Mountain lion sightings...dead ones

[Bob Loblaw]

I was up camping at Burney State Park this past weekend and saw not one but two dead lions roadside. One was about a mile short of the Hatchet mountain summit on the west side and the other was right at the Clark Creek/Highway 89 intersection. Both were very large adults obviously hit by traffic. I haven't seen one in years, then two within an hour. Wonder if the big winter and cool spring is keeping the deer down at lower elevations.

[dynaflow]

I'm saddened to hear that.Incidentally,are they a protected species? Road kill is a big problem for drivers here in Australia,particularly with Kangaroos as an adult male stands six foot high with a six foot tail and can weigh up to 200lbs.The record height is around 7 feet and a single leap can be 26 feet long..You don't want to hit one, particularly at night....and that's when they mostly feed.Almost all 4WD's in the country are fitted with powerful spotlights for that reason.

[tcorfey]

I would think that part of the issue in that area may be because they relocated during the fires and don't have it all figured out yet. With the fires in Redding and in Lassen they could have migrated and are still trying to figure it out.

[Justaddwater82]

I find myself up in the Burney area a lot, and a couple years ago, I had a conversation with one of the rangers at Burney Falls about lack of bears in the area. Id noticed that the food lockers at the campsites were just the old school wood cabinets, and not bear lockers so I assumed bear populations wasnÂ’t an issue, but still wanted to ask.
The ranger told me that thereÂ’s really no bears in the area, but an overwhelming amount of mountain lions locally. This was 4 years ago. IÂ’m always on the lookout now when IÂ’m out there.

[Bob Loblaw]

Bear hunting is permitted in the Burney area so they are very wary of humans, unlike Tahoe or Yosemite where they stroll around in broad daylight breaking into tourists cars like its San Francisco or something!

[JasonG]

I'm saddened to hear that.Incidentally,are they a protected species? Road kill is a big problem for drivers here in Australia,particularly with Kangaroos as an adult male stands six foot high with a six foot tail and can weigh up to 200lbs.The record height is around 7 feet and a single leap can be 26 feet long..You don't want to hit one, particularly at night....and that's when they mostly feed.Almost all 4WD's in the country are fitted with powerful spotlights for that reason.

They are not protected in terms of being on an endangered species list, but California has banned mountain lion hunting so they have no natural predators..other than cars.. Their population is thriving in CA.
As a deer hunter in CA, where hunting can be very tough.. I'm not at all saddened by a few taken off the landscape. They kill, on average, 1 deer a week each.. that's 104 deer in the next year not being preyed upon..

[Bob Loblaw]

They also tend to kill the weaker members of the deer herd, the ones that are diseased, so that in the end makes for an overall healthier and larger deer population. Species with no natural predators often have huge population explosions followed by near extinction events. A healthy balance is good for the deer, the lions, and the guy who has a deer tag.

[Rossflyguy]

They are not protected in terms of being on an endangered species list, but California has banned mountain lion hunting so they have no natural predators..other than cars.. Their population is thriving in CA.
As a deer hunter in CA, where hunting can be very tough.. I'm not at all saddened by a few taken off the landscape. They kill, on average, 1 deer a week each.. that's 104 deer in the next year not being preyed upon..

California pays certain hunters (certified hunting guides) to keep mountain lion populations down in California. The carcass is wasted. It’s a ridiculous waste of our tax dollars when hunters could PAY the state to hunt the lions and redirect that money to conservation. CA keeps that little bit of info hidden away from most people and tries to shine a light on our mountain lion population. Last year during deer season I had a big Tom at 300 yards in my rifle scope. He never knew I was there. Too bad it’s illegal or I’d have mountain lion chops in the freezer and a lion skin.

[Rossflyguy]

They also tend to kill the weaker members of the deer herd, the ones that are diseased, so that in the end makes for an overall healthier and larger deer population. Species with no natural predators often have huge population explosions followed by near extinction events. A healthy balance is good for the deer, the lions, and the guy who has a deer tag.

There’s a declining deer population in CA. It’s not really balanced here. California is the #1 destination for black bear in the lower 48 and the black bear steal the mountain lion kills. Causing the mountain lion to kill 3-5 times as many deer as it normally would. I believe Mt lions kill 1 deer a week on average. California has roughly 6,000 to 7,000 Mt lions that have no predators. Do the math.

[StevenB]

Ya, there are a lot of mountain lions up here in the north state.

Was talking to the local warden several years ago about my sighting on McCloud reservoir

I was headed back to the ramp in my boat at early dusk and came about a corner and saw 4 mountain lions together on the bank getting an evening drink.

Warden said there where a lot of lions in that area.

I see lions quite frequently when driving to and from the McCloud.

Some years ago there was a video posted on YouTube of a deer kill a guy found,
I think in this area, he put up a cam overlooking the kill and that night
7 lions in a group came to feed on the kill.

I think they should have left a hunting season open for them.

Lions need to be shot at once in a while to keep them respectful
of humans (read afraid).