Mountain lion attack

[moobikes]

<<https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/1-dead-1-injured-in-cougar-attack-near-north-bend/281-555709031>>

[joosttx]

Tragic. Be safe out there. I saw a mountain lion about 4 years ago while riding. It was pretty scary from a distance.

[weaponsgrade]

Very sad. My brother and I saw one many years ago while mountain biking in I think Downieville. It was perched on a slope just above the trail. We rounded a corner, my brother hit the brakes, I ran into him, we both fell, and then saw it leap away.

[CMiller]

Really, really sad. Mountain lions stalk silently, so if you see it there's a chance it's been seeing you. Be big, big loud, throw rocks near it and DON'T RUN!

Living in Santa Cruz for 2 years this was a big fear, like surfing and sharks. Rare, but scary.

[Salty]

Awful.

I’d be tempted to ride with a canister of bear spray.

[Steve in SLO]

Originally Posted by Salty

Awful.

I’d be tempted to ride with a canister of bear spray.

That might work for a bear, but the first inkling a mountain lion is stalking you would likely be as it makes contact with your body.

In all seriousness, I ride solo on a fair amount on mountain trails around SLO, and do the same at my cabin in the northern Sierra Madre range in SoCal, two regions of known lion habitat. It's a concern, and on a couple of occasions I have seen fresh tracks. It would not be a pretty way to go.

[CMiller]

Originally Posted by Steve in SLO

That might work for a bear, but the first inkling a mountain lion is stalking you would likely be as it makes contact with your body.

In all seriousness, I ride solo on a fair amount on mountain trails around SLO, and do the same at my cabin in the northern Sierra Madre range in SoCal, two regions of known lion habitat. It's a concern, and on a couple of occasions I have seen fresh tracks. It would not be a pretty way to go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpB7jrJ7Zds

Pretty crazy video of bear spray actually being used on a mountain lion!

[d_douglas]

We have lots of deer in our city; every Spring a hungry cougar or two wander in from the wilderness to feast on these them.

We had an email from our kids school two weeks ago about confirmed cougar sightings in the (wooded) vicinity nearby - not a reassuring email.

No sightings lately l!

[p nut]

I ride in the mountains quite a bit as well. While I’ve never seen a mountain lion, I’ve seen tracks and that back of neck hair raising “something’s watching me” moments.

I don’t know if this works. But I’ve got eyes on the back of my head now.

[djg21]

After they attack a human. The animals are predators, and are attacking what they believe to be easy prey. If you want to play in the backcountry or in wild animal habitat, you should expect wild animals to be present and take proper precautions to minimize the risk. You are encroaching into their habitat.

Maybe if the animal had moved into a residential area, there could be cause. But it’s really sad to see these beautiful animals killed because they are acting like wild animals. I’m pretty sure that the mountain lion didn’t start the day by deciding to attack a human on a bicycle.

[djg21]

Originally Posted by CMiller

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpB7jrJ7Zds

Pretty crazy video of bear spray actually being used on a mountain lion!

So he saw two cougars ahead of him on the trail and decided to approach them to take a better look, and then to run by them while he knew them to be in the bush watching. Not the brightest move. The guy deserved a Darwin Award.

[KJMUNC]

Ugh, man this is awful. I've heard them at night way back when I was at Philmont scout camp and it scared me forever. Sleeping in a tiny pup tent with that thing screaming from the canyon walls above us was terrifying.

I do almost all of my riding alone and often in the dark of the early AM. Cougars aren't really a concern here but they have been seen in the surrounding hill country. I've run across coyotes on the trail in the dark and it's scary enough being 10ft from a wild animal who isnt yielding the path.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by djg21

After they attack a human. The animals are predators, and are attacking what they believe to be easy prey. If you want to play in the backcountry or in wild animal habitat, you should expect wild animals to be present and take proper precautions to minimize the risk. You are encroaching into their habitat.

Maybe if the animal had moved into a residential area, there could be cause. But it’s really sad to see these beautiful animals killed because they are acting like wild animals. I’m pretty sure that the mountain lion didn’t start the day by deciding to attack a human on a bicycle.

Altho sad that a person was killed and another injured but I agree..in their world. These animals eat, sleep, make little cougars..

[eddief]

nature has a way of evening things out...even if we don't understand the variables.

I have spent time on the Madison River in Montana. Nice hiking but scares the crap out of me cuz I know a grizzly is behind every tree.

Definitely sad when one of our human brothers gets taken.

[dgauthier]

Originally Posted by djg21

After they attack a human. The animals are predators, and are attacking what they believe to be easy prey. If you want to play in the backcountry or in wild animal habitat, you should expect wild animals to be present and take proper precautions to minimize the risk. You are encroaching into their habitat.

Maybe if the animal had moved into a residential area, there could be cause. But it’s really sad to see these beautiful animals killed because they are acting like wild animals. I’m pretty sure that the mountain lion didn’t start the day by deciding to attack a human on a bicycle.

You kill the animal so it won't reproduce, and pass its aggressive characteristics on to the general population.