Author: Staff

2 Mountain Lion Cubs Captured In New Subdivision

2 Mountain Lion Cubs Captured In New Subdivision

RIVERSIDE (CBS) ― Residents of a recently-built Inland Empire subdivision said Sunday they are relieved that two mountain lion cubs were safely captured. But they fret that the mama mountain lion could still be in the area.

“We knew that wildlife could come into the backyard because we are so close to the hills and the park,” said Miriam Stein, 37, who moved with her family into their new home in Yucaipa four and a half years ago, after construction was completed. “We knew it was a possibility. It’s still a
surprise.”

The incident was the second time in three days that mountain lions were reported at Riverside suburbs, about 20 miles apart, according to the Press-Enterprise newspaper in Riverside.

On Thursday, joggers north of Moreno Valley reported spotting a mountain lion in the Box Springs Mountain Reserve in Riverside County, according to state Fish and Game Lt. Mike Stefanak.

On Saturday, Stein took photos of two young mountain lions perched on her wall Saturday morning in Yucaipa, and contacted local newspapers.

“It was exciting, but it was scary,” said Stein, who has a 5-year-old boy. “They’re wild animals and they’re dangerous. They never did find the mom. We’re a little concerned about that.”

A state Fish and Game warden used a tranquilizer dart to sedate and capture one of the mountain lion cubs Saturday afternoon in the yard of a home on Fawn Ridge Place near Oak Glen Road, the Press-Enterprise reported Sunday.

Stein and neighbor Rick Graham, 40, said authorities captured a second mountain lion cub Saturday night on Warm Springs Road, just off Fawn Ridge.

“This area backs up against Meadow Creek Elementary, so it’s a good thing they caught them,” Graham said today. “Who’s to say the cubs wouldn’t have gone to the school on a weekday?”

The capture of the second cub took place between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Stein and Graham said. Karen Hunt, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County sheriff’s department, confirmed that two mountain lion cubs had been captured.

“Fish and Game are concerned that something happened to the mother,” Hunt said Sunday. “They don’t think she is in the area.”

The capture of the first cub, which weighed less than 30 pounds, came after three mountain lions were reported in the same area on Saturday afternoon, according to the Press-Enterprise.

The subdivision off Oak Glen Road has been built in the past 10 years close to the base of the Crafton Hills, and is near Yucaipa Regional Park.

Wardens arrived there at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday, but they saw only one mountain lion cub, according to the Press-Enterprise. One of the wardens subdued the animal with a tranquilizer dart. They estimated the cub to be less than one year old.

Wardens had not decided what to do with the first captured cub, Stefanak told the Press-Enterprise. It won’t be released where it was captured because it’s too young and likely wouldn’t survive, Stefanak said.

The mountain lions may have followed a creek into the recently-constructed residential area. Coyotes and black bears sometimes end up in populated areas by following the same natural routes, Stefanak told the Press-Enterprise.

Stefanak said Saturday the presence of a mountain lion cub was a concern, but he did not believe there is a threat to public safety – such as the cub’s parents – because the cub was captured.

Nevertheless, Stefanak warned people not to approach mountain lion cubs.

On Thursday, wardens did not locate the mountain lion sighted in the Box Springs Mountain Reserve north of Moreno Valley.

The only common element in the sightings may be that the big cats were looking for water during a fairly dry spell, Stefanak said.

The Box Springs Mountain area, nearby Reche Canyon, and the Crafton Hills above Yucaipa are all present or former natural habitat for mountain lions.

Sightings and occasional attacks on humans are inevitable as newer developments continue encroaching into the creatures’ domain.

Mountain lions are not considered threatened or endangered in California, according to the state Department of Fish and Game. The mountain lion population, estimated at 4,000 to 6,000 statewide, is relatively high in California and their numbers appear to be stable, according to the department’s Web site.

Nonetheless, mountain lions are legally classified as “specially protected species,” according to Fish and Game officials, who took care to add, “This has nothing to do with their relative abundance and does not imply that they are rare.”

Scientists tracking mountain lion to find out impact on wild horses

Scientists tracking mountain lion to find out impact on wild horses

Movements of a mountain lion that may be making a staple diet out of wild horses are being tracked by scientists at University of Nevada, Reno.

The female lion, trapped in the Virginia Range last month and fitted with a radio collar, may provide researchers with important clues into the elusive animal’s behavior and predation habits, said David Thain, an assistant professor of veterinary medicine.

“It’s an important study because we still don’t have a clear idea what the cats in our local mountains are doing,” Thain said. “By tracking them, we’ll be able to get a better sense of what they’re doing, what species they’re eating.”

The current study is an offshoot of previous research Thain and colleagues started in 2005, when he was state veterinarian for the Nevada Department of Agriculture. That work, part of the state’s effort to control and stabilize the wild horse population in the Virginia Range, attempted to determine how wild horse behavior is altered when mares are injected with contraceptive chemicals.

While doing field work associated with that research, UNR graduate student Meeghan Gray kept coming across the remains of dead horses, generally foals or young adults with trauma to the neck or chest that were partially covered in dirt.

“It was pretty obvious a mountain lion was doing this,” Gray said. “They’re really the only thing that can take down an adult horse or a young horse.”

While known to prey upon livestock, mountain lions more commonly hunt deer and antelope, rabbits and beavers, Thain said.

“We were surprised a mountain lion would be feeding on them,” Thain said, adding that the number of dead foals or young horses Gray was finding, about one or two a week, led researchers to wonder if the lion was making wild horses its primary source of food.

They wanted to find out.

Since September, researchers attempted to trap the lion but didn’t succeed until early December. The 6-foot-long, 125-pound cougar was trapped, sedated and fitted with a global positioning system collar.

After its release, the lion was set free to roam the Virginia Range. The collar beams the lion’s location to UNR researchers four times a day. By checking on the locations where the lion was during the time of day it was most likely to hunt and feed, researchers hope to determine more about what it is eating and whether horses are indeed its primary source of food.

It worked last Wednesday. Gray found another dead horse where radio telemetry indicated the lion had been the previous night.

“Sure enough, it was the lion’s kill,” Thain said. “We would like to get a good understanding of what kind of prey it’s living off of, whether it stays with horses all year long or whether it switches” to other prey.

Information collected from the lion research should show more than what the animal eats. Researchers also hope to determine how far the big cat roams and how often it might enter areas more densely inhabited by people.

As more people move into areas abutting the backcountry, more interactions between lions and humans are likely. Reports of lions wandering through residential areas of the foothills are common, usually in spring, according to the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

In February 1998, a mother mountain lion and her two yearlings were shot after being spotted near homes and within a quarter mile of Verdi Elementary School. Experts determined the cougars posed a danger because they were using the area as a hunting ground.

“We do know that mountain lions come down into urban areas, and we want to see what this one is doing,” Thain said.

Bubonic plague found in dead mountain lions

Bubonic plague found in dead mountain lions

Two mountain lions were found dead near Jackson this fall. The mother and her kitten tested positive for the bubonic plague, a killer among cats, both wild and domestic.

Cats contract the plague by either feeding on infected rodents or by coming into contact with infected fleas. Humans are at risk if they hunt mountain lions or own domestic cats that are often outside and thus exposed to fleas and infected rodents they may hunt or eat.

When fleas feed on disease-ridden rodents, they contract the disease, which creates a blockage in their system. When, in turn, they feed on the next animal – a cat for instance – the flees cannot process what is coming into them and so regurgitate into the bloodstream of the new host, infecting the cat with the plague, according to Ken Mills, professor in the managing department of the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory.

Hunters should protect themselves by wearing long rubber or latex gloves while skinning their prey. Domestic cat owners should keep their eyes open for symptoms in their pets, such as swollen lymph nodes, rough hair, or coughing and sneezing.

If hunters experience flu-like symptoms and have been hunting within the past week, they should contact a doctor. If cat owners think their pet may be infected, they should contact a veterinarian immediately, as the disease is a fast killer but can be cured with antibiotics if treated in a timely manner. There is no vaccination, but outdoor cats can be somewhat protected from the disease with flea collars.

Mills does not think that plague is an epidemic among cats in Wyoming, but, he warned, “If I were to be a cat owner in that area, I would keep my eyes open.”

Mountain lions migrate to Yuma area

 

Mountain lions migrate to Yuma area

Local wildlife officials have been looking for mountain lions on the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge for years, but no signs of the predators have ever emerged until now.

“I think it is very intriguing, the whole issue about species like this, that it has not been documented here in the 66 years that (the refuge) has been in existence,” said Paul Cornes, Kofa refuge manager.

Cornes said hunters reports of spotting the animals started trickling in around 2000. Mountain lions have been seen in the area, but up until recently, officials have thought they were just passing through.

Now, they are discovering their stay is becoming more permanent and they are making their first appearance on the refuge.

The presence of the animals have officials focused on researching where they came from, how they are moving, why they are here and what other animal populations they may be destroying, in particular Big Horn Sheep.

On Nov. 17, the refuge stated that its Big Horn Sheep population had declined by more than 50 percent from 812 in 2000 to 390 in 2006.

Cornes says officials are currently studying the mountain lions effect on the sheep, but are uncertain which is contributing more to the decline the mountains lions or the drought.

“They certainly could be contributing to it,” Cornes said. “I don’t think there is enough information to say they are the most significant factor.”

Cornes said there are at least five mountain lions on the refuge enough to try to open the refuge for the first time to hunters.

Mountain lions have been spotted in the area since 2000, and could be hunted on the surrounding southwestern wildlife management area, which encompasses state and federal land spanning from Yuma to Lake Havasu to Dateland but it excluded the refuge. Only one mountain lion can be killed annually in the southwest area, which Arizona Game and Fish Department officials say is home to at least 10 mountain lions. The southwestern portion includes portions within the Bureau of Land Management and the Army’s Yuma Proving Ground.

The refuge is taking its first steps to permit hunters to shoot the predators on its land, which includes final federal approval. Cornes expects the approval and season to begin in October 2007. He said the refuge now has enough mountain lions to permit hunting, and still sustain its population.

Chris Mitchell, a member of the Yuma Valley Rod and Gun Club, pins the Big Horn Sheep decline on the mountain lions.

“They may not want to admit to having a mountain lion problem, (but) that is basically why the hunters around this region are wanting that,” Mitchell said.

But waiting on the federal final approval to hunt the mountain lions on the refuge is not the hard part, according to Mitchell it’s hunting them.

“Trying to get a mountain lion out here in the desert is almost impossible,” Mitchell said. “It is just very hard to hunt. It is just a very elusive animal.”

© Copyright 2006 YumaSun.com

Mendocino County Kills Most Mountain Lions: Legal Shootings On Rise As State Permits Increase Along With Sightings Mountain Lion Tally

Mendocino County Kills Most Mountain Lions: Legal Shootings On Rise As State Permits Increase Along With Sightings Mountain Lion Tally

By Kerry Benefield

Mendocino County leads California in state-sanctioned mountain lion killings, with more than double the number of the next highest county.

Between 1990 and 2004, 235 lions have been legally killed in Mendocino County. Siskiyou County on the Oregon border ranks second, with 115 lions killed, according to the state Department of Fish and Game.
The numbers do not surprise state and local officials, who say lion sightings are on the rise.

“Without a doubt, I have been here on the coast for over 30 years, and within the last five or six years, the population has increased,” said Mendocino County Sheriff’s Lt. D.L. Miller, who two years ago shot and killed an attacking lion.

State estimates put California’s mountain lion population at roughly 6,000, but officials say there is no scientific procedure for accurately tracking the secretive animals’ numbers.

State-approved killings are climbing dramatically. In 1970, four depredation permits were issued resulting in the killing of one lion. In 2004, 231 permits were issued and 115 animals were killed, down from a peak in 2000 when 148 lions were taken.

In order to receive a depredation permit, applicants must prove a mountain lion is responsible for any loss of life or property. Typically, once a permit is issued, a federal agent is contracted to kill the animal.

It is illegal to kill a mountain lion unless a person or property is immediately threatened.

“Under law, we shall issue a depredation permit if you can prove that there is damage to your property or livestock,” said Troy Swauger, Fish and Game spokesman. “But you have to take reasonable steps to remove whatever is inviting that animal in.”

Deer are a main target of mountain lions, but the cats are also drawn to chickens and some domestic animals.

Mountain lions rarely attack humans. Only 15 attacks, six of them fatal, have been verified since 1890, according to state records. Two of those attacks occurred in Mendocino County, when a pair of campers were injured by a rabid cat in 1994.

In the past year, at least eight mountain lion sightings have been reported in Sonoma County. The latest encounter occurred in October just outside Santa Rosa city limits, when a man watched a lion chase a deer near his Rincon Valley home.

Since 1990, 56 mountain lions have been legally killed in Sonoma County.

Over the same period, 34 lions have been taken in Lake County and 49 killed in Napa County.

Although violent encounters between mountain lions and humans are uncommon, Miller had a face-to-face run-in with an attacking cat two years ago near Fort Bragg.

Responding to a mountain lion sighting on private property but near an elementary school and residences, Miller twice circled a chicken coop where the cat had been seen before a mountain lion leaped at him.

“He jumped out of the tree towards me and was probably 15 to 20 yards away from me,” he said. “He moved so quick.”

Miller said he shot the cat once and killed it.

The Mountain Lion Foundation, a Sacramento-based advocacy group, contends urban sprawl and human population growth are major factors in more interaction between humans and the typically shy cats.

The group tries to educate people on ways to keep their property protected while not harming the lions. Animal pens with roofs, electric fences and completely closed barns will typically keep the cats out, according to Karen Cotton, director of outreach for the foundation.

Some landowners contend they have been successful in keeping cats out by playing loud music, and even spooking the cats with roaming donkeys and llamas, Cotton said.

“We would rather see an animal that has been shocked than one that has been shot,” she said.

Experts say mountain lions are not likely to attack humans. But if hikers or bikers do meet up with a lion, the best strategy is to be still, be big and be loud.

“If you are a deer, they are aggressive, but we are something that they don’t want or need,” Swauger said. “But even if you have never seen a mountain lion, there is probably a chance that a mountain lion has seen you.”

.
News researcher Vonnie Matthews contributed to this story. You can reach Staff Writer Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kbenefield@pressdemocrat.com.

On the prowl: Mountan lions lurk around San Diego County

By Quinn Eastman, Staff Writer

NORTH COUNTY —- Mountain lions see people much more often than people see them, wildlife specialists say. Many of the times when Californians think they saw the stealthy cats, they were actually sighting a bobcat or a coyote, said Mike Puzzo, a biologist studying the movement of mountain lions in San Diego County.

“A mountain lion encounter will usually last about three seconds,” said Puzzo, who works with the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center. “Afterwards, all that you might see is the tail flashing away.”

High technology and careful observation are giving biologists a chance to catch up with the elusive cat.

Puzzo recently gave a presentation on his work in Lakeside to the San Diego Tracking Team, a group of volunteers that monitors wildlife around the county. He told the group that he and his colleagues have been learning more about how mountain lions use the terrain in San Diego County to find their favorite food, deer and avoid humans.

Most live in the mountain ranges in the eastern part of the county, but some venture west in search of food and territory.

The UC Davis biologists track mountain lions after forcing them up a tree with dogs or catching them in a remote-controlled cage. They then tranquilize the captured lion with an injection dart, have veterinarians examine it, and fit the cat with a radio-emitting collar. The signals from the collars allow the biologists to construct a map of the cats’ daily movements.

The area between Volcan Mountain and Scissors Crossing, east of Julian, is a major mountain lion corridor, according to Puzzo. In addition, his group has followed the movements of more than one lion into the Palomar Mountain area, he said.

He made a rough estimate that there are 90 mountain lions in San Diego County, out of between 4,000 and 6,000 in the state.

Walter Boyce, leader of the mountain lion study at the Wildlife Health Center, said his group would like to study more lions in North County with radio collars.

As North County communities continue to build houses and roads in what was previously backcountry, mountain lions are losing their hideouts, he said in a recent phone interview.

“We want to find out how they move across a landscape that’s increasingly dominated by people,” Boyce said.

For example, Boyce said, mountain lions probably cross under Interstate 15, perhaps at underpasses around Temecula Creek, he said.

Figuring out exactly where and when they do can guide conservation groups in their efforts to preserve land. It can also help people protect themselves and their pets, he said.

The UC Davis biologists know the most about lion traffic in the area around Cuyamaca Rancho State Park and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Before the devastating Cedar fire in 2003, about eight lions used some part of the Cuyamaca park, but not all at the same time, Boyce said.

More recently, the researchers have identified six lions intermittently using parts of Cuyamaca.

Adolescent upheaval
Mountain lions usually have stable territories, but upheaval sometimes takes place when an adolescent male strikes out on its own and establishes its own turf, wildlife specialists have found.

Mountain lions can live as long as 12 years. Before male lions reach sexual maturity at around 2 years of age, they can move up to 100 miles away from their usual haunts to find new ground.

“There’s a lot of pushing and shoving for territory among the male cats,” Boyce said.

Mature males can have a territory of 200 square miles, and females use between 50 and 80 square miles, he said.

One older male lion was recently detected roaming from Pine Valley near Interstate 8 all the way to Palomar Mountain and the Riverside County line.

Boyce hypothesized that the older male, called M17, was kicked out of its usual territory by younger males who were competing for dominance.

A threat to pets, not humans
Mountain lion attacks on humans are extremely rare. State Department of Fish and Game records show there have been just 15 attacks on people since 1890, six of them fatal.

The department reports hundreds of sightings every year, but less than 3 percent are deemed threats to public safety.

However, a greater threat exists to livestock and domestic animals. Most lions will kill a domestic animal at some point in their lives, especially in California, the Davis researchers suggested.

Mountain lions are protected by law in California, and can only be killed if they present a threat to public safety or to domesticated animals, and a permit from the Department of Fish and Game is required.

In 2004, the department issued 231 permits statewide, leading to 115 lions being killed.

Lions also often die from being hit by cars and disease, and sometimes after fights with each other, the Davis biologists found.

Puzzo and Boyce both emphasized the need for backcountry dwellers to protect their pets at night by bringing them indoors. Mountain lions are mostly active at dusk or at night.

A fence will not protect a pet because lions can jump 15 feet, they said. Outdoor lighting and removing dense vegetation can also contribute to safety.

After they kill deer, lions sometimes bury the partially eaten carcass to protect it from decay and come back later to feed. If backcountry property owners discover a cache, the Department of Fish and Game advises them to drag it a few hundred yards away.

Closer in
Other researchers have spotted mountain lions in North County using more indirect methods than radio collars.

In what park wildlife specialist Annie Ransom called “a very lucky shot,” a San Diego Tracking Team remote camera spotted a mountain lion in October in Poway’s Blue Sky Ecological Reserve.

In addition, a recent 18-month San Diego County-sponsored study of wildlife traffic around Wildcat Canyon Road in Lakeside found persistent signs of a female lion behind the Barona resort’s golf course, as recently as May.

It’s not clear whether the female was ever seen by humans, said Wendy Orth, at the county’s Environmental Services program. Most of the evidence for her presence was from tracks and scat, she said.

Rangers at Daley Ranch, the Escondido-owned wild land preserve at the north edge of the city, have been wondering if the recent construction of wildlife tunnels under Valley Center Road will mean more mountain lion traffic into the area.

Evidence exists for past mountain lion traffic between Daley Ranch and the rugged area around Lake Wohlford.

According to park ranger Duane Boney, four mountain lions were killed by motorists between 1997 and 2002 near Valley Center Road. The deaths occurred in a tight area close to Stanley Peak, on the west side of the road, and the Escondido police shooting range, on the east side.

“There might not be more moving through, but maybe fewer will be killed now that there are tunnels for them to use,” Boney said.

To help avoid a mountain lion attack:

Hike in groups, and stick close together.

Keep children close to adults.

Talk as you move along a trail.

Take note of unusual bird or wildlife activity.

If you encounter a mountain lion, avoid arousing their predatory instincts:

Do not run or turn your back on the animal.

Do not crouch down or bend over.

Pick up young children.

Raise your arms and try to appear large.

Speak firmly in a loud, deep voice.

Source: California Department of Fish and Game

More facts

Male cats measure 8 feet long and weigh 130 to 150 pounds.

Female cats measure 7 feet long and weigh 65 to 90 pounds.

Cats live up to 12 years in the wild and 25 years in captivity.

Mountain lions were pursued by bounty hunters in California in the 1920s.

Lion cubs are covered with black/brown spots and have dark rings around their tails. The markings fade as they mature.

They bury their food and come back to the cache.

Contact staff writer Quinn Eastman at (760) 740-5412 or qeastman@nctimes.com.

State posts cougar sightings on new Web site

 

State posts cougar sightings on new Web site

Associated Press

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Complying with a new state law, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife has unveiled a new cougar sightings Web site this week.

Each cougar complaint will be detailed, even those that could not be verified by physical evidence and were more likely smaller bobcats, house cats or other animals, Fish and Wildlife spokesman Sean Carrell said.

The two most recent sightings were July 7 in Puyallup and July 5 in Mount Vernon, although neither was confirmed as a cougar. A July 3 incident, however, in which a horse was killed and another injured in Clarkston, Garfield County, was listed as a likely cougar attack.

To be considered a likely cougar sighting, the animal would need to be the size of a large dog, be longer than it is tall, and have a long tail, round face and coloring from tawny to yellowish to brown, said Donny Martorello, the state carnivore section manager.

He said sightings of cats that are a threat to people, pets or livestock are confirmed by physical evidence, such as tracks or the manner in which prey is killed.

The database can be searched by town or by property section, which usually covers a 36-square-mile area, Carrell said.

The new cougar reporting law took effect Sunday and requires that times, locations and all known details of cougar interactions be posted within 10 days of being reported to the wildlife department.

Carrell said the Washington cougar population is healthy. Problems occur where cougar and human habitat overlap, such as suburbs that border forest lands. A dramatic increase in complaints from 1995 to 2000 was turned around by educating homeowners, increasing hunting in problem areas and running a pilot project to capture and relocate cougars.

More than 160 cougar sightings have been reported to state game officials so far this year, Carrell said. That compares with 383 during 2004, 936 in 2000 and 247 in 1995.
—
Cougar sightings can be reported by calling the regional office of Fish & Wildlife. Phone numbers for the regional offices are available on the agency Web site or by calling (360) 902-2200.
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On the Net:
Cougar database: http://wdfw.wa.gov/enf/danger/reporting

Lion-attack theory abandoned

DISAPPEARANCE: Wildlife experts studying the boy’s remains say scavenging animals made the marks.

By Richard Brooks / The Press-Enterprise

SAN BERNARDINO – A forensic examination of a 9-year-old boy’s skeletal remains showed no evidence that a mountain lion or other wild animal killed the youngster, three California Department of Fish and Game experts said Friday.

“I didn’t see anything that implicated a mountain lion,” said Douglas Updike, the same expert who had raised the notion of a lion attack at a Thursday news conference about the remains of David Gonzalez.

Updike said he changed his mind after observing Friday’s detailed medical examination of the remains, which was performed at the San Bernardino County coroner’s office. Two other Fish and Game Department forensic experts said they noticed evidence of animal scavenging that occurred after the boy’s death but no signs that animals caused the death.

Officials of the recently combined sheriff’s and coroner’s offices remained mum on the subject.

“No preliminary information will be disseminated prior to the release of the (official) autopsy protocol, which they’re saying will probably take weeks,” said sheriff’s spokeswoman Robin Haynal.

But, she said, searchers plan to comb the area again June 10 through 12 to look for additional remains, clothing and other clues.

Scanty Evidence

Portions of the Lake Elsinore boy’s skull and skeleton were found Sunday and Monday almost a mile from the Big Bear campsite where he disappeared during a family outing 10 months ago.

If the boy was not killed by a mountain lion or other animal, at least the two other likely possibilities that sheriff’s officials have mentioned and investigated remain: an abduction-homicide, or young David became lost and died of exposure or injury even as an army of searchers looked for him.

David disappeared from the Hanna Flat Campground on July 31 after he asked his mother for the keys to the truck so he could retrieve some cookies. He apparently never reached the truck because investigators found the cookies still inside it and the keys remain missing.

The nine-day search for the boy involved as many as 200 people and ended without a trace.

The recovered remains comprise about 25 percent of the boy’s skeleton.

A lion attack was suspected because a mountain lion was seen in the area about the time the boy disappeared.

“Hounds were able to track lion scent through the camp … and there could have been anywhere from two to five (lions) in a region like that,” Updike said.

But after viewing the skeletal remains, Updike said he was ready to abandon the theory.

“I didn’t see any evidence today that amounts to a smoking tooth hole,” he said. “The animal typically jumps on the prey’s back and holds on (with its claws) while biting at the base of the skull. These are full-strength bites that typically leave marks or punctures through the skull or crush part of the vertebrae.”

The boy’s bones showed some less extensive bite marks, he said, that appear to have occurred during scavenging, possibly by a coyote.

“Coyotes will hunt in packs, and multiple (coyotes) certainly could … take down a child,” Updike acknowledged. “But they don’t have a behavior of covering their prey. If it had been a coyote (that killed the boy), I think that the searchers would have found the body.”

Forensic Opinions

Jim Banks and Jeff Rodzen have investigated about 11 attacks by mountain lions in California, one in Colorado and three in Canada during the past dozen years.

Both men are forensic experts with the California Department of Fish and Game, and both attended Friday’s autopsy.

Most informative, they agreed, was the condition of the broken skull and a section of the upper backbone.

“In most lion attacks that we’ve seen, there would have been punctures or crushing,” Banks said. “And that is not the case here.”

Instead, he said, the broken skull had four puncture wounds, all made from the inside out, which is evidence that the bites were inflicted after death.

So the only wounds on the remains, the men say, were made by animals that scavenged rather than killed.

“It may have been from a very young mountain lion,” Banks said of one set of punctures. The other set he attributed to a coyote.

The only additional signs of animal activity, said Banks, were scratches on an arm bone that appear to have been caused by rodents.

So far, the men say, the evidence is far too sketchy to say what killed the boy. Perhaps the best chance of solving the mystery, they said, will come when the Sheriff’s Department launches the next search effort, tentatively set for next weekend.

“If they can find some clothing that belonged to the young boy, maybe we can find some hair on the clothing that shows a wild animal attacked the boy,” Banks said. “But at this point, we have found nothing to indicate that it was a wild animal.”

Reach Richard Brooks at (909) 806-3057 or rbrooks@pe.com

Experts debunk mountain lion myths

Experts debunk mountain lion myths

By Lori Stuenkel

San Jose – A recent mountain lion sighting reminded South County residents that with the summer heat and outdoor activities often come increased encounters between humans and the native predator.

Scientists say that mountain lions may be seen more often in the summer because people spend more time outside and in the mountain lion’s natural habitat.

But, they also caution, just because sightings may garner more attention following three fatal attacks last year, doesn’t mean there are more mountain lions in California or South County.

A handful of mountain lion experts, including scientists and game wardens, met with local media Wednesday to clear up what they called misperceptions about mountain lions, held by the general public and possibly spread through the media, that can cause unnecessary alarm.

“The evidence of any increase is based largely on perception,” said Rick Hopkins, a scientist who is creating a mountain lion conservation plan for a Southern California county.

No evidence of a mountain lion population increase exists, he said. In fact, there are likely fewer mountain lions today than there were 50 years ago.

As cities expand farther into hillside areas that mountain lions call home, however, encounters with humans are to be expected.

Mountain lions – also called cougars, pumas, or panthers – at one time were found across all of North America, but now exist only in the western states.

They are found throughout California, with the exception of the state’s central valley and eastern desert areas, and can be identified by their uniformly colored coat that ranges from tan to gray, and black-tipped ears and tails.

A mountain lion’s home range may span over 100 square miles for males, and 20 to 60 square miles for females.

Most of the mountain lions seen in rural neighborhoods in Santa Clara County are young males, said Capt. Dave Fox of the California Department of Fish and Game.

“They’re more vulnerable,” said Fox, a 24-year veteran with the department. “They get into trouble, kind of, they don’t make the best decisions.”

As mountain lion habitats shrink, they also are the first to be pushed by other dominant males into the less-desirable habitat bordering towns and cities.

When people encounter mountain lions roaming the neighborhood, there is little reason to panic, said Henry Coletto, Wildlife Deputy for the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.

If most people and pets are indoors, the animal often can be frightened away – which it would rather do than encounter people.

“A mountain lion’s probably just as interested in getting the heck out of there as you are with it getting out of there,” said Doug Updike, a senior biologist with the DFG.

Unless the animal poses an imminent threat and is considered likely to attack a person, it is not considered a public safety risk.

Game officials prefer to let an animal run away on its own because tranquilization includes risks – even with a perfect shot, it can take five to 10 minutes to take effect – and attempting to re-locate an animal may put it in danger if it ends up in another male’s territory, said Steve Torres, senior biologist with the DFG.

The animal will be killed only in extreme circumstances, when it is likely to attack.

“Most people are worried about children, and they feel the department is reluctant to do anything about it until someone gets hurt,” Fox said. “But it’s based upon the law.”

Police who respond to a report of a mountain lion in a residential neighborhood often will err on the side of caution, he noted.

Although a cougar was spotted near a Morgan Hill elementary school last week, police tried to scare it away, and it eventually ran off unharmed.

The experts Wednesday also noted that mountain lion attacks are extremely rare. Since 1909, 13 people have been killed by mountain lions.

“If lions were really interested in us, we’d have a lot more incidents, and a lot more attacks,” Fox said.

How to minimize the risk of mountain lion attacks:

• Don’t hike alone. Go in groups, with adults supervising children.

• Keep children close to you. Lions seem drawn to children.

• Don’t approach a lion. Most will avoid confrontation, so give them a way to escape.

• Don’t run from a lion. Running may stimulate the lion’s instinct to chase. Face the animal and make eye contact.

• Don’t crouch down or bend over. People bent over look more like a lion’s pray. Pick up your children if a lion is nearby, but avoid bending over to do so.

• Do all you can to appear larger. Raise your arms, open your jacket, throw stones or branches if you can without crouching. Wave your arms slowly and speak in a firm, loud voice.

• Fight back if attacked. People have fought off lion attacks using sticks, clothing, tools, even their bare hands. Remain standing, as mountain lions usually try to bite the head or neck.

Report encounters or attacks to the Department of Fish and Game’s 24-hour dispatch center at (916) 445-0045.

Source: California Department of Fish and Game

Cougar sighted in western Eden Prairie

Cougar sighted in western Eden Prairie

By Lyn Jerde

An Eden Prairie city employee’s reported sighting of a cougar last week on the city’s west side prompted Minnesota Department of Natural Resources officials to track the animal to a likely lair in Chanhassen.

Confirmed cougar sightings in Minnesota are extremely rare, according to the DNR.

And, while the large felines generally fear and avoid humans, caution is warranted, said Jim LaBarre, the DNR’s assistant area wildlife manager for the north metro area.

“There aren’t too many larger mammals that go after pets, in the metro area, though we have this situation in the north,” he said. “We recommend that people always keep control of their pets, and keep an eye on them when they’re out.”

Pat Brink, the city’s communication coordinator, said the city employee saw what looked like a cougar March 23 on the western edge of Eden Prairie.

Brink said DNR officials investigated the report, and found the carcass of a deer (a cougar’s preferred prey) and cougar tracks – but no sign of the cougar – in an abandoned Chanhassen building about a mile from Eden Prairie’s city limits.

Similar reports of cougar sightings, Brink said, have recently come from Minnetonka, Shorewood and Chanhassen.

“The cities and the DNR are coordinating their efforts to determine a territory that the animal may inhabit,” Brink said.

According to the DNR, the cougar (Felis concolor) is common in the western United States, but is extremely rare in Minnesota.

Cougars in Minnesota might be escaped or released pets (people may legally buy them from game farms and keep them as pets), or they wandered eastward from mountainous western states.

An article on the DNR’s Web site (http://www.dnr.state.mn.us) noted that the department gets about 50 reports of cougar sightings each year – but most of the sightings turn out to be “large house cats, or even yellow Labrador dogs.”

Conrad Christianson, a DNR furbearer specialist, said, “We can’t rely on every telephone call that comes in. A lot of people think they’ve seen a cougar, but it turned out to be a St. Bernard dog.”

At six to nine feet long and between 100 and 200 pounds, a full-grown cougar is larger than most dogs.

The cougar’s color is typically tawny (tan to tan-orange), and its characteristic feature is a long, curling, rope-like tail.

Cougars eat prey ranging from rabbits to deer, and have been known to attack and injure horses.

Christianson said a cougar living in or near the suburbs would circulate in terrain that offers an abundance of food – especially deer, but also turkeys, rabbits and other animals.

Although there has been no reported case of a cougar attacking humans in Minnesota, Christianson said, such attacks have happened in the western United States, as people move to land that was formerly cougar habitat.

Anyone who sees a cougar, Christianson said, should respond as follows:

• Don’t turn your back on the animal.

• Back away slowly.

• Try to make yourself appear “large and loud.”

In any case, he said, cougars are a protected species, and the DNR will not trap and relocate them.

And, it’s up to local police departments to protect citizens against threatening animals (including vicious house pets, which are far more likely to threaten suburban people than cougars), Christianson said.

Anyone who spots what might be a cougar is asked to contact their local police or animal control officer. In Eden Prairie, the animal control officer can be reached at 911, or at the non-emergency Eden Prairie Police Department number, 952-949-6200.

Previous suburban cougar sightings

The following confirmed sightings of cougars have taken place in the Twin Cities metropolitan area:

• July 1996 – The image of a cougar was captured on videotape from a security camera in the Maple Grove and Plymouth area.

• April 2002 – Pictures taken by motion-sensitive cameras captured images, over a three-day period of an adult cougar at a deer kill in the Minnesota River Valley near Savage.

• May 2002 – Bloomington police shot and killed a 103-pound female cougar, which stood her ground about 30 feet from a walking path in Moir and Central parks. DNR Furbearer Specialist Conrad Christianson said he is almost certain this was the same cougar as the one spotted near Savage.

Sources: Eastern Cougar Network Inc., www.easterncougarnet.org.

Seen big pawprints? Here’s how to tell if it might be a cougar

DNR Furbearer Specialist Conrad Christianson said cougars leave pawprints that are about four inches in diameter – but so do many large breeds of dogs, and wolves.

To distinguish between tracks from canine or feline species, Christianson recommends checking the Web site www.bear-tracker.com, then clicking on “Canine vs. Feline.”

Some differences include:

• Canine tracks usually have claw marks. Feline tracks do not, unless the animal is running or pouncing.

• Canine tracks don’t have a third lobe on the hind edge of the heel pad. In a feline track, the hind edge of the heel has three aligned lobes.

• In a canine track, the two front toes are lined up side by side. Feline tracks show one toe further ahead than the other, similar to an index finger in humans.