Mountain Lion Attacks Woman Hiking in Central California

Tampa Bay on line (AP) ^ | June 27, 2004 | The Associated Press

[Max Combined]

"Maybe she will learn from her mistake."

Then she will be a dead eye shot.

[Imal]

The lion ran off after Parker's friends stabbed it and threw rocks at it.

In other news, attorneys for the mountain lion have filed suit in California Civil Court for medical expenses and unspecified punitive damages for injuries suffered in what prosecuting attorney Greg Packer described as "an unprovoked act of senseless violence against an innocent woodland creature."

Both moral and financial support for the lawsuit have been announced in press releases by the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, PETA and the Animal Liberation Front.

Sierra Club spokesperson Sheila Dyke also called for authorities to arrest what she called "the vicious animals who stabbed and beat this poor cougar," and vowed to push for the death penalty for the assailants.

[ZULU]

People who hike in Mountain Lion COuntry should always go in pairs and be armed.

And they should re-instate the hunting season they had for them a while back.

[Cold Heart]

I don't go along with the "We're invading their territory"
propaganda/myth.

Have you carried a gun or mace for protection in any situation? Have you been involved or observed any attacks or assaults? There are times when an animal or person can attack someone that is armed with such suddenness that a required response time is a fraction of a second. However, most attacks that I have seen or discussed with people being involved in attacks have allowed enough time for a response. With proper training, a response can be executed within a fraction of a second with no deep thought involved. One acquaintance had time to draw his bow and kill an attacking cougar. While on horseback, I have seen a cougar attack and chase a deer. The time involved that I saw the incident was a fraction of a second as they went behind brush. Had the cougar attacked my horse and myself I could have drawn and shot (and hit) the cougar. I do competitive mounted shooting and respond instinctively. The hikers in question probably don't shoot competitively. But, I see no reason to deny any hiker or backwoodsy type the right to self protection in carrying a gun. Several years ago three European hunters (two Germans and a Czech if I remember correctly)were involved in a deadly encounter with two cougars. The hunters had been in a "drop off" hunt where the guide set them up in camp and left, but would come back at a set time for resupply and pack out any trophies they acquired. The guide found a bloody mess and the hunters gone on his first resupply return. The forest service hunted down two cougars and killed them. The cougars were not emaciated in any way but a healthy and large male and female hunting together. On gutting the female they found she had eaten the two Germans. They assumed the Czech was in the male.

[facedown]

Kind of a shame.

She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. You were just where you were. No right, no wrong, just what happened.

[Revolting cat!]

Why do they hate us?!

[oldplayer]

Guys,

I am sorry the hiker was hurt. But there are city tracks she could have hiked on if she wanted to minimize her risks. The big cats are a gift of God to make our world the wonderful place that it is. I am for protecting them, even if it incrementally raises my risks while camping. I know the area where this woman was attacked and have hiked and fished in the watershed often.

I will return and not be particularly worried. Hearing the cats' scream in the evening is a grand treat to be relished.

Tyson

[djf]

If I had seen her a tenth of a second earlier I would have missed. But hey, better her than me, I guess.

I live in Washington state, and about eight years ago, something weird happened. We had a few feral cats living around my place. I get home, and see one of them at the far back part of my back yard, kind of pacing along the brush and fir trees back there.

So I go back, the litle cat runs off, and something jumped up, out of some underbrush, and headed back into the woods. Exactly the right size and color to be a cougar, and cougars have been sighted nearby.
Could have been a fawn or small doe, but I'm inclined to think it was a cat.

About 60 miles east of here, in the central cascades, there have ben recent grizzly sightings. Alot of the roads that used to go into the nort central cascades are closed off now. Grizzly habitat.

[FITZ]

We probably have to decide if there should be any wild places in this country --- kill all the wild animals and be done with it. Urban sprawl is going on at such a rapid rate that there is not much room for wilderness areas and it's always going to be dangerous for people to hike where the wild animals are.

[WorkingClassFilth]

There is no need for large predators in the lower 48 states. I recommend the three S's...Shoot, Shovel and Shut-Up.

This morning I recieved a call from a land holder where I have a bee yard telling me that a neighbor had a bear feeding on a suet ball on her bird feeder this morning. Two years ago, when I put in the yard, I asked about this possibility. Oh No, she said. No such thing existed anywhere near there. Well, now she knows.

Three years ago, in a Minnapolis suburb, police shot and killed a cougar. Nine years ago, the Minnesota DNR denied that cougars were present in the state.

IN THE IMMORTAL WORDS OF ROBERT ROARK, USE ENOUGH GUN!

[Vince Ferrer]

We probably have to decide if there should be any wild places in this country --- kill all the wild animals and be done with it. Urban sprawl is going on at such a rapid rate that there is not much room for wilderness areas and it's always going to be dangerous for people to hike where the wild animals are.

This is not really a problem with urbal sprawl. We are not invading their territory as much as they are invading ours. Up until the 1940s or so, people were encouraged to kill lions, bears, falcons, eagles, wolves, and coyotes. The consequences of that being that there were very few left, confined to our parks. For the past several decades we have switched to extreme protection, with the result that they have come back out of the parks into any land they can find food. Places like Kansas are starting to see lions for the first time in a hundred years.

As for the special case of lions, we need to keep in mind their instincts. Lions are territorial, they stake out land and kill any lion they find inside it, even their own grown offspring. When lions move into a city it generally means there is no unclaimed territory left in the area. Relocation is not much of an option anymore.

[TERMINATTOR]

Don't bring a knife to a cat fight.

The "extension piece" has something to do with a goofy Brit "law" requiring a 2 ft length.

[WorkingClassFilth]

For homegrown: S&W M-29, 8-3/8" loaded with W-W Black Talon or Federal 240 gr. Hydroshok. Well, at least it is a start on intelligent wildlife management...

[fish hawk]

Three male friends and one women. Woman gets attacked. Ten bucks says the woman was at the "time of Month". Animals have ways of knowing this.

[walford]

...Or the people could have just stayed out of places where there are likely starving mountain lioness [probably with cubs].

Next month let's go scuba diving where White Pointers feed on sea lions. I'll be on the shore with the beer watching with binoculars, ready to throw the floating donut.

[StevieB]

This is not really a problem with urbal sprawl.

Agreed. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory sets up against the San Gabriel Mountains, between Pasadena and LaCanada. The area above the lab is National Forest, and building is restricted. The area below the lab is the start of the aroyo that a mile further widens into the valley where the Rose Bowl sets. The first part of the arroyo is part of a flood control area that is fairly natural. Lions have been spotted there in the past month, for the first time in a very long time.

Because of this, we have started teaching the Cub Scouts in the area how to react to a lion if they come across one (e.g., make yourself look as big as you can). This is a case where the lions are coming out of the wild and into the urban environment. We can just hope that we don't have an incident in the coming years -- before the kooks in this state come to their senses and realize that the "save the lions" initiative needs to be repealed.

[Musket]

I wonder what a BIG *ss huntin' knife would do to one of theses beasts.

[Elsie]

First ROY and now THIS!

There's LINKAGE, I tell you!

From the EVIDENCE it is OBVIOUS these 'cats' HAVE been communicating and organizing attacks on United States Citizens!

It's SEARCH and DESTROY time for ALL far-flung members of Al-Catty!

[Mackey]

Three male friends and one women. Woman gets attacked. Ten bucks says the woman was at the "time of Month". Animals have ways of knowing this.

Twenty bucks says she had stepped behind a tree to attend to some "private business" and was alone when the cat attacked.