Mountain Lions in California

People living within the Coarsegold Resource Conservation District live on the edge of the urban-wildlands interface. The quality of your life and the pleasure of living near wildlands makes it necessary to understand your environment. This article will look at changes in behavior of mountain lions who frequently interact with people on the edge.

The number of mountain lion/human incidents has increased in the last few years. This is due to increased mountain subdivisions with its inherent increase in human and lion populations. Mountain subdivisions supply an abundant, high quality and year round food supply for deer. People plant, water, fertilize and cultivate plants that provide a food supply which is much more reliable than the native ranges. Remember, a shortage of food for only a short period of time can cause a deer to move. This doesn't happen on a bluegrass lawn. After a few confrontations with the local dogs, the deer feel safe living with people. With the addition of a block of salt, all the comforts of home are provided. If your landscaping tends to be a delicacy to deer, you may inadvertently be attracting more than deer to your yard.

Mountain lions are most plentiful where there are large deer populations, however when game is scarce and people have moved into their habitat, mountain lions can be dangerous and may consider livestock, pets or unattended children as fair game. Recent residents may not realize that mountain lions are large powerful predators that prey on deer and other wildlife in the area. People seldom see lions raiding the dumpsters at construction sites, killing lambs or calves, stalking people, or killing dogs on the edge of town. These things are happening!

Male lions' home range often spans over 100 square miles. Females generally use smaller areas--about twenty to sixty square miles. Along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, where competition for habitat is intense, as many as ten adult lions occupy the same 100 square mile area.

The California Department of Fish and Game has published an excellent brochure entitled "Living with California Mountain Lions" and is worth reading for its valuable information for those people living or visiting "Lion Country". Listed below are tips they recommend should you encounter a mountain lion.

DO NOT HIKE ALONE: Go in groups, with adults supervising children.

KEEP CHILDREN CLOSE TO YOU: Observations of captured wild mountain lions reveal that the animals seem especially drawn to children. Keep children within your sight at all times.

DO NOT APPROACH A LION: Most mountain lions will try to avoid a confrontation. Give them a way to escape.

DO NOT RUN FROM A LION: Running may stimulate a mountain lion's instinct to chase. Instead, stand and face the animal. Make eye contact. If you have small children with you, pick them up if possible so they don't panic and run. Although it may be awkward, pick them up without bending over or turning away from the mountain lion.

DO NOT CROUCH DOWN OR BEND OVER: In Nepal, a researcher studying tigers and leopards watched the big cats kill cattle and domestic water buffalo while ignoring humans standing nearby. He surmised that a human standing up is just not the right shape for a cat's prey. On the other hand, a person squatting or bending over looks a lot like a four-legged prey animal. If you're in mountain lion country, avoid squatting, crouching or bending over, even when picking up children.

DO ALL YOU CAN TO APPEAR LARGER: Raise your arms, Open your jacket if you are wearing one. Again, pick up small children. Throw stones, branches, or whatever you can reach without crouching or turning your back. Wave your arms slowly and speak firmly in a loud voice. The idea is to convince the mountain lion that you are not prey and that you may be a danger to it.

FIGHT BACK IF ATTACKED: A hiker in Southern California used a rock to fend off a mountain lion that was attacking his son. Others have fought back successfully with sticks, caps, jackets, garden tools and their bare hands. Since a mountain lion usually tries to bite the head or neck, try to remain standing and face the attacking animal.

With more people in the woods and even more living on the edge of wildlands, lions are encountering people more often. In addition, it has been several lion generations since anyone has tried to shoot them. It is no wonder that mountain lions feel safe to wander into campgrounds, rural subdivisions, and even into towns to select from a reliable supply of deer, dogs, cats, rodents, and an occasional human. The supply of deer in the high country has declined far below a level necessary to support the current mountain lion population. Each generation becomes more comfortable living near people and the population can grow with a reliable food supply. The problem is compounded by deliberately or accidentally creating a reliable supply of deer around people.

We have waited too long to easily correct the problems of overpopulation of mountain lions. Even if society would accept a return to a game management program that included hunting, it would take decades to reduce the population of urban and suburban lions. Hunting lions in town is very difficult or impossible. Dogs can't work with all the clutter of smells from house cats to apple pies. Discharge of firearms may not be safe and traps are not as effective when so much alternative food is available, and there is the risk of trapping someone's pet.

The bottom line is, choices have to be made. Some of the choices are described in a brochure developed by the California Department of Fish and Game to educate people on ways to safely co-exist with mountain lions. Two very important items which must be addressed are:
(1) District landowners must 'deer-proof' their landscaping and
(2) A game management plan must be applied.

The California Department of Fish and Game requests that you report all encounters or attacks to their nearest office.
See the "Bear Facts" page for DFG telephone numbers and addresses.