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Mountain Lions
Mountain Lion track
This is a Mountain Lion track. The white spot is a quarter I laid down to give it scale. The track is about the size of the palm of my hand. It's a LOT bigger than the tracks from my Newfoundland Dogs. 

What do you do if you meet a Mountain Lion?

Here's what the California Department of Fish and Game says: 

The following suggestions are based on studies of mountain lion behavior and analysis of attacks by mountain lions, tigers, and leopards: 

  • Do not hike alone. Go in groups, with adults supervising children. Do not approach a lion. Most mountain lions will try to avoid a confrontation. Give them a way to escape.
  • Do not run from a lion. Running may stimulate a mountain lion's instinct to chase. Instead, stand and face the animal. Make eye contact. If you have small children with you, pick them up if possible so that they do not panic and run. Although it may be awkward, pick them up without bending over or turning away from the lion.
  • Do not crouch or bend over. A person squatting or bending over looks a lot like a four-legged prey animal.
  • Do all you can to appear larger. Raise your arms. Open your jacket if you are wearing one. Throw stones, branches, or whatever you can reach without crouching or turning your back. Wave your arms slowly and speak firmly in a loud voice.
  • Fight back if attacked. Some hikers have fought back successfully with sticks, caps, jackets, garden tools, and their bare hands. Since a mountain lion usually tries to bite the head or neck, try to remain standing and face the attacking animal.
For more information about mountain lions, please contact the Department of Fish and Game, 1416 Ninth Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 

In case of emergency, call the DFG at (916)445-0045 (24 hours a day). 

Photo by Chuck Tribolet, triblet@almaden.ibm.com. The photograph was taken with a Nikon 300 mm lens, a Nikon 1.6x telextender, and a Nikon N90s body on Kodak Ektachrome Lumiere 100X (LPZ) slide film. They were scanned with a Nikon CoolScan. Digital image processing was done under OS/2 using ColorWorks V2 (tm) by SPG. 

Last Modified: Friday, 07-May-2004 11:18:37 PDT

 
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