Finding Mountain Lions

A place to explore the natural setting (geology, flora & fauna), people, constructed infrastructure and historical events that play and have played a part in shaping the Sierra Nevada as we know it today.
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oldranger
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Re: Finding Mountain Lions

Post by oldranger »

Maverick

I may have related a story about a ranger being followed by a mountain lion near Elizabeth Pass in cloudy conditions some time ago. A helicopter was not sent though and it is unlikely one would be sent under those conditions.

Mike
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markskor
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Re: Finding Mountain Lions

Post by markskor »

Finding mountain lions?
These are not cats you can find in any specific location...too broad a hunting range. They find you. Yes they are out there but unseen...actually this drought might make sightings more frequent - considering food and water issues today.

Personally, over my "limited" backpacking career, have only seen two (three actually).
Once, near the Ahwahnee meadow, a pair of rather small cats came slinking by...smelling the herb?

Then last year, coming down the Snow Creek switchbacks on a 100º day, saw a full grown beauty about 2/3 of the way down. There's a small arch recess, west of the trail about 100 yards away and up, where a small stream pools - dark rock streaks - off-trail. He was lounging in the water, in the shade...I remember the motion of the tail - just like some contented house cat. He wasn't going anywhere in that heat - probably smarter than I.
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AlmostThere
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Re: Finding Mountain Lions

Post by AlmostThere »

there is from some reports an active mountain lion den above the happy isles trail along the first mile in Yosemite. I've never seen a cat there but as we all know you hardly see them anywhere. I'm sure the cats spent many a lazy summer day looking down upon the hordes of tourists.


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maverick
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Re: Finding Mountain Lions

Post by maverick »

Maverick

I may have related a story about a ranger being followed by a mountain lion near Elizabeth Pass in cloudy conditions some time ago. A helicopter was not sent though and it is unlikely one would be sent under those conditions.

Mike
It was in Backpacker Magazine years ago Mike, but the story may have be embellished a bit to make it more exciting.
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I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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maverick
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Re: Finding Mountain Lions

Post by maverick »

there is from some reports an active mountain lion den above the happy isles trail along the first mile in Yosemite.
That is like leading the prey to the predator.
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I don't give out specific route information, my belief is that it takes away from the whole adventure spirit of a trip, if you need every inch planned out, you'll have to get that from someone else.

Have a safer backcountry experience by using the HST ReConn Form 2.0, named after Larry Conn, a HST member: http://reconn.org
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rlown
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Re: Finding Mountain Lions

Post by rlown »

more info on Mountain Lions Sierra: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/snbs/SheepPredators.html

The article has some nice pics of Mountain Lions...

Predator Monitoring and Management (Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program)

Predator monitoring and management is an integral part of the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Recovery Program. For Sierra bighorn recovery, the primary focus of predator monitoring and management is mountain lions, but program personnel investigate Sierra bighorn mortalities from all causes and collect data on bobcat and coyote sign in addition to mountain lions. Mountain lions kill bighorn sheep, but may have little or no impact on population trend if predation is infrequent. Some mountain lions learn to specialize on bighorn sheep. Consequently, in some of the small isolated populations of Sierra bighorn that now exist, predation can have a major impact on the growth rate of the population. For this reason, mountain lions are removed if they are considered a significant threat to the recovery of an Sierra bighorn herd unit. The goals, with respect to predators, are to monitor predation risks to Sierra bighorn, provide Sierra bighorn herd units enough protection to ensure recovery, and collect information on the behavioral interactions of Sierra bighorn, deer, and predators to gain a complete understanding of the dynamics in this important ecological community.

Mountain Lion Monitoring

Mountain lions have been intensively monitored on the winter range of the largest Sierra bighorn population unit, Wheeler Ridge, since 1991. In 2000, this effort was expanded to include all of the winter ranges of Sierra bighorn. Over 130 mountain lions have been fitted with radio collars in the eastern Sierra Nevada during this time period. In, collaboration with USDA Wildlife Services, the Sierra bighorn Recovery Program includes two predator control specialists that track mountain lions daily and use their specially trained hounds to capture them. New advances in technology have allowed more intensive monitoring via GPS collars that provide much more accurate data at a much higher frequency than the traditional VHF collars. GPS collars are used to identify clusters of locations that indicate kill sites. Sites can be investigated to determine the prey species. These collars allow the Sierra bighorn program personnel to identify individual mountain lions that pose a threat, quantify predation rates, and determine whether predation limits recovery of Sierra bighorn. Removing lions that are a legitimate threat to the recovery of Sierra bighorn units is the most efficient and effective protection for Sierra bighorn and promotes recovery of an endangered species and the restoration of an ecosystem

About Mountain Lions

Mountain lions go by a number of names and this causes some confusion. The names cougar, puma, panther, and catamount, all refer to the same animal. The scientific name (Puma concolor) reflects the solid tawny color of the mountain lion along its upper body. The belly is white and there are black markings at the base of the whiskers, the back of the ears and the tip of the tail.

The young are born with spots that fade by six months of age. Mountain lions are sexually dimorphic meaning that there is a physical difference between males and females. Adult females in the Recovery Program area average 40 kg. while adult males average 58 kg. Despite this, it can be extremely difficult to tell a male and female apart unless the animals are in hand.

General sign of coyotes and bobcats are noted by predator monitoring personnel on a daily basis. This data collection includes sightings, kills and tracks found while monitoring and tracking mountain lions. Predator monitoring personnel investigate reported mountain lion sightings by the public. Bobcats are very often mistaken for mountain lions, sometimes because people are unaware that there is another cat species besides mountain lions in the area, because they thought bobcats have no tail at all, or because humans can not judge distance well and a bobcat can easily appear the size of a mountain lion if the distance is less than the observer perceives it to be. Bobcats in our Recovery Program area rarely exceed 16 kg., generally have numerous markings about the body, especially on the legs, and have a shortened but distinguishable tail.

Dogs, coyotes, and house cats are also frequently reported as mountain lions. Dog tracks are very often reported as mountain lion tracks. Cat tracks have distinguishing features in the heel pad. The base of the heel pad will have three cleats and the top will be flat. These characteristics occur in the tracks of every member of the cat family. Very rarely a dog may also have a similar track in which case the presence of claw marks, a pointed tip in the heel pad and other factors may eliminate it as a possible cat track. Size is not useful in distinguishing mountain lion tracks from dog tracks. Black mountain lions are infrequently reported but in the history of mountain lion hunting, which includes hundreds of thousands of specimens, dating back for over a century in both North and South America, a black mountain lion has never been definitively observed. The black panthers seen in movies are either black jaguars or black leopards, both species which can commonly produce melanistic offspring.

See also, general information about mountain lions at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/lion.
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rlown
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Re: Finding Mountain Lions

Post by rlown »

just found this tidbit of news on yahoo on a feed: http://news.yahoo.com/deaths-california ... 28179.html
Tragedy has struck California’s mountain lions once again, with three deaths in as many weeks highlighting how difficult it is for the big cats to survive in an urban national park.

Three young mountain lions have been found dead in the Santa Monica Mountains over the past few weeks, according to Friday’s press release from the National Park Service. The most recent death was a young female called P-34. She was found dead on Sept. 30. Although she had minor wounds, likely from a fight with another cougar, she appears to have died from ingesting rat poison.

A 2012 study from the National Park Service found that 11 out of 12 mountain lions tested positive for exposure to rat poison, with two dying as a result. The majority of coyotes and bobcats tested were also infected.

What’s rat poison doing in a national park? It likely worked its way up the food chain. When rodents consume the blood-thinning poison set out by humans, they don’t necessarily die right away. Often they first slow down and become easy prey for larger animals, which can then also become sick or die. When the poison doesn’t directly kill the mountain lions, they become more susceptible to diseases such as mange.

RELATED: Everyone Loves Wild Animals in Their Backyard—Until They Don’t

Poison isn’t the only problem for these mountain lions. The Pacific Ocean and roadways have left the big cats boxed into the Santa Monica Mountains, resulting in heightened intraspecies conflict. Last month, the Park Service found two dead three-month-old kittens, P-43 and a previously unknown sibling. Another animal, possibly a mountain lion, killed them. P-34’s sibling P-32 died in August of this year after traversing four highways to get out of the Santa Monica mountains and develop his own range free from other male cats. He was struck and killed by a car when attempting to traverse his fifth freeway.

“If you’re a mountain lion in the Santa Monica Mountains, this is just not an easy place to grow up,” Seth Riley, a wildlife ecologist for the National Park Service, said in the release. “From our roads to rat poisons to potentially increased interactions with other mountains lions, it is very difficult for young animals to make it to adulthood, establish their own home range and reproduce.”

Mountain lions are essential to maintaining the ecosystem. The top predators, they feast on herbivores and thereby indirectly influence vegetation growth. They also eat coyotes, helping maintain a balanced ecosystem in California.

Park officials are working on a wildlife crossing for the mountain lions over the 101 freeway. As for ingesting rat poison, the National Park Service advises humans to stop using poisons that contain anticoagulants or find an alternative way to control pests.
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dave54
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Re: Finding Mountain Lions

Post by dave54 »

maverick wrote:Remember reading a story of a SEKI Ranger being stalked by a mountain lion on the top Elizabeth Pass. Visibility was low because of the low clouds, the ranger called for a chopper, which arrived just in time, because the cat was within 20 feet of the ranger, fortunately the sound of the chopper scared off the cat. Later the park bioligist said, that usually lions do not stalk/attack adults, but the cat may have beiieved the ranger was injured due to the red backpack.
The red backpack story is likely untrue. Cats are partially color blind. They can discern some shades of blue and green, but not red.

In thirty plus years in the Forest Service I spotted maybe a half dozen in the wild. No doubt many more were watching me. They are real hard to spot, even when looking right at them. They blend in to their surroundings and remain motionless if they see you looking at them.
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WarrenFork
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Re: Finding Mountain Lions

Post by WarrenFork »

I saw a full grown lion in Tenaya Canyon two years ago in late September in the flattish area where the canyon opens out above Hidden Falls before constricting into the gorge. It was headed into the trees from a sunny spot where it was basking before it sensed my approach. I was starled by how big it was, the tail alone looked two feet long.

East of the Sierra I have glimpsed lions from a farther distance twice, once in the Glass Mountains near the Indiana Summit Natural Area and another time in the hills north of Huntoon Valley just across the Nevada line due east of Mono Lake. Both times I was tagging along with hunters tracking deer. They said it was not the first time they had come across big cats in those parts.
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acorad
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Re: Finding Mountain Lions

Post by acorad »

Park officials are working on a wildlife crossing for the mountain lions over the 101 freeway.
This planned wildlife crossing is less than 1/4 mile from my house, and it has become quite controversial.

My quick mountain lion story...

I run trails a lot, and my home borders the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area which has many miles of trails.

About 15 years ago I was running with my dog on one of these trails about 1/2 mile from my home when he started acting very strangely - pulling on the leash, whining, trying to get off the trail. Curious, I let him lead, and he led me to the edge of a grassy meadow that was bordered by various shrubs and trees growing next to a seasonal creek.

The meadow's dried grass was flattened in a very wide area, probably a 1/4 acre or so. And w/in this area my dog found the foreleg of a freshly killed deer. Considering the size of the grass-flattened area, I figured the deer was killed by a pack of coyotes.

Later that day I went to the local National Park Service headquarters and told some rangers what I had seen. They asked "You were at the edge of the meadow next to the trees?" And I said "Yes." They said, "Did you look up?" And I said, "No, why?" And they said, "Because the mountain lion was probably up in a tree right over your head."

They said that after a lion make its kill it takes multiple days to eat all the meat, so it drags the carcass into the brush and then climbs a nearby tree that overlooks it to guard it.

15 years later, and retelling this story still gets my heart working a little faster!

Andy
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