AR activists Ping!
Heard another mountain lion, Jaz! One of the plots I have to bird-survey at least ten times this season is at 7,200 feet on the western slope of the Spring Mountains (way upslope from Pahrump). It's gorgeous PJ (pinyon pine & juniper) forest with a few ponderosa pines and white cedars.
The second time I was there (at dawn on one 30-degree morning), I heard a few distant big cat growls coming from a nearby ridge about 300 meters away. The cat no doubt saw me and let me know I wasn't welcome, but I couldn't get any glass on it. Since we're not allowed to wear guns (don't ask -- it's political, as you can imagine), I now carry a medium-sized buckknife in a sheath on my pants belt. It at least gives me a fighting chance... LOL!
Re: "wild" horses. You and 3niner are absolutely right. There's nothing wild about these feral nonnative equines. The same goes with the "wild" burros. On my last ten-day bird tour, I saw many feral burros and a few feral horses (near Cold Creek on the eastern side of the Spring Mountains). You can almost pet the horses, they're that domesticated now. And destructive, especially around oases and springs.
I'll be honest, though. I don't want to see all the feral equines extirpated. My gut feeling is that the habitat can support some populations of feral equines, so long as they're kept in check by culling programs or through regular adoption programs.
But, of course, the Animal-Rights nuts are opposed to that. No surprise, there.
Anyway, belated thanks for all the pings. Great reading!