REVIEWS DEALS BIKESHOPS TRAILS

animal activity Whiting/Harding/STT

970 Views 10 Replies 8 Participants Last post by EzyRider, Dec 19, 2005

EzyRider

Discussion Starter · Dec 17, 2005

On wednesday (this week) a friend of mine rode Harding early (6:30 AM), and told me a bobcat had ran out from the side of the trail, bared its teeth at him, and then ran up a steep slope. This was just before the first little DH section (5-10 minutes up). He described it to me, and it sounded a little big, so I said 'it had a short tail, right? Nope, he said it had a very long, distinctly banded tail. After a google search for pictures of bobcats and cougers/mountain lions, we determined he had seen a young mountain lion. Not that this is shocking, but just a heads up.

Then this afternoon (3:30) as I was riding up Modjeska Grade road for a STT/Luge run, I saw what looked like a giant fish carcess on the side of the road. It was a completely stripped deer carcess, I mean everything, no guts, no head, just bones stripped clean all the way down. There were bones laying around with the just the hooves left, otherwise I couldn't have telled what it was. A lady stopped and said it had appeared overnight, and the buzzards had been at it during the day,

So anyways, just a little food for thought for your solo rides in the area

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1 - 11 of 11 Posts

dstepper

· #2 · Dec 17, 2005

and the point is?

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frankenbike

· #3 · Dec 17, 2005

I think his point is just to be good natured and share safety info. A reminder for folks to readup on mtn lion behavior and what to do if one should encounter one.

It's the lions' turf that we play on.

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LBmtb

· #4 · Dec 17, 2005

And maybe a reminder to ride in groups if possible.

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SHIVER ME TIMBERS

· #5 · Dec 17, 2005

safety is always a good thing...I would love to see a mountain lion...from far away

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EJ_92606

· #6 · Dec 17, 2005

Thanks for the post. I like hearing about animal sightings.

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Chopper

· #7 · Dec 18, 2005

Deer

I saw that carcass this moring also. I did a quick ride up SST before doing trail maintenance at Whiting. I mentioned it to the ranger so they could check for tracks and log it in.
I have always said that I would rather see a lion than a deer carcass. If you are looking at the carcass, they lion is probably looking at you from somewhere.

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dstepper

· #8 · Dec 18, 2005

The chances are that the dear was killed by a car and not a lion.

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EJ_92606

· #9 · Dec 18, 2005

dstepper said:
The chances are that the dear was killed by a car and not a lion.

I agree, hit by a car and then eaten by scavengers. Mountain lions generally drag their prey to a hidden area and then partially bury them after eating the internal organs. Its possible it was previously killed by a lion and then scavenged by some coyotes, etc., but my guess is car kill.

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LLrider

· #10 · Dec 19, 2005

Man, I talked to my neighbor on Saturday and he said he hit Whiting the week before and he and his buddy saw a mountain lion. I've been hearing a lot of people report sightings there. I second the riding in numbers part. If we don't someone's gonna get chomped on and these beatiful animals are gonna be gone before we know it. <--not trying to blame anyone here...just saying.

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EzyRider

Discussion Starter · #11 · Dec 19, 2005

EJBlur said:
I agree, hit by a car and then eaten by scavengers. Mountain lions generally drag their prey to a hidden area and then partially bury them after eating the internal organs. Its possible it was previously killed by a lion and then scavenged by some coyotes, etc., but my guess is car kill.

yeah, it seemed weird to see that by the side of the road, being hit by a car makes sense. I've seen lots of road kill around there (including a young Mtn Lion a while back), but never seen anything stripped down to complete bare bones like that before. Seems like a major wildlife corridor around there (Cleveland NF to Whiting) and have seen a LOT of deer lately.

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