Front range lion

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Sat Nov 01, 2008 7:55 pm

Another canyon dweller - in the general area of Eaton, LSA, Bailey, etc.

Post by **HikeUp** » Sat Nov 01, 2008 8:14 pm

Zoiks!

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Sat Nov 01, 2008 8:23 pm

Yeah, this is a good sized animal....check out these comparison shots - both standing in about the same spot. I keep meaning to put some kind of yardstick in the ground to measure better, but I keep forgetting....

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 11:37 am

BIG kitty.

kgw · Post by **kgw** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:55 am

How cool is that! thx for your enthusiasm, CM!

Post by **HikeUp** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 1:50 pm

Could this be the same front range lion?

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_1088 ... rss_viewed

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 4:35 pm

Eaton/Bailey Cyns to Monrovia. That is not very far for a mountain lion!

JMunaretto · Post by **JMunaretto** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:22 pm

I was relieving myself in some bushes last Saturday and started thinking, what if there's a camera watching me?!

Creepy.

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 7:31 pm

HikeUp wrote:Could this be the same front range lion?

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/ci_1088 ... rss_viewed

Wow, thanks for this link!!! I hadn't seen it yet. Hmmmm.....there is certainly a high probability this is that lion. This whole dog-stealing thing is getting to be a real bad habit for these guys. There's been an attack almost once a month, starting in July, all along the front range.

Sh*t. Not good. I hope people start bringing their dogs inside at night, if they live in foothill areas.

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 7:31 pm

JMunaretto wrote:I was relieving myself in some bushes last Saturday and started thinking, what if there's a camera watching me?!

Creepy.

You should be worried that there's a mountain lion watching you!! haha

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 7:50 pm

Mike P wrote:Eaton/Bailey Cyns to Monrovia. That is not very far for a mountain lion!

Not far at all. The video was taken Oct 25th, so he doesn't even have an alibi!

Hard to say for sure - there's a lot of habitat, and though males don't overlap territories, females do sometimes.

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 7:06 am

Unfortunately, I believe that our front range lion from cougarmagic's photos was killed yesterday by the Arcadia Police Department: mountain lion story

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 8:49 am

Unfortunately, this does little to solve the problem. Another lion will quickly move into this territory. If it is one of her offspring, she already has taught it to hunt for dogs. If she had young kittens, they will slowly starve to death over the next week or so.

The only solution is for people who live in or near wilderness areas to bring their pets inside at night, or keep them in an enclosure with a roof. Really, how hard is that?

Shooting this animal may make people feel as if "something has been done". But it accomplishes nothing but the perpetuation of ignorance and fear.

I'm glad I got to see this beautiful animal in it's short life.

Post by **HikeUp** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 9:04 am

I agree. Similar to living in bear areas. Don't feed the bears, don't feed the cats, don't feed the 'yotes, etc.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 9:16 am

Funny, isn't it, how people act like the mt. lion did something wrong. A lion is supposed to hunt small animals. I don't think people realize that pets have to be taken in at night.

A little more scary is the fact that the lion wasn't particularly intimidated when the police arrived, although it is normal behavior for a lion to fight to protect a kill.

Officers said the mountain lion had just mauled a dog to death and was charging at police when they shot the cat with an assault weapon.

Interesting.

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 9:35 am

Hikin_Jim wrote: A little more scary is the fact that the lion wasn't particularly intimidated when the police arrived, although it is normal behavior for a lion to fight to protect a kill.

Remember the story of the mountain lion that "jumped over" the mtn biker, and then chased it for a while? And also the JPL lion, who was "crouched, ready to attack", but then people who actually were there described it as "frightened" and "trying to run away"? These things get exaggerated. I don't doubt the lion was probably hissing and looking as mean as possible, but I find it very, very hard to believe it would "charge" a full grown man.

And you're right about small animals being fair game to them - what, are they supposed to read some wildlife handout that explains to them that coyotes are OK to eat, but dogs are not? Food is food.

Damn, I am so depressed now.

Rumpled · Post by **Rumpled** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 9:42 am

Hikin_Jim wrote:
Officers said the mountain lion had just mauled a dog to death and was charging at police when they shot the cat with an assault weapon.
Interesting.

Media bias against firearms of all kinds, classifying them into various evil groups.
Also the fact that the po-po are allowed to have what CA has classified as "assault weapons" that the average civilian is not allowed to own. For the police, they are allowed both individually and by the departments. Some citizens are more equal than others.

As far as the cat, just doing what comes natually. With their ever expanding numbers with no form of control; they strike out into more populated areas. Droughts help push them into neighborhoods. So to does the fact that our neighborhoods used to be theirs.

That and the idiots leaving pets and their food outside to draw wildilife in to kill their pets.

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 9:54 am

I don't believe that this is the same cat as the Glendora lion as the story reports. Glendora PD in the last couple of days or so received a report from a citizen of a mountain lion with a coyote in its mouth.

The question is: can you believe the citizen? Folks around here frequently mistake bobcats for mtn lions. Geesh!

AW~ · Post by **AW~** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 12:53 pm

One more cat news:
"Residents told not to 'get crazy'"
http://www.lacanadaonline.com/articles/ ... 505801.txt
"What appears to be a dire situation inspired several locals to consider packing weaponry and taking to the trails above La Cañada after Monday night’s City Council meeting, where residents and officials discussed the dastardly deeds of a predator in our midst"

N.CA...
"Who's afraid of the big bad cat?"
http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/33549249.html

Seems overblown to me. As you said Mike, 60 sightings of mountain lions in the past few weeks seems very overstated. I do think people should have the right to defend their property, but to expect that mountain lions will not be a threat is rather ridiculous...a persons house gets robbed and the police show up way later, 911 calls go busy..and yet one lion brings out assault rifles??? So they blew that one to bits....is someone happy now? no worries anymore? Seems to me people are not concerned enough to safeguard their pets...and there seems to be some options they can use to try and prevent these sorts of things....I mean this is like me leaving my keys in the ignition in an open car and being surprised it was stolen.

As far as hunting them, we already hunt their significant food sources. I am not going to jump on the bandwagon because there might be one or two extra lions near homes.....sort of frustrating that people cant appreciate them in their natural habitat and only view them in the zoo...dont get me wrong, Im afraid of em myself...but doesnt mean they need to be gunned down...thats not going to get rid of my paranoia of nighttime in the SG wilderness.

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 1:12 pm

AW wrote:As you said Mike, 60 sightings of mountain lions in the past few weeks seems very overstated.

Seriously overstated!! More like 59 sightings of bobcats, yellow labs, coyotes, and housecats...and maybe...MAYBE...one lion.

This is why DFG is cautious before going out and shooting all the wildlife. For god's sake, there are reports of black panthers sometimes! Unconfirmed sightings cannot be acted on, especially during this kind of public panic attack.

Rumpled · Post by **Rumpled** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 1:59 pm

Well, wasn't there really a big cat loose for a while in Simi a year or so ago?

As far aas hunting lions; I think a limited hunt might be beneficial. IN CA they have not been hunted since 1971-2 and many generations have grown without total fear of man. I think they may be getting bolder.

But, the larger problem is encroachment by homes and easy prey of housepets on the loose.