Watch your back .....

[Hairstacker]

Aaron, maybe I missed it, but I checked out your link and didn't see where it identified the total numbers of lions in California and how these totals have diminished over time.

[WinterrunRon]

I'd say they're already pretty shy of humans, Mike.

They're apparently so plentiful an open season is needed to control the population as they are decimating other populations, but I've never had the privilege of seeing a single one, although I've spent a fair portion of my life in their habitat over the years! Maybe I just don't appear palatable to the critters? Guess I should be thanking my lucky stars.

Nothing official you understand, but it seems to me their attacks on humans is significantly more infrequent than shark or bear attacks.

Okay, I think I'm done with this thread.

WinterrunRon out...

[1flyfisher]

2004 8 January. (Attacks #12 and 13; death #6) 35-year-old Mark Jeffrey Reynolds, an amateur mountain bike racer, was reported as being killed by a mountain lion sometime after 1:25 p.m. at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in southern Orange County. His bicycle was later found with the chain unbroken, but off the sprockets. Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department, speculated that Mark was attacked as he was fixing his bike.

However, the autopsy results apparently show no damage to his neck at all, or any damage indicative of an actual attack that caused his death.

The speculation that fits the facts best is that Mark had a heart attack while riding his bike, fell off his bike, causing the chain to fall off the sprockets. The cougar then simply scavenged him while he was dead on the ground. Unfortunately, as is typically the case for lion feeding, the heart was missing, so we'll never know for sure if he did have a heart attack.

Later the same day, Anne Hjelle, 30, of Santa Ana, a former Marine who works as a fitness instructor, was jumped by the same mountain lion. Anne was attacked a short distance down the trail from Mark's body, which was not visible to her, while she was riding her mountain bicycle. The lion jumped her from a slight rise (~4 feet) on the right hand side of the trail, from under some high brush. The lion quickly had Anne's face in its mouth, despite the presence of Anne's helmet. Her riding companion, Debi Nicholls, was about 30 feet behind Anne and witnessed the attack. Debi threw her bike at the mountain lion, to no avail, then grabbed Anne's legs and screamed as the lion dragged both of them 30 feet down the slope into the brush. The lion kept attacking Anne, alternating between her helmet, face and neck. The screams brought Nils Magnuson, 33, of Long Beach, and Mike Castellano to the scene, who called 911 and scared off the mountain lion by throwing rocks at it.

Anne was airlifted to Mission Hospital. Her condition was initially critical, was upgraded from serious as of early 9 January, and to fair as of 10 January.

Nils was nearby since he had just found Mark's bicycle, and was about to look for Mark. (Mountain bikers crash fairly frequently, so finding a crashed bicycle is not an unusual occurrence. It is customary to stop and render aid to crashees.) After this attack, Mark's body was found dead higher on the trail than where Anne was attacked. Mark had apparently been dead for some hours, and his body had been half-eaten and partially buried, typical of a mountain lion kill.

Later that night, Sheriff's deputies shot and killed a healthy 3- to 4-year-old, 110-122 pound male lion, which was spotted 50 yards from the man's body. Initial tests found human skin tissue, and portions of a human lung and liver in the lion's stomach, which were confirmed later to match Mark's DNA. No fibers from Anne's clothing, nor any slivers from her helmet, were found in the initial examination, but later DNA tests matched Anne to the blood on one of the lion's claws. Curiously, no deer hairball was found in the lion.

Also that night, about four miles north of these attacks, a second mountain lion, a 70 pound female, was hit by a car and killed. This lion was not involved in either attack.




If you want to read more just Google Anne Hjelle. WARNING: Do not click on cougarinfo unless you have a strong stomach as there are graphic images of her injuries.

I remember seeing a photo in the newspaper photo and article(L.A. Times? Santa Barbara Newspress?) once. It was a mom and her little kid maybe 2/3 years old in a park down around LA. In the back ground 25-30 feet away you could see a cougar peering out from the bushes. This was years ago when we used film. They didn't know the lion was there till they got the film developed. They looked at the picture many times but the lion was so well hidden they didn't initially notice it in the pictures. It was a pretty wild pic with the lion just doing a tunnel stare right at the little kid. Fortunately they folks weren't attacked.

[aaron]

^^^is there a point to that story?
according to dfg there have been 17 attacks, 6 of which were fatal in CA since 1890.

For some perspective lightning has killed 28 people in CA since 1959 according to the NWS. Pet dogs have killed 69 people in the last 50 years in CA as well.

Human's encroach into cougar territory. 6 fatalities in one hundred years isn't exactly staggering. Since this whole thread is based of anecdotes, it seems like every once in a while someone is in the wrong place at the wrong time. I think there's a lot more to be worried about then getting chomped by a mountain lion. My 2 cents.

[jbird]

... but I've never had the privilege of seeing a single one, although I've spent a fair portion of my life in their habitat over the years! Maybe I just don't appear palatable to the critters? Guess I should be thanking my lucky stars...

I feel the same way. I am apt think however, they have seen me, many, many times!

I did see one once, Just before dawn on the way to a lake. It was massive. It crossed the entire road with three striding gallops. Almost a ghost, but it was as real as it gets!

[Mark Kranhold]

So i ran into a guy setting up motion cameras right at dusk at Ancil Hoffman. I stopped and talked with him and he said that he was doing Mt. lion studies along the parkway. I asked if he has had any luck getting footage of the kitty, and he replied yes. He got shots of a big male at Sailor bar and said it had a very large head.The other shots he got so far were at Rossmoore and he confirmed that one was a female. He told me he is going to have a full story on Mt. lion awareness on the A.R. parkway sometime in May. The website is sacramento county parks ,and then go to american river park safety.

[aaron]

That's cool to hear mark. I talked to a ranger some years back after one had left a deer in a bunker at Ancil Hoffman and he said they estimated a population of 5-10 in the parkway.

[JasonB]

The cat population is way higher than you think. Passing the initiative protecting these animals from hunting was about as stupid as stupid gets. As a result of the increasing population, most California deer herds have been decimated by lion predation...

You know I have a hard time taking this argument far when you mention deer populations and wild turkey populations being "decimated" by mountain lion predation. Both deer and turkey populations seem to be ample to say the least around our neck of the woods. I'm sure that there are a lot more lions than we tend to see, but at this point in time I'm happy to have them in the balance.

As for lions being a threat to people, sure there's always that chance that an attack could happen, but a very slim one. I for one have never felt the need to try and eliminate all "potential" risks from life, I'm sure that each and every one of us who goes out fly fishing is taking several other much bigger risks to harm than what the lions pose to us. And yes lions are very shy of humans in general; *if* they can help it, you wont ever see them.

On a personal note, we actually had a mountain lion on our property the first year we bought it. I actually saw it as a blessing really, kept all the deer at bay and out of our garden. Unfortunately once the lion realized that we had moved into her turf, she left... and we've been hassling with deer ever since.
JB

[gene goss]

I was taking a bike ride down by Rancho Cordova park a couple of day ago, and there was a dead deer laying about 50ft. from the bike trail. There are a lot of deer on the american river parkway, and the neighborhoods around the parkway....lots of food for mountain lions....yep....i keep my head down and pedal fast.

[David Lee]

I wasn't going to relate this story because it didn't have anything to do with fishing .... but since we're on the subject -

'Shy' Lions ....

I was between jobs in the late-90's , got a call from a Friend to do some 'fire prevention' (slave labor) in Somerset , outside of Placerville ... my task was to whack brush and grass on my Friends lot .

Armed w/ a gas-powered Weed Whacker and noise reduction headset , I started going up and down a hill , cutting grass - after 40 or so minutes of doing the up-and-down , I was at the top of the grade , next to the driveway and a few feet from a small Oak . I caught a flash out of the corner of my eye .... brain says Tan Dog . I turn my head to where the 'Dog' is , the 'Dog' crawls thru a downed Oak that is near the fence line .... it goes thru the snag and stops .... looking at me over its shoulder .

I stare at a young , no-spots Lion , perhaps 40 inches from nose to ass , w/ about that much Cougar-tail . I hit the kill switch on the whacker and look on , not quite believing what I am seeing ! After a lifetime spent hunting and fishing in the Bush , my very first BIG Cat !!

Did I mention that when I got the first flash of the Lions movement .... it was about 15 feet away from me ? I could have taken 3 quick steps and slapped it . Mind you , it HAD to have been there the whole time I was doing the hillside , with the noisy , stinky Whacker running full-tilt ?? That lil' fellow sat there for nearly a minute .... just staring at me . I didn't feel any fear , likely because I was shocked to finally see one in the flesh ....

After a moment , the Lion melted into the grass at the fence line and vanished - I went up to the driveway and yelled to my Friend's son (both of them named Joel) "Dude , there's a Cougar out here"!!- He told me I was full of it - we discussed the matter and thought it wise to go into the house , fetch a gun , and investigate further . Gun cabinet was locked , so Joel grabbed-up a golf club , the one w/ the large metal head (WTF he was thinkin' , I'm not sure ..) and followed me down to the snag ...

The snag is maybe 10 feet from the fence - the lot goes uphill from there , 50 or so feet uphill is a still-Green Oak that is uprooted , leaning across the fence - from the Oak , there is a short flat area , then the lot goes steeply uphill w/ a large rock outcropping on the other side of the fence . Joel is raggin' me , telling me I have seen the neighbors Cougar-Tan Dog , and telling me I am totally full of shit . I am starting to wonder if I have imagined the whole episode as we go up the hill ....

We reach the Oak , Joel is in the lead w/ the club over his shoulder - as he starts around the tree's exposed root-wad , I am at the fence line and I can see movement through the Green ... I tell Joel "He's RIGHT THERE" - Joel looks back at me as he rounds the roots ...

Joel clears the root wad , and stops . The Cat is standing 15 feet from the fence , perhaps 20 feet away from Joel ..... just standing there , staring at him .

Joel is frozen in place . He stands there for the most pregnant 30 seconds of our lives .... then , almost in slow-motion , raises the golf club is both hands over his head .... and lets out one of the highest screams I have EVER heard ..... hopping around in place .

The Lion stares for another minute . Then turns and jumps across the fence onto the rocks that are 35-40 feet away - it stares for another long minute , and melts away ...

Joel looks at me with WIDE eyes , and says "JESUS , THAT'S A LION" !!!

I can only assume that the Cat was young , and didn't quite know what I was . After Joel Sr. came back home we learned that something had killed the neighbors Dog a few days before . That Cat MUST have been sitting tight the whole time I was working with the Weedeater - why it didn't spook off , I will never know . I saw no aggression in it , and not a bit of fear .

It remains one of the most remarkable moments of my life .

D.~