Mountain lion

steelslaver

steelslaver

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So you think you shouldn't hunt one of these with dogs huh. Good luck following one or just bumping into one.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A mountain lion that was born in Nebraska has been killed in Montana, a first for both states.

The Lincoln Journal-Star reports that the mountain lion was just a kitten in 2018 when state biologists found it and a sibling in a den in the Pine Ridge area near Chadron and attached yellow ear tags.

The kitten wearing tag NE 78 eventually headed north, crossed Interstate 90 and put the Black Hills behind him. He walked more than 250 miles (402.34 kilometers), ending up near Ekalaka, Montana, in that state's southeast corner, where he was killed during the state's hunting season.

Sam Wilson, furbearer and carnivore manager for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, learned what happened last month. He said its mountain lions have been killed in neighboring states, but never in one more than a state away.
 
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A friend had one run across the road right in front of him on Friday afternoon. Not 2 miles from my house. Here kitty kitty.
 
Many years camping, fishing, and hunting in the Colorado mountains. I have encountered mountain lions about a dozen times. Almost never with a camera (of course). Never felt the least bit threatened by a lion. Never had any interest in killing a lion. Always a thrill just to be there and experience the presence of such a beautiful critter.

About 1987 I was returning from a couple of days camped on the high lakes above Westcliffe, Colorado. About 4 miles to hike from the end of a challenging 4-wheel drive trail, carrying my camp on my back. Taking a little break sitting in an aspen grove by a small open meadow when movement caught my eye. Two young lion cubs playing in the meadow, chasing each other around, rolling around in mock combat. Then a more mature specimen (I took it to be a young adult) joined in the fun for the better part of a half-hour. Then the breeze shifted a bit and I heard what sounded much like a large dog barking one time at the far end of the meadow (maybe 100 yards away). All the young lions immediately stopped playing and ran to Mama by the edge of the tree line, staring right at me until the younger bunch was behind her. Then she turned and disappeared into the trees.

About 1976 I attended a family picnic event near Texas Creek (Arkansas River valley west of Canon City), maybe 30 people including a bunch of kids. Took several dozen photographs including a group shot of everyone together in front of a rather dramatic rocky cliff area. After printing all the photos (days later) I spotted a lion perched on a small ledge directly above and maybe 25 yards from the group. None of us ever noticed the cat until after the photos were printed.

Working a night shift as a young cop in Colorado Springs, cruising on the west side of town near Garden of the Gods when an adult lion ran across the road directly in front of my patrol car. Almost hit the critter before I even realized what it was. Stopped on the side of the road and stared at me for a few seconds before wandering off in the scrub. Staring into those eyes from maybe 20 feet away was an experience.

Elk hunting near Del Norte, Colorado, hunkered down in the boulders on a mountainside overlooking a little valley area with multiple trails in and out. Out of the wind, catching some afternoon sunshine, enjoying the day. Movement on the far slope, about 200 yards away, Mama lion and two youngsters following along, probably watching the same trails with the same ideas in mind that brought me there.

Several times I have seen a blur of movement as a lion ran for the nearest cover. Usually very brief and fleeting movements, just enough to know how close I had come to one of these beautiful creatures.

After all the years of observation I can tell you that anywhere there is a healthy population of deer and decent cover in Colorado there will be mountain lions. As more development has occurred, more homes built in outlying areas, there are more encounters reported.

I suspect that more lions die in Colorado from automobiles than hunters.
 
On lion sightings I believe lions sight us 100s of times more often than we sight them.

Just like your photo shows. They are very good at hiding in plain sight

Also, notice from you comments, that it is easier to obseve the cubs than adults and almost every time you saw one you were not moving and the wind was in your favor.

I know at one time the biggest lion killed in Montana was killed at night by a Chevy.

Stalking a lion would be nearly impossible

Just sitting on a high spot with a good range of vision near a lot of game trails out of sight and out of air currents would probably be best. But then they are also very nocturnal. You would probably sit in a good area for a very long time before seeing one.

I think of all the hours I have sit resting and observing, and not seeing a lion in places I know there was one because I had seen their tracks. When I was a serious elk hunter I used to take off at first light and get back to my truck at dark. Walk, sit, walk sit walk sit, eat, walk, sit. I was always seeing lion tracks, but, I went years between seeing one. and most of the time it was over so fast the lion was gone before my brain finished processing what I was seeing.
 
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Have seen a few in the wilds. Impressive animals to say the least. Have had one of them in my backyard years ago.

A while back, my son Sam was fly fishing in a small river around dusk when a cow moose and calf came plunging out of the brush, into the river, out the other side, and then disappearing into the woods. My son wondered what had spooked them, then happened to look up on the rocky ledge above him. There was a large mountain lion.

Sam began slowly making his way down river to the truck, fishing all the way, keeping an eye on the cougar while he tried to appear nonchalant. The truck was about a full mile away and the cougar followed him the complete time, staying up on the ledge.

Just before Sam reached the truck, the cougar turned away and left. Sam later told me that that was the last time he left his handgun in the pickup while he went fishing.:)
 
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A couple years ago had one in a backyard about a 1/2 mile down the road from my house. I heard it roar a couple times, it will get your attention.:D

My neighbor caught it with two security cameras and a hand held.
NY Encon was called, came over and in spite of tracks, on 3 cameras and seen by 4 people, heard by about 8 officially said no mountain lions in this area.

:D Sounds like they watched too many Project Blue Book stories and like Sergent Schultz on Hogans Heroes says, "I Saw Nothing"
 
Since hunting with dogs was outlawed in Oregon, most cougars are taken incidentally by deer and elk hunters who are fast enough during an incidental encounter.

I never saw one during my decades of hunting the coastal woods here, but actually found fresh tracks crossing my back trail in the mud once. That was a bit unnerving. I bought a tag every year, just knowing that if I saved the money, that season I'd see one.

Ironically, the only cougar I positively saw was on a bike ride up a steep road in the West Hills neighborhood of Portland. Came around a curve and saw what I at first glance took for a large dog by the roadside. Then it turned and … well, a cougar's tail is unmistakable. It ambled off into the bushes, but I decided I'd gone far enough up the road and turned tail too ….
 
Only two run-ins with them in Montana-both involved children.

Glacier National Park in the 1990's. A cat was spotted stalking a child. Park rangers put it down immediately. It was an old cat with bad teeth. It was hungry and needed an easy meal.

Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary-Red Lodge MT. 1990's. Me, the wife and two boys (approximately 7 and 4) were visiting looking at the animals. We walked down to a shed where we apparently weren't supposed to be. There was a mountain lion in a pen that did not have the usual double walled fence. The mountain lion fixated on my youngest son, jumped down of his perch, and charged the cage directly at my youngest son. We got out of there quickly.

Beautiful animals? Yes. Dangerous? Absolutely.
 
I've spent close to 50 years hiking and climbing in the Cascades of Washington. Seen plenty of sign, but I have never seen a cat in the wild. Twice in the last two years, once hiking and once snow shoeing; I have seen cat tracks right on our footprints on our return trip. I always frequently glance behind when traveling in the woods, but never see those things.
 
I have seen mountain lions twice. Both times on bicycle rides close to a freeway here in California. Once it was about 100 yards away running. The second time it was as I was riding along a bike path. I saw a big cat cross the path in front of me and I thought what kind of cat is that. I rode along, looked to my right and the mountain lion was about 20 feet away looking at me. I was a bit nervous going home as I had to pass by the same area, but never saw it again.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Yearrs ago when living in my home town the Fish and Game office had one in the office foe a while. They had taken in fro someone in the area who had raised it from a kitten. Illegal. But, they said ir was completely tame. I do not see how they were doing the lion any actual goo. Damage was already done and it was probably pretty well bonded to and understood by the guy who raised. I also knew a guy who had several Bobcats as pets. also not legal, but he didn't cage them or anything they, he lived miles from town and they came and went just about like most ranch cats. Parts of this country have quite a few totally feral cats, but a actual feral dog is real rare.
 
Never saw one in the wild.
Once up in NE Nevada two of my associates saw one walk out of the scrub, take a look at them, then walk back into the bushes.
I did see the tracks!
Once saw a video Of Mick Jagger do that in a local bookstore.
He didn't leave any tracks.
I think the books scared him.
 
One of my sisters snatched her dog away from one near her front door in Wyoming. The other sister had a young one chase her cat through her house a few years ago.A friend walked out her front door and saw one in Boulder. Her boyfriend snatched her back in the house [emoji23]
I've never even seen one… [emoji38]
 
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I USED TO HUNT THE OUTSIDE OF THE EAST GATE OF YELLOWSTONE N.P.. I ONLY ONCE DID I SEE A MOUNTAIN LION. I WAS JUST OUTSIDE WAPITI ON BIG JIM MOUNTAIN. I WAS MULE DEER HUNTING ON HORSE BACK. IT WAS IN A TREE ABOUT 20 FT OFF THE GROUND . IT LOW GROWLED AS WE PASSED IT . THAT'S HOW WE SAW IT. WE NEVER KNEW IT WAS THERE UNTIL IT MADE THE GROWL. SCARED THE SH** OUT OF THE HORSES.

IN 2008 THE POLICE SHOT ONE IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO. YES A WILD ONE. IT WAS SPOTTED EARLY IN THE MORNING BY PEOPLE GOING TO WORK. IT WAS SPOTTED BY THE POLICE 2 BLOCKS FROM A GRAMMAR SCHOOL. JUST AS KIDS WERE STARTING TO WALK TO SCHOOL. POLICE HAD NO OPTION BUT TO KILL IT. DNR DID A DNA TEST AND STATED IT WAS FROM MINNESOTA . THE ANIMAL RIGHTS PEOPLE MADE DEATH THREATS AGAINST THE OFFICERS.

BELOW IS A NEWS LINK THAT ACTUALLY SHOWS THE LION MAKING A DASH BEHIND AN OFFICER.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anKLDP7GOPA[/ame]
 
I've never seen a mountain lion in the wild but I have seen one in my living room. He was making sure no one dared wake my wife from her nap.


35755560975_4b7c665fff_c.jpg



This was a long time ago and completely legal as we had a permit from the PA game commission. We raised this boy from a kitten and had him for 11 years.

I had always read about how these cats were hunted by using dogs. It seemed to me that if two dogs were chasing a lion and the cat decided to turn and fight the dogs would be in major trouble. I'd read that the cats have an instinctual fear of dogs that prompted them to run. That's not true. One time Dandy (our cat) was in his outside enclosure and our neighbors two dogs came over to investigate. When they got close to the wire he charged them and they skedaddled.

It's too bad wild lions don't realize that they should fight the dogs since otherwise they will be shot from a defenseless position in a tree. Even if the cat loses that fight it's got to be better to go down fighting.

Don't get me wrong. I really like dogs and don't wish anything bad on them. It's just that I think this method of hunting mountain lions is wrong. How sporting is it to shoot an animal out of a tree? Talk about your sitting duck.
 
Was out walking my dog one day not far from my parents house and saw a cougar...in CONNECTICUT of all places. I told my parents but no one else because I didn't want people to think I was crazy...a few weeks later it got hit on the highway south of where I saw it...was originally from North Dakota...

Mountain lion killed in Milford never stood a chance, expert says (video)

Probably never see another one in the wild...and hope if I do I see it before it sees me...

Bob
 
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