Mountain Lion Gives New Meaning to Roadkill
mtbxplorer
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^ They say bear spray or pepper spray works (temporarily obviously). They normally take off in a hurry if they see a human.
I'm jealous. I've had tracks on my property...my neighbor saw one on my property 10 minutes before I left for work on my bike one time, and I've never seen one.
I'm jealous. I've had tracks on my property...my neighbor saw one on my property 10 minutes before I left for work on my bike one time, and I've never seen one.
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^^ Hope you get to see one, safely of course. My Dad saw one years ago hiking alone in Colorado. It was perched on a rock trailside. He stood still, took out his pocketknife (only as a "last resort" option), and they watched each other for a short time before the cat slunk off.
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45/70 lever action rifle or it that is to cumbersome riding then a 44mag works just fine.lol
I always think people who recommend that are insane. The slightest gust and that crap will be in your eyes and the lion/bear will be eating you.
Wow. That's an impressive story. I've seen 3 mountain lions myself, all three on trails up in the Laguna mountains in San Diego county. One sighting was a brief glimpse of one crossing the Sunrise Highway right near Penny Pines, a popular mtb ride staging area.
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These are very scary animals, they scare the crap out of me, more so than almost any other predator. They are like ninjas you probably wont even hear them coming.
I used to live next to and ride at Whiting Ranch in SoCal where one mountain biker was killed and one was mauled by a mountain lion. Every time I rode there I felt uneasy.
I never saw one but I think I was stalked by one once. I was walking my dog on some less traveled trails near Coto de Caza. I was getting a bad vibe and started feeling anxious, then my dog started paying attention to some noises in the brush. We kept moving and so did the noises right along with us. I began to realize that there was something following us in the brush, very stealth but there was something there for sure. I threw some rocks in the direction and we booked it the hell out of there. Could have been nothing but I did not like the feeling of being potential prey.
I used to live next to and ride at Whiting Ranch in SoCal where one mountain biker was killed and one was mauled by a mountain lion. Every time I rode there I felt uneasy.
I never saw one but I think I was stalked by one once. I was walking my dog on some less traveled trails near Coto de Caza. I was getting a bad vibe and started feeling anxious, then my dog started paying attention to some noises in the brush. We kept moving and so did the noises right along with us. I began to realize that there was something following us in the brush, very stealth but there was something there for sure. I threw some rocks in the direction and we booked it the hell out of there. Could have been nothing but I did not like the feeling of being potential prey.
An old guy with a folding Buck knife killed one that jumped him on his own property a few years back. He admitted that there was more than a little luck involved.
Like I said he admitted to being more than a little bit lucky. He was pretty tore up when he slashed blindly on a diagonal plane that just happened to catch the cats' carotid artery. It ran off and bled out a short distance away. He was either found by his neighbors or contacted them, who got him to the ER, which saved his life.
A knife-fight with a mountain lion is not a very fun thing to contemplate.
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Poking it in the eyes and hitting it in the face has driven them off after an attack in the past. But that only works if they don't sever your spinal cord with a bite to the neck first.
Bear spray comes out in a pretty direct stream. It's not like a f'n bug fogger. It works well when it's not sprayed directly in your own face, which I would worry about with you.
The one you see is not the one you need to be concerned with at that time, but spraying it with pepper spray will make it think twice about getting too close to people in the future. Chances are, it sees you, too, and is not hunting ATM.
The one you don't see is the one that you need to think about. A rifle won't help you. A handgun, maybe, but you need to be able to grab it, unlock the safety, and fire it while you are in the cat's mouth.
I trust myself to hit the cat in the face more.
But then again, I wouldn't be out in a high risk area by myself. Small groups are MUCH safer, and ANY weapon used by your buddies will drive a mt lion off. Not necessary to kill it. It will give up when it feels threatened enough.
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I was once charged by TWO mountain lions, I'm sure glad I didn't have bear spray (which by the way, doesn't matter how it leaves the can, you will be miserable for days). Yes, one has to grab the handgun, the safety is unlocked while you are bringing the gun to bear so it adds no time to discharging it. The spray will take longer to deploy.
Second mountain lion thread in MTBR, There's another one in Passion.
Anyway, if you're caught face to face with a mountain lion the only weapon you can use is your seatpost. Either club it with your seat or impale it with the sharpened point of the seatpost.
What, you mean y'all don't have a seatpost stake ready in case of vampire attacks?
Anyway, if you're caught face to face with a mountain lion the only weapon you can use is your seatpost. Either club it with your seat or impale it with the sharpened point of the seatpost.
What, you mean y'all don't have a seatpost stake ready in case of vampire attacks?
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it may not add time, but it's another step most folks have to think about. Who has trained drawing and firing a weapon under extreme stress? Not a lot of people.
Yes, the spray will take time to deploy, too, which is why I pointed out that spraying a mountain lion you see (but is not attacking) will help convince it to stay away from people in the future. Hell, I wouldn't spray one in close quarters, either. Would be no different than spraying yourself in the face.
Sounds like you had a couple young ones that were just learning. Or maybe a young one and a parent. They will often "watch" and then do bluff charges when they're learning how to handle a new prey item. If you catch them at the "watching" stage and convince them you're a bad mofo, they'll think twice next time. In the past, I've just thrown rocks and $hit at them at this point, but bear spray would be a little more convincing.
I'm not saying that there's no time or place for firearms. Just that under this circumstance, there are better ways. Knowing the behaviors of mountain lions can give you a lot of insight.
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:lol: I'm afraid those don't exist. :lol:
That is where people see them the most though...the edges of a big population center where they've been driven from their habitat and are struggling to find food. I ride with no weapon or knife in the woods alone all the time. I've gotten that creepy feeling....but my comfort is always that we have an overabundance of deer...it's like a buffet out there if the kitty is hungry. they have hundreds of square miles of forest to hang out and eat in.
I do have one cool close encounter story that could have been like the one in the news article ...didn't see anything, but one time I was riding my dirt bike (motorcycle) on a logging road, moving along pretty good, throwing the back end out around corners and blasting along, and I came around a corner and had to dodge a mangled up deer carcass in the middle of the road...I dodged it and kept going, and about 2 corners later I thought "I should check that out"...so I whipped it around and went back, and ..................wait for it........................... it was GONE. No trace. I don't know what else it could have been. I'm assuming if the bike was quieter I might have had an even closer encounter. I did not sit there long.
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