[FEL-L] Mountain lions protected, so attacks are on the rise

[Gary Breuckman]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/02/25/SPG2POAJ5F1.DTL

Tom Stienstra

   Something was up: the golden retriever zigzagged on a deer trail,
nose to the ground, on a scent.

   We'd just scrambled up a river bank to a forested terrace. I
ducked under the limbs of a few pines, saw that the route bore left,
and forged on, low and quick. Buddy, the golden with the
million-dollar nose, stopped for a moment, turned back for a glance,
looking for assurance, then shot forward. He led the way, down into a
short ravine, up the other side and out, and then disappeared in a
thicket.

   It took 20 seconds to catch up: He emerged with a deer leg in his
mouth. I looked closer, scanning a protected hollow next to the
thicket, and found a few fragments of mushy backbone. This was a kill
site, it was clear now, where a mountain lion had eaten a deer. As I
kneeled and searched the site, it hit me that in the aftermath of the
mountain lion attack on a hiker in January in Northern California, I
have received a ton of e-mails with questions and comments, about
lions and their place in nature and the safety of outdoor recreation.

   "Hasn't there had been a recent attack in the Bay Area?," read
one. "Do you worry about mountain lions when you go hiking?" "Is it
dangerous to go to parks?" "Aren't mountain lions an endangered
species?" And a few more personal questions, including: "Don't you
have mountain lions on your ranch? How do you deal with them?"

   The answers are different than some might imagine.

   Is it dangerous in Bay Area parks? Across the state? Here are the
numbers: There hasn't been a mountain lion attack on a person in the
Bay Area since 1909. I've hiked 25,000 miles and visited virtually
every park and have had only six sightings (we'll get to that), and
scarcely give a thought to the possibility of an attack. Many of my
friends with 10,000 trail miles, including several wildlife
scientists, have never seen one.

   Life and death struggle

   The dramatic attack in January seems to have left an imprint on
the public's consciousness. On the Brown's Creek Trail at Prairie
Creek Redwoods State Park, a mountain lion attacked and locked down
on the head of 70-year-old Jim Hamm. His wife, Nell, tried to stab
the lion in the eye with a pen, and then beat it with an 8-foot
stick. She fought the lion off and saved her husband's life.

   When I heard this story, my memories went back to a hearing about
10 years ago in the Senate Wildlife Committee. , a Department of Fish
and Game wildlife expert, testified that the lion population would
need to be reduced by 25 to 50 percent to reduce competition for food
between lions and thereby reduce the potential attacks on people.

   He said that lions had filled existing habitat to capacity, so as
new lions are born, they were being forced out to marginal habitat on
the edge of urban areas where food is difficult for them to find and
where people are more common.

   How could that be, some asked? Aren't mountain lions an endangered
species? Nope. The mountain lion is the California's only animal
designated as a "protected species," through a ballot initiative
(Proposition 117) that is not science. Even though lions are abundant
and, as top-line predators, have no natural enemies, they are
protected.

   Mansfield's words were prophetic. There were only five mountain
lion attacks in 100 years from 1890 to 1990, but after Prop. 117
became law in 1990, there have been 11 verified attacks and many
other close calls with no injuries.

   In my six sightings, all at close range, the lions have either
scampered off or sat straight up, without moving for 20 seconds,
staring straight at me, and then slunk off. I've tried to track them
after sightings and found their trails invisible, even in calf-high
grass in the foothills at Point Reyes and Half Moon Bay.

   Up close and personal

   My wife, Stephani, and I have tried to manage our ranch in
Northern California as a wildlife preserve. We have protected or help
create natural wild food sources, year-round water and cover, the
three keys for ideal wildlife habitat.

   Over a five-year period, deer, squirrels, wild turkey, quail and
blue grouse have flourished. I have also seen rabbits, mice, fox,
bear, mink, badger, bobcat, raccoon, skunk and many raptors --
including bald eagle, golden eagle, red-tailed hawks, and Great
horned owls -- along with many geese, ducks, blue herons, flickers
and songbirds, and many other birds. In other words, it worked. It
became a wildlife paradise.

   Then the mountain lions showed up and everything got wiped out or
was run off over the course of six months. When the lions killed two
llamas and a calf on neighboring property, the DFG killed two lions
with depredation permits, and the necropsy confirmed llama meat in
their stomachs.

   After that episode, within three years, the wildlife again
prospered. We had several trophy-size deer emerge, and multiple
hatches of blue grouse and quail, among many highlights.

   Then last summer and fall, I noticed signs of a stunning lack of
deer. A neighbor, wildlife expert Jim Pfeiffer, wondered if disease
had wiped out the squirrels. Then, in my searches, we started finding
occasional deer legs. This has continued for eight months, with the
latest find last week. Yep, the mountain lions are back.

   With so many mountain lions in California, many wildlife habitats
are in similar predicaments.

   The biggest danger in California right now isn't the remote
possibility that you might get bushwhacked while hiking. It's that
mountain lions look at just about every wild critter out there as
something to kill. In areas where mountain lions take over, it can be
difficult for anything else to get by.

   Fishing for striped bass in the Bay, a special fly-over in a float
plane, and China Camp and its surprises are featured on "The Great
Outdoors With Tom Stienstra" at 10 a.m. today on Channel 44 (Bay Area
cable 12).

Mountain lion attacks

   Confronting mountain lions
   -- Do not approach a lion
   -- Do not run from a lion
   -- Raise your arms or open your jacket to appear larger
   -- Throw objects, wave your arms, and speak firmly in a loud voice
   -- Pick up small children
   -- If hunting, fire warning shot, and if lion continues forward, shoot it.
   -- Report encounters to DFG at (916) 653-6420
   -- If attacked, fight back, then call 911.

   Avoiding encounters
   -- Hike with one or more people
   -- Keep children close to you
   -- More info: dfg.ca.gov

   E-mail Tom Stienstra at tstienstra at sfchronicle.com.
   Date            Location, county                             Attack

   January 2007    Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt  nonfatal
   June 2004       Sequoia National Forest, Tulare              nonfatal
   January 2004    White Ranch Regional Park, Orange            nonfatal
   January 2004    White Ranch Regional Park, Orange            fatal
   March 1994      Mount Lowe, San Gabriel Mountains, L.A.      nonfatal
   December 1994   Cuyamaca State Park, San Diego               fatal
   August 1994     remote Mendocino County                      nonfatal
   August 1994     remote Mendocino County                      nonfatal
   April 1994      Auburn State Recreation Area, El Dorado      fatal
   September 1993  Cuyamaca State Park, San Diego               nonfatal
   March 1992      Gaviota State Park, Santa Barbara            nonfatal
   October 1986    Caspers Wilderness Park, Orange              nonfatal
   March 1986      Caspers Wilderness Park, Orange              nonfatal
   July 1909       Morgan Hill, Santa Clara County  fatal       (rabies)
   July 1909       Morgan Hill, Santa Clara County  fatal       (rabies)
   June 1890       Quartz Valley, Siskiyou County               fatal