Mountain Lion Badly Injures Calif. Woman
By GREG RISLING Associated Press Writer
published 10:34 AM - JANUARY 09, 2004 Eastern Time
A mountain lion attacked and critically injured a bicyclist in an Orange County park and may have killed a man whose body was found nearby, authorities said.
The 2-year-old male cat, which weighed about 110 pounds, was later shot and killed, and its body was taken to a laboratory for testing, said Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the California Fish and Game Department.
Ann Hjelle had been riding with a friend in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park shortly before dusk Thursday when the mountain lion attacked her, said Orange County Fire Capt. Stephen Miller.
The lion pounced on the 30-year-old's back, grabbed her by her head and began dragging her, said her friend, Debi Nichols. Nichols said she screamed for help and grabbed Hjelle's legs in a struggle to free her.
"He dragged us down ... about 100 yards into the brush and I just kept screaming," Nichols said. "This guy would not let go. He had a hold of her face."
Other cyclists in the area threw rocks at the animal until it fled.
Hjelle was airlifted to Mission Hospital, where she was in critical condition early Friday, a nursing supervisor said.
After the attack, the body of an unidentified man in his 30s was found at the top of a trail near a bicycle. Authorities weren't sure how long he had been there and couldn't confirm if the man was killed by the mountain lion, but Miller said, "it's pretty obvious that an animal was involved." An autopsy was planned Friday.
Including Thursday's incident, there have been 13 mountain lion attacks on humans in California over the past 114 years, five of them fatal, said Doug Updike, a biologist with the state Fish and Game Department.
Last September, game wardens shot and wounded an aggressive mountain lion spotted near an equestrian center in San Juan Capistrano. The lion was later found and killed, state officials said.
In 1986, 5-year-old Laura Small was attacked while looking for tadpoles with her mother in Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park in Orange County. The girl's skull was partially crushed and she was left blind in one eye and paralyzed on her right side.
A 6-year-old boy was mauled in the same park a few months later. County supervisors closed most of the park to children for nearly a decade afterward.
Updike estimates there are between 4,000 and 6,000 adult lions roaming the Golden State, with usually five to seven mountain lions per 100 square miles. State law prohibits hunting or killing them.
Th Florida Panther is a sub species of the Mountain Lion, and has been inbreeding way too long because of its isolation from the rest of the Mountain Lions. I think some the Florida Panthers have been started to breed with Mountain Lions from the Western US - capture, breed, release - so the genetic pool won't be so inbred.
Up until 200 years ago the Mountain Lion ranged from Southern South America up to the Southern half of Canada - the 48 contiguous states of the United States ALL had Mountain Lions. The main food of Mountain Lions is deer, except in Kalifornia where it is bicycle riders.
Should be open season on those fuckers...they are very aggressive. Ran across one in NC mountains once. He/she was definately not freighted by my presence .
The Mountaim Lion population is gradualy moving back into ALL of the 48 contiguous states because the deer population is out of control and the Western U.S. is becoming overdeveloped.
Killing the Mountain Lions in the Eastern U.S. would only increase the over population of deer. Very few Mountain Lions attack humans if they can get a deer. Very few vehicles can survive intact a collision with a deer that jumped out on the road. Balence of Nature vs. Man Playing God.
Fuck that. There is enough rednecks here with guns to control the deer population along with cars/suv's.
That's probably true for every state, but each state has a short deer hunting season (I think Ohio has a three day season) and a limit (I think Ohio has a two deer limit) on how many Bambis you can kill, therefore a big overpopulation of deer, and only SUVs and Mountain Lions to do their share in reducing the herds.
BTW - Mountain Lions rarely attack from the front - like all cats they prefer to run down their prey and grab them by the head/neck. If you come up on one and it growls at you, keep facing it and back away slowly and do not show fear.
BTW - Mountain Lions rarely attack from the front - like all cats they prefer to run down their prey and grab them by the head/neck. If you come up on one and it growls at you, keep facing it and back away slowly and do not show fear.
That is why when you are calling a Mountain Lion your buddy watches your back. The tag costs about $10.00 in AZ and you are limited to one a year. I haven't hunted in a couple of years and never bagged one, called and saw one but was too far to take the shot. My buddy was stalked by one when he was on a horse. He stopped to eat under a ridge and heard a shot. He looked around and around then a rancher showed up on the ridge holding the cat up. It had been stalking him for about a mile and the horse never picked it up as well. Sneaky and very smart bastards and they deserve the upmost respect. it is always good to have a side arm and a dog. the dog not to chase it off so much, rather give it something to chew on while you make your getaway. [img]/images/graemlins/laughing.gif[/img]
My wife's cousin's husband worked as a hand on a ranch otuside of Flagstaff. He had a run in with one anf good thing he wasn't hungry. It was at the end of the day and he was tired and one caught the horse off guard and the horse tossed him off and took off. His Winchester was still on the horse and all he had was a knife between him and the mountain lion. The moutnain lion paused as if to look him over then took off. He is 6 foot 3 and perhaps he sized him up and felt he was too big. Either way he was scared $hitless standing there with a knife in one hand and his @ick in the other.
They are awsome creatures to see move in the wild and not the same seeing caged up in the zoo. They are sleak and powerful and QUIET as hell and in SCARY QUIET where you will never know if you are lunch. And if one ever marks anything you own, you might as well burn it. You think a small cat smells bad!
Here kitty, kitty kitty, here kitty kitty kitty. There's a nice ranch for you to play on in Texas, near Aberdene. Just don't worry about the blood stains and the AK casings.
There are cats in the state park (Alum Rock Park in San Jose, CA) that surrounds my property. One of my neighbors saw a bobcat treed by a mountain lion at the bottom of my property! I have never seen one, but neighbors have. I have seen the bobcats, and come across a fresh kill of a twin pain near my home (a deer). They tore the guts out through the ass. Must be a nice soft spot to start from. I have been running in the park for about 8 years (not straight! whaddya think I am, Forrest Gump?) and have come across bobcats about a dozen times. They just keep an eye on me, and I have never seen one run away from me.
They had an "animal show" at the park, and the male mountain lion they had was almost 200 pounds. They claim they can get to 250 lbs! A kid on a skateboard went by, and I thought this cat was gonna break it's chain. And this one was raised in captivity! The noise that came from that sucker was blood curdling.
They claim they can get to 250 lbs! A kid on a skateboard went by, and I thought this cat was gonna break it's chain. And this one was raised in captivity! The noise that came from that sucker was blood curdling.
Reminds me of a time I was bow hunting for deer on my parents farm in Wisconsin about 16 years ago or so. There had been neighbors saying they saw a mountain lion. I really didn't know what to believe although they are credible people. That is until I was hunting one night expecting the deer to all come out to feed like they usually did about 30 minutes before dark. I waited until almost pitch dark and nothing came out and I thought it was pretty odd. That is until I heard this blood curdling scream that sent a shiver up my spine. It came from about 300 yards away. At first I froze. Then when I heard it again I got the fuck out of my tree and ran full speed to my parents house about a half mile away. Turns out it was a mountain lion. Holy crap did that scare the hell outta me. Now mountain lions have been spotted again in the area and my neighbors dog was torn up really bad by a bobcat a few months ago. Then a nighbor about a mile away as the crow flies caught a very large black bear on camera with one of those remote trip cameras that goes off automatically. Now I always carry a side arm with me when I venture into my parents woods.
"neighbors dog was torn up really bad by a bobcat"
Funny thing is a bobcat is a lot smaller than a moutnain lion. A 30 lbs animal like a bobcat can ruin a dogs day, imagine a 200 + lbs lion.
Honestly I don't hunt moutnain lion unless I have someone watching my back while I call. Some might think it is pussish but I call it covering my arse (no pun intended) If you have ever seen a Mountain Lion in person you would do the same. More powerful than any dog I know and lightning fast with their paws and stealthy as hell. Perfect killing machines around these parts.
This was within a few miles of my home. One of my best friends lives right across the street from the park where the attack took place- they are freaking out about letting their kids play in the yard now. I think they should pick up a couple of Great Danes as back yard "nannies" :thumb:
This was within a few miles of my home. One of my best friends lives right across the street from the park where the attack took place- they are freaking out about letting their kids play in the yard now. I think they should pick up a couple of Great Danes as back yard "nannies" :thumb:
