You prospectors in Mother Lode country of Calf., be aware and be prepared - just sayin
Mountain Lion Mountain Democrat
Mountain Lion Mountain Democrat
Upvote
0
174 lbs of BAD NEWS!
- Thread starter Fullpan
- Start date
NuggetN8
Hero Member
Gotta love those cats.. lol. I've seen a couple of those around here in northern CA. Right around my house too.. and that's where I prospect.. I should probably start panning with somebody I'm almost always alone. Not too long ago a kid was killed by a lion in my town. I'm not sure if he was alone when it attacked him or not but there's a big pond with a trail that goes around it where people are always walking and biking on, thats where it happened. We live in a small town in the middle of the woods so I'm kind of suprised that there haven't been more attacks. I do like seeing them though, just hope they aren't hungry when they see me. One time I was with some friends hanging out in the school parking lot at night and we heard a rattling sound like something was climbing over or trying to squeeze under a gate or fence somewhere. When I heard the noise I figured it would be a bear or something because I didn't think that a lion would climb a fence they would just jump over it with little effort.. but after hearing it for a few seconds I looked across the parking lot and saw one run across the front of the school and it disappeared. It was night time and everything was just lit up by a full moon but I'm 100% sure it was a lion because it had a really long tail and it was way bigger than a dog. Careful when your panning!!!! Pack a gun and a prospecting buddy or dog! Especially if you know that there's a lot of them in your area..
Gold Maven
Bronze Member
- Jul 4, 2012
- 2,303
- 2,147
- Detector(s) used
- Tesoro Lobo
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
practice drawing your weapon with your with a lion clamped onto your throat.
0121stockpicker
Silver Member
I've heard playing a radio etc loud will keep them away. It's an unfamiliar "human" sound. If you are being quiet you are acting like a prey animal. Big cats generally are not looking to specifically attack humans and will mostly avoid. It's when people just happen upon them when they are in hunt mode that trouble happens. How does it feel not to be top of the food chain!!!
kuger
Gold Member
- Nov 6, 2007
- 9,721
- 2,796
- Detector(s) used
- ,M.X.T.& Tesoro Tejon
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Lions are opportunists.....necropsy's done on cats that have actually killed humans showed the stomach full of non-human material.If the opportunity provides itself,and everything is right they can attack.I do not know of a single defense attack
I dont know of any kid being killed by a lion in your town
Do you have any info on that?
Thanks
kuger
Gold Member
- Nov 6, 2007
- 9,721
- 2,796
- Detector(s) used
- ,M.X.T.& Tesoro Tejon
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
x2........I have been on the last three.......in the last 15 years and none were kidsI dont know of any kid being killed by a lion in your town
Do you have any info on that?
Thanks
Sir Gala Clad
Bronze Member
I agree you oldbrundogg:
With the exception(s) that I consider domestic dogs let run wild are more dangerous. Same as snakes: rattlers and Man - the most dangerous of all predators; take your pick: Marijuana growers just before harvest, Poachers, Wood rats - who destroy magnificent oak trees on other peoples land for just a few bucks, Criminal(s) hiding from the law in wilderness areas, survivalist(s), rouge hunters, other prospectors - especially if they think you have gold.
I once had a cougar living on a parcel, I purchased years ago. My youngest daughter saw it, I never did. It was in a den with its young. My daughter was in the ravine below and would not come when I called her when it was time to leave . Each time I called her to come back to the truck she called back with a scared voice saying I can't daddy. Concerned, I hiked down to find out what was wrong and she said there was a big cat. I asked how big was it and she spread her hands about a foot to sixteen inches a apart and stammered this big. I told her that a cat that size would not hurt her, and started to approach the den to reassure her, But stopped, as she became even more frantic stammering No No! it was this big and again spread her hands about the same width. Frustrated, I called over our goofy bird dog and told her to show me the size of the cat on the dog's back. She spread her hands like before (not length wise) but across the width of the dog's shoulder. Oops! I quickly used my belt as a very short lease to restrain the dog and we slowly backed away. I never went near that rugged area of the property after that and must of spent a small fortune posting the 35 acre parcel with no trespassing signs to protect this cat and it's offspring till it left to live deep in the wilderness area which we skirted.
With the exception(s) that I consider domestic dogs let run wild are more dangerous. Same as snakes: rattlers and Man - the most dangerous of all predators; take your pick: Marijuana growers just before harvest, Poachers, Wood rats - who destroy magnificent oak trees on other peoples land for just a few bucks, Criminal(s) hiding from the law in wilderness areas, survivalist(s), rouge hunters, other prospectors - especially if they think you have gold.
I once had a cougar living on a parcel, I purchased years ago. My youngest daughter saw it, I never did. It was in a den with its young. My daughter was in the ravine below and would not come when I called her when it was time to leave . Each time I called her to come back to the truck she called back with a scared voice saying I can't daddy. Concerned, I hiked down to find out what was wrong and she said there was a big cat. I asked how big was it and she spread her hands about a foot to sixteen inches a apart and stammered this big. I told her that a cat that size would not hurt her, and started to approach the den to reassure her, But stopped, as she became even more frantic stammering No No! it was this big and again spread her hands about the same width. Frustrated, I called over our goofy bird dog and told her to show me the size of the cat on the dog's back. She spread her hands like before (not length wise) but across the width of the dog's shoulder. Oops! I quickly used my belt as a very short lease to restrain the dog and we slowly backed away. I never went near that rugged area of the property after that and must of spent a small fortune posting the 35 acre parcel with no trespassing signs to protect this cat and it's offspring till it left to live deep in the wilderness area which we skirted.
NuggetN8
Hero Member
I dont know of any kid being killed by a lion in your town
Do you have any info on that?
Thanks
You know what town I live in?? O_O I'll try to find some info on it. Somebody I know was just telling me about how they were talking to the kids at the schools here telling them to stay away from the pond because a kid was attacked and killed there.
kuger
Gold Member
- Nov 6, 2007
- 9,721
- 2,796
- Detector(s) used
- ,M.X.T.& Tesoro Tejon
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Yes,you live in Calif.........there has not been a kid killed in the last 18 years.......
NuggetN8
Hero Member
Is there some kind of recorded reports on this kind of thing or something? Not sure how old the "kid" was. By "kid" they could have meant anything. Old people seem to refer to random people that are in their 20s as "kids". So it really could have been an adult. How do you access these records?
delnorter
Hero Member
N8Longly,
If anyone was killed by a mountain lion in California, in the recent past, you would be able to find it with a search of online records of local newspapers. Actually any newspapers of California would have articles on it.
We have quite a few up here in Del Norte Co., Ca. Below is a link to one killed by locals after it killed 8 goats belonging to a friend of mine 12 years ago.
MOUNTAIN LION HUNTED, KILLED AFTER ATTACKING HERD OF GOATS | Crescent City California News, Sports, & Weather | The Triplicate
I'll write more about my own experiences seeing these cats later. Have to hit the rack and get some rest before a 12 hour shift keeping the roads clear on the north coast tomorrow. More storm are a coming.
Mike
If anyone was killed by a mountain lion in California, in the recent past, you would be able to find it with a search of online records of local newspapers. Actually any newspapers of California would have articles on it.
We have quite a few up here in Del Norte Co., Ca. Below is a link to one killed by locals after it killed 8 goats belonging to a friend of mine 12 years ago.
MOUNTAIN LION HUNTED, KILLED AFTER ATTACKING HERD OF GOATS | Crescent City California News, Sports, & Weather | The Triplicate
I'll write more about my own experiences seeing these cats later. Have to hit the rack and get some rest before a 12 hour shift keeping the roads clear on the north coast tomorrow. More storm are a coming.
Mike
NuggetN8
Hero Member
Good to know I guess. Lol. Just something I heard. Maybe they made the story up so to scare the kids at school to make them be more careful.
As in this....
FORESTHILL, CA - Just days after a mountain lion attacked a Bay Area man camping near Nevada City, a mountain lion was spotted in Foresthill
NuggetN8
Hero Member
They think that was the same mountain lion that was in Foresthill days after it was sighted. But in 1985 there was a study done on the population of mountain lions in the foresthill area and they found that there was 27 of them per 130 spuare miles. I have no idea how anyone would go about finding out how many there are in a certain area, but since it's illegal to kill a mountain lion unless it's causing physical damage to you or your property you would think that thhe population would be much higher now. Aside from that I'm sure what I heard was just a story/rumor whatever you'd like to call it. Somebody probably made it up when they started hearing about all of the sightings here.
walldo
Full Member
My local spot for sluicing is also a great hiking trail. A couple of months ago while I was out of town my wife two kids and little dog were cornered by a little woods kitty. Never again will I get the roll of the eyes or questioned why I go in to the the woods with a gun.
Had I been there the would have been a call to come remove the carcass from the trail.
Had I been there the would have been a call to come remove the carcass from the trail.
kuger
Gold Member
- Nov 6, 2007
- 9,721
- 2,796
- Detector(s) used
- ,M.X.T.& Tesoro Tejon
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
That is commonly the case....made up stories.When there is a fatality it is big news.Many more attacks are averted every year because lions seen as a threat are killed.The state has no clue how many lions there are in the state....they have given the same numbers since the '80's.There are no studies at present time to find out either.Back in the 90'sa group of lion hunters were sent out into a several hundred acre park and double the lines were treed then were thought to be there.I do know of lions that are collared in the Santa Monica Mtns.A biologist wanted us to tree two of them to change out batteries in the collars so we would need to catch them.They proceeded to tell us with a straight face that there was three lions in the whole range and they all had collars.....long story short we treed two lions (with no collars)before we treed the first collared cat......they have no idea,other then the fact there are more here now than ever
NuggetN8
Hero Member
I think that they should make it legal to hunt mountain lions in CA. Each one can have up to 4 cubs per litter I'm sure the population is off the charts =/. Wonder why it's illegal here and not illegal in other states.. Same with coyotes. I guess there's a lot of things that are illegal here that aren't in other states... Like dredging. If they did make hunting them legal then they would probably have to regulate the amount of tags they sell to people in different counties. Anyone know why it's illegal to hunt them? They could just make it more difficult to hunt them. Make it legal only with a crossbow or bow and no hunting dogs to tree them
NuggetN8
Hero Member
LOL!!! True I doubt it would ever happen. Plus all of the animal rights activists or whatever you call those people would go nuts.
Hard Prospector
Hero Member
- Aug 29, 2012
- 974
- 1,387
- Detector(s) used
- SDC2300, Gold Monster, Sierra Gold Trac, GB2, the Falcon......and just as many drywashers
- Primary Interest:
- Prospecting
Animals that are hunted become conditioned to fear man which is passed down to their off-spring. The big cats have not been hunted in ca since the early 1970s and since then have gained protective status via the ballot box. I spend a lot of time in the back country hunting and prospecting solo and have had my share of encounters. The first two encounters were from behind(I was being flanked) the other was head on as I was going down the trail. Yes the cats are stealthy ambush predators but when it comes to the two legged kind of pray their not used to taking down, I believe they usually take a more cautious approach before they strike which gave me plenty of time to react in all three events(yelling at one and warning shots fired at the others scarred em off) Just remember, when hiking always stop every 75-100 yards and look behind you and just listen for a few moments. If your not into guns, Cold Steel makes some really good spears that could also serve as a walking stick and that would be my second choice of personal protection(plenty of people say bear spray but a strong wind from an unfavorable direction forget it)
Top Member Reactions
-
3521 -
2089 -
2038 -
1154 -
1124 -
924 -
848 -
820 -
810 -
778 -
770 -
536 -
531 -
452 -
452 -
439 -
E
423
-
412 -
411 -
404
