The recent mountain lion attack on a 70-year-old hiker in Humboldt County raises the question if a similar attack could happen in Lake County.
It”s a fact our county has a healthy population of mountain lions. How many? No one really knows. Mountain lions are elusive animals and very few people have ever seen one in the wild. Wildlife biologists estimate the population of lions in the county at 100 to 200 animals. But even that is just a guess.
In the Humboldt County attack, the individual was hiking with his wife in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park when the attack occurred. The man”s life was saved when his wife beat off the lion with a large stick. Park rangers say that if the man had been hiking alone he would probably have been killed.
In 1994, a lion attacked a couple that was camping along the Eel River near Covelo. This was another case of the woman saving the man”s life by beating off the lion. There even have been a few people killed by mountain lions, the most famous being the woman jogger who was attacked and killed near the town of Cool in El Dorado County.
In Lake County, there have been a number of confrontations with lions down through the years although no one ever has even been attacked. A number of years ago a lion wandered through an open patio door and entered a house in Kono Tayee. The lion didn”t harm anyone but scared the heck out of the residents.
A few years ago, a resident of the Buckingham Area shot and killed a lion that was in his backyard. And 15 years ago an elderly woman was sitting on her porch with her small dog on the outskirts of Lakeport when a lion jumped up on the porch and grabbed the dog and disappeared into the woods.
Here is a chilling thought. If you have done much hiking in the woods in Lake County, chances are you have been under the watchful gaze of a mountain lion at one time or another.
I live just outside the Lakeport city limits and twice we have seen mountain lions in our yard. In fact, there has been a female lion with cubs that has been seen in the general area for a number of years.
Department of Fish and Game (DFG) biologist say that most of the problem lion are juveniles who are forced into the suburbs by other adult lions (the lion that attacked the man in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park was estimated to be only a couple of years old).
An adult male will normally kill or drive out any other male lion. The other factor is that there is a ready food supply in the suburbs for the big cats. Deer, dogs, domestic cats and other animals tend to congregate around the homes, which in turn draws the lions.
Because they are mostly nocturnal creatures, mountain lions are rarely seen. However, they have learned to live near humans. A few years ago a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service put GPS Global Tracking devices on several lions in Southern California. He tracked one lion who would hide in the heavy brush and watch hikers walk by on a popular hiking trail. During the weekend dozens of people passed within a few feet of the lion but no one saw him. The lion stayed in the area for a couple of weeks.
Even a small mountain lion is definitely able to injure or even kill a person. Pound for pound they are rated as the strongest of all the big cats and that includes African lions. A 150-pound mountain lion can take down and kill a 1,000-pound bull elk within a matter of minutes. They kill their prey by approaching from the rear and jumping on their backs and biting down on the neck. They also rake the deer or elk with their long claws to cripple it.
Unlike a bear, which occasionally attacks a human because it”s either surprised or feels threatened, experts say a mountain lion attacks because you are basically food.
According to the DFG, mountain lion attacks on humans are extremely rare although conflicts are increasing as California”s human population expands into mountain lion habitat.
The DFG offers these tips when in mountain lion country.
— Do not hike, bike, or jog alone.
— Avoid hiking or jogging when mountain lions are most active (dawn, dusk and at night).
— Keep a close watch on small children. Mountain lions are especially attracted to children.
— Do not approach a mountain lion.
— If you encounter a mountain lion, do not run; instead, face the animal, make noise and try to look bigger by waving your arms. If you have children with you pick them up. If attacked, fight back.
— If you have an encounter with a mountain lion call the DFG or local authorities at once to report it.
Just because Lake County is home to a fair number of mountain lions doesn”t mean we should lock ourselves in our homes and never venture out into the woods. Like everything else just use a little common sense.
