have our cat encounter." He saw the eyes before me. I was still on the ground when kitty came running. Lee started yelling at the cat and all I could say was "keep him off of me!" Finally I got my ski off and was able to get up off of the ground. My partner and I yelled at the lion. He ducked off into the woods and then charged us. He was hunched low to the ground like a kitty ready to POUNCE. We yelled more, waved the skis and ran towards it aggressively. We scared him back into the woods. He came back again, this time faster. Lee and I yelled soooo loud and scared him off. The lion was not backing down. Juvenile lions might display this kind of erratic behavior but I didn't think an adult would. He was big! I'm so glad my partner and I knew what to do and neither one of us panicked. We were ready for the fight of our lives. I didn’t sleep much last night. I'm really excited, intrigued by its behavior and feeling extremely lucky. Oh, the skiing was good too!!!
|
|
clymbrchk
Trad climber
boulder, co
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 10:53am PT
|
Whoa. Glad that you're okay!!
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 10:58am PT
|
Juvenile lions might display this kind of erratic behavior but I didn't think an adult would.
Adults are exhibiting this behavior because the lack of hunting pressure
is creating more competition for territory. Those unable to claim a
viable territory or unable to put food on the table get desperate.
Also,maybe word is going around that human ain't that bad once you get past the Goretex.
Glad you stayed cool and acted mean!
|
|
Beatrix Kiddo
Mountain climber
Littleton
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 11:03am PT
|
Thanks! It was interesting how the cat kept running towards us until both of us started yelling (in a low but loud voice). I think he thought I was injured since I was on the ground at first. He came up from behind us. The behavior he displayed lines up with the behavior listed in # 7 in this link:
http://www.sdgfp.info/wildlife/mountainlions/Language.htm
I feel so fortunate!
|
|
Beatrix Kiddo
Mountain climber
Littleton
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 11:07am PT
|
Considering a 38 snubnose myself. I'm outdoors so much alone, at night or with my kids during the day. I would only shoot when necessary. Firing off a couple warning shots might have scared him away faster. He hung out around of for a long time. At least it felt like a long time.
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 11:18am PT
|
Stay tuned for the release of my forthcoming
Hiker's Pocket Napalm Device. Seriously, no animal
will brave a 4' wall of flame. You don't have to
worry about your aim as with a pistol just as long as
you keep it away from the trees.
|
|
Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 11:34am PT
|
Yow, Beatrix now that's a story!
In a few hrs I'm headed to the part of the Sierra said to have the highest concentratin of m lions in the state of Ca. Yahoo!
|
|
Beatrix Kiddo
Mountain climber
Littleton
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 11:40am PT
|
Nice Jay! Good luck!!!!
|
|
hossjulia
Social climber
Eastside
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 11:43am PT
|
Saw a large male on Tioga Pass December of 04. The pass had just closed, and I was working up at TPR. It was at night and right around the 8,000' sign, I saw these 2 bright green spotlights around the corner on the road ahead. Knowing it was something large, I speed up to get a look and got full view of positive male identification as it took about 6 huge bounds on the side of the road before it went over the side. This was a big cat. Really long tail. Next time I had to go through that gate at night, which involves bending way over to get to the lock, I had my dog Max guard my back.
They are rarely seen over here, so I felt pretty lucky.
I did see a Jaguar once in San Diego county, very near the Mexican border in east county. (Mother Grundy Truck Trail Road.)
My brain could not figure out why this huge mountain lion was so dark, almost black, with faint spots. Too big to be a juvenile, and it had a huge head that did not look right for a lion. I called the zoo to see if something had escaped, and they informed me I saw a black Jaguar. Cool.
I too jumped out of my truck to follow it and get a closer look, but at first light in thick brush, I quickly realized my foolishness and backed back to my truck.
At least the neighborhood finally knew what was nabbing their goats. Might explain my young mares nervousness in that area too! lol.
Saw a really small bobcat kitten on the side of 395 a few days ago near our house. Neighbors have seen a lion walk down our driveway.
Living on the Eastside, where they have the huge territories they like and are not crowded, I am not that worried about them, but I do keep an eye out. Not having my Shepard to hike with concerned me, but being able to hike in Tuolumne last summer got me over it.
I lived in Boulder Creek (summer of 1993?)and had my mare at a place on the border of Henry Coe State park. I don't think I knew there were lions there, that would explain why this horse never settled and hated that park. I always thought it was the redwoods, so different from Colorado where she was from. The river is the only place she would relax.
|
|
Beatrix Kiddo
Mountain climber
Littleton
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 12:00pm PT
|
It was actually my ski that was in the position to chop! I've got good edges. :-)
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 12:01pm PT
|
aspendougy noted on post #70:
Some years ago, I visited a guy at a wildlife refuge. He had a semi-tame mountain lion in a cage, and he let us go in and pet it. He said that the mountain lion responds to visual cues. A good size man standing is too big to be natural prey. But a smaller child is about the same height as a deer, and so the mountain lion would get excited whenever people brought their kids
Werd! I was at the San Diego Zoo with the nephew last year. We're standing
in a crowd in front of the Mt Lion cage. It is quite large and the cats are loungeing
on ledges on a faux cliff at the back bored silly.
Someone walks up to my left from behind carrying a small child. The big
male suddenly sits up and stares right at the child and uncorks a chilling
full-tooth roar! That was freaky! He thought it was lunchtime!
|
|
hossjulia
Social climber
Eastside
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 12:06pm PT
|
Why do some people think guns are the answer to anything fearful? How about your brains? They work pretty good if you let them.
|
|
Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 12:14pm PT
|
Fatty,
I used to hang with the Seattle Zoo's Helen Freeman
who established the Snow Leopard Trust. After George
Schaller she was it for snow leopard beta. Snow leopards
are decidedly un-aggressive towards humans. To my knowledge
there is no authenticated report of an unprovoked attack and
even when some babushka caught one raiding her chicken coop
she drove it off with her broom. You just don't want to have
four legs.
Upthread (#86) I noted my 'snow leopard moment'. They coulda had me
and spared y'all a lot of grief.
RIP Helen:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Freeman
|
|
Beatrix Kiddo
Mountain climber
Littleton
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 01:16pm PT
|
Our brains worked just fine in this situation.
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 02:55pm PT
|
I used to contribute regularly to the snow leopard trust, just amazing animals.
I recommend anybody read The Stones Of Silence by Schaller (it actually qualifies as a climbing book. The reader will be pleasantly surprised as to why.)
Anybody see the amazing hunting footage of the snow leopard and sheep in Planet Earth. I bought a fricking Blu-ray to watch it!
What a treat!
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 03:46pm PT
|
Oh, and for those discussing packing a gun, if you didn't read me earlier I repeat; bad idea.
Yeah thats right, Piton Ron says bad idea.
Reason;
a gun does little good as BK's situation is quite rare.
The first thing most people are aware of in a cat attack happens the instant before the pain in the back of their neck.
Think about it.
Carry a long knife that is VERY easily deployed.
Better yet, be aware and avoid.
|
|
TGT
Social climber
So Cal
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 04:07pm PT
|
|
|
Beatrix Kiddo
Mountain climber
Littleton
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 04:26pm PT
|
The mountain lion we encountered was quite aggressive towards us. Firing a shot into the air may or may not have ended the situation quicker. I suspect it would have. My partner was yelling at it and it still continued to charge. When we yelled together, it ran off but came back so we yelled some more and charged back together. Lee was waving his poles and I was waving my ski. If I was by myself, hell yeah I would have wanted a gun and hell yeah I would have used it. He was in attack mode. Or maybe he just wanted to snuggle. It was a cold night. Regardless, I'm pretty excited about the whole encounter.
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 04:41pm PT
|
If you get a gun then you may be carrying it around for a long time before that happens again.
So if you've got the bucks get a titanium S&W J-frame with lasergrips (about $750-$800).
It won't be so much to lug around.
|
|
Carolyn C
Trad climber
the long, long trailer
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 04:46pm PT
|
We had at least one big cat living on the horse ranch in the Santa Cruz Mtns. In fact, it was seen by other folks a few times emerging, during the day, from underneath the trailer we lived in. I carried a gun when I went out early in the mornings (5:30 or so) to feed horses; glad I never had an encounter, because I didn't want to use it (edit: but I would have). Saw mostly-consumed deer several times on trail rides, pieces of leg, heads, etc. But, I never saw the big cat, myself.
|
|
sidmo
Sport climber
general delivery
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 05:00pm PT
|
i can understand seeing cats at coe, but at the bottom of nutcracker? i lived in the valley for years and have seen pawprints only, up tenaya canyon past hidden falls
|
|
zeta
Trad climber
Berkeley
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 05:20pm PT
|
wow beatrix, that's a pretty crazy story! It's funny how you can feel both scared and super fortunate to encounter wildlife so close...
I once saw a snow leopard in Ladakh, India--where I do my research--in January, coming across Khardoong la pass (18,000ft). We were in a car and something darted across the road, I first thought it was a fox until the ladakhis in the car said quietly "schen" (the word for snow leopard). The driver stopped the car and we saw the leopard's face peering behind a rock and his huge, super thick tail behind the other side of the rock. Then he was gone. I felt so incredibly lucky to have seen one, it blew my mind to see snow leopard in the wild, an animal that seems mythic.
Yes! the Planet Earth series is incredible, especially the footage of the snow leaopards in Pakistan, running down this super steep terrain. Quite incredible footage, you all should see it if you haven't yet!
|
|
Beatrix Kiddo
Mountain climber
Littleton
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 05:32pm PT
|
Which Planet Earth series? I'm looking on Netflix and there are quite a few.
Wow! Seeing A snow leopard!!! That would be the cat's meow!
haha
|
|
zeta
Trad climber
Berkeley
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 05:38pm PT
|
my roommate got the whole set on blue ray, but it was the 'mountains' set. Enjoy!
|
|
Beatrix Kiddo
Mountain climber
Littleton
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 05:54pm PT
|
Cool! Thank you.
|
|
goatboy smellz
climber
लघिमा
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 06:18pm PT
|
gee B, maybe the lion was lonely and looking for a little action.
|
|
Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
|
|
|
Feb 11, 2010 - 07:18pm PT
|
See the whole series.
That shot of the great white taking a seal and going airborne was just as awesome as the snow leopard running down that mountain sheep.
Somebody said that the mountain lions have so much food, but this time of year maybe not so much.
|
|
cliffhanger
Trad climber
California
|
|
|
Feb 20, 2010 - 01:05pm PT
|
Hikers face down lions in Pescadero park
Shouting and hurling rocks at an approaching mountain lion might go against every instinct in the human body — even standing your ground may seem counterintuitive — when you’re trying to avoid a confrontation with such a fearsome predator. But last week such techniques proved effective in deterring a pair of mountain lions from mauling two brothers hiking in Pescadero.
Pescadero Creek County Park reopened Thursday after an encounter with what the California Department of Fish and Game characterized as “aggressive” mountain lions closed the park for three days.
The lions approached two brothers — men in their 50s — who were hiking in the park Sunday afternoon near Camp Pomponio Road. Approaching people is “highly unusual” behavior for mountain lions, said Fish and Game Warden Patrick Foy. He said the animals typically turn and run at the sight of a person. What happened next was even more bizarre.
One of the lions came closer, stepping within a few feet of the hikers. One of the men picked up a large stick and started swinging it at the lion while shouting — the proper course of action for scaring off mountain lions, Foy said. The animal was undeterred. The hikers and lions were locked in a standoff for a few minutes until the animals decided to turn and walk away.
“These guys did exactly the right thing — probably contributed to not provoking an attack,” Foy said. “In that kind of situation, to turn around and run would probably be one of the worst things to do.”
Foy said he found a deer skull in the area of the encounter, which was “well off the beaten path” in the park.
“What that tells me is … that is an area that is frequented by one or more mountain lions,” Foy said. “Perhaps these two call that spot home and these guys might have walked into the middle of it.”
Wardens began a search for the mountain lions on Feb. 1 with help from a professional mountain lion tracker and trained hounds. They found the animals’ tracks in the dirt and the deer skull.
Investigators called off the search Tuesday, confident that the lions had left the park.
“… Widening the search at that point would have increased the chance that the wrong mountain lion would be taken,” according to a Fish and Game press release.
If park visitors spot any mountain lions, they should call San Mateo County Park dispatch at (650) 363-4020.
Department of Fish and Game has some tips on how to respond to mountain lion encounters at its Web site, www.dfg.ca.gov/keepmewild/.
Source: http://www.hmbreview.com/articles/2010/02/13/news/doc4b72fcbb7960a357831620.txt
|
|
Dr.Sprock
Boulder climber
Sprocketville
|
|
|
Feb 20, 2010 - 01:42pm PT
|
if those two cats ever get next to me, i'm gonna hike em out on a stick,
one goes in the living room, one in the bathroom,
the bedroom is already packed with endangered or extinct animals,
not counting myself,
hey, it's all lunch meat to me...
a whoopin crane not tasted, is a whoopin crane that's wasted,
|
|
| Messages 1 - 106 of total 106 in this topic |
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!