The recent multitude of sightings and encounters with mountain lions in Lake County has more than a few people concerned about the safety of their children and pets.
In just the past month a lion killed a deer in front of a landscaping crew in the Clear Lake Riviera, killed a farmer”s goat just outside of Lakeport, was seen walking across the parking lot at a fast food restaurant in downtown Lakeport, was seen ambling along on a golf course near Cobb, jumped into the backyard of a residence in Fort Bragg and killed seven pet alpacas, and most recently, attempted to snatch a small dog from a woman in a mobile home park in Lakeport.
All these events occurred during broad daylight. Luckily no one was injured but it could have easily been a different story. What if a young child had been walking that dog instead of an adult woman? Would the lion have attacked the child?
All literature available on the behavior of mountain lions says they are secretive creatures that travel and hunt at night. That”s not the case for mountain lions in Lake County. They are far from secretive and they are very active during the daytime hours.
There is no question that since California voters passed Proposition 117 in 1990, which bans all hunting of mountain lions, that their numbers have been on the increase. They have also lost their fear of humans as illustrated by recent events.
An adult mountain lion has no predator in the wild. A bear may be bigger but it won”t tangle with an adult mountain lion, which can weigh up to 175 pounds and is extremely strong.
What”s troubling about the recent rash of mountain lion incidents is there are no real answers. The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has the responsibility to manage all wildlife in the state and their policy on mountain lions is that unless one poses an immediate threat to humans or livestock, it”s left alone.
What is considered an immediate threat by the DFG is a bit murky. The lion that went after the Lakeport woman”s dog (which she was holding) wasn”t considered a threat and was logged by the DFG as only a mountain lion sighting. That lion snarled at the woman from a distance of less that 20 feet and I”m sure she considered that to be a threat.
When a lion is considered a threat the DFG either issues a depredation permit for the property owner to kill the lion or brings in the federal trapper to hunt down the lion with dogs. A mountain lion is never trapped and released in another area but is always killed, the reason being that it will just become a problem lion in another area. Last year the DFG issued two depredation permits in Lake County and one lion was killed.
The problem with the lions being seen in the residential areas is that there is no way for the federal trappers to get them. These areas are so densely populated with homes that using tracking dogs is nearly impossible. There is also the problem with authorizing an individual to shoot the lion because of the fear that someone will accidentally get shot.
This brings back the subject of what should be done about the mountain lion problem. As it now stands more and more people are afraid of going for a walk in their own neighborhood because the lions aren”t just roaming in the forests that surround the residential areas. They are roaming neighborhoods in Lakeport and other residential areas.
I do know this — if a person is ever attacked, injured or killed by a mountain lion in Lake County, there will be dozens of state officials arriving on the scene along with the news media. All kinds of solutions will be offered so that it doesn”t happen again.
How about some of those solutions now?
