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I saw a good sized mountain lion last night (I'd estimate it was about 100lbs). It ran out in front of my car as I was driving home from my buddy's house at ~11:30 PM.

(stock wikipedia image)


I'd have to say, of all the animals around here, the mountain lions concern me the most. Bears just want to be left alone, same goes for rattlesnakes and black widows...but mountain lions are born killers. They wait for you to pass by and then jump on your back and bite through the vertebrae in your neck. When I was in 2nd grade, one of the kids on my baseball team had his mom killed and partially eaten by a mountain lion. They don't mess around. I lost a cat to one once, and we (my father and I) went hunting for him, but he was nowhere to be found.
 

VF21

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Where do you live?

There's a black bear in our neck of the woods - literally - and he's discovered the joys of garbage can fine dining. The dude weighs around 450 lbs. so when I hear a lot of commotion in the garbaga cans in the middle of the night, I figure he's just making his rounds...and I'm not going to stop him. Living in the middle of a national forest, I respect the rights of the critters who truly belong here but I still get chills when I look out the window at one of them.
 
Where do you live?

There's a black bear in our neck of the woods - literally - and he's discovered the joys of garbage can fine dining. The dude weighs around 450 lbs. so when I hear a lot of commotion in the garbaga cans in the middle of the night, I figure he's just making his rounds...and I'm not going to stop him. Living in the middle of a national forest, I respect the rights of the critters who truly belong here but I still get chills when I look out the window at one of them.
I live on Apple Hill (between Placerville and Camino). We have black bears around here too, at certain times of the year (usually fall), and I have the same problem. Last year it was a mother bear and her three or four cubs. I don't really enjoy cleaning up after them in the morning, so whenever I hear them going through my trash, I usually just try and scare them away by firing a few rounds into the hillside. I don't want to hurt the animals (unless it's a mountain lion who just ate my cat :mad:), but I don't necessarily want them at my house either. I have plenty of open property (with a year round creek and lots of fruit/berries) for them to inhabit. 450lbs is a big bear! I'd be careful around him. In Tahoe, there are stories of black bears breaking into people's houses to get at the food they have inside!
 
I saw a good sized mountain lion last night (I'd estimate it was about 100lbs). It ran out in front of my car as I was driving home from my buddy's house at ~11:30 PM.

I'd have to say, of all the animals around here, the mountain lions concern me the most. Bears just want to be left alone, same goes for rattlesnakes and black widows...but mountain lions are born killers. They wait for you to pass by and then jump on your back and bite through the vertebrae in your neck. When I was in 2nd grade, one of the kids on my baseball team had his mom killed and partially eaten by a mountain lion. They don't mess around. I lost a cat to one once, and we (my father and I) went hunting for him, but he was nowhere to be found.
That seriously happens sooooo rarely. They think that she was attacked because she was messing with a cub. Humans kill way more mountain lions every year, and they are constantly infringing on their habitat. Leave the poor lions alone, it's like a defender in basketball, they have a right to be somewhere, and they were here first! Sure they sound scary, but they are not out to get you...
 
That seriously happens sooooo rarely. They think that she was attacked because she was messing with a cub. Humans kill way more mountain lions every year, and they are constantly infringing on their habitat. Leave the poor lions alone, it's like a defender in basketball, they have a right to be somewhere, and they were here first! Sure they sound scary, but they are not out to get you...
It's certainly rare, but it's common enough that mountain lions should be taken seriously. And, I've never heard from anyone that she was even near the cub.

The accounts in the paper said that investigators theorize that the lion surprised her by sneaking within 20' behind her on the tight trail and then ambushing Schoener, knocking her 30' down an 80° slope. Indications are she already was badly wounded but briefly fought the animal there before the lion finished the kill.
It's not like she was an exceptionally small person, either, at 5'11". There are enough stories of mountains lions ambushing runners, hikers, and cyclists, that it pays to pay attention if you're out in the woods.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
I googled "mountain lion attacks - California" and figured you were talking about Barbara Schoener. One of the articles did, in fact, state the mountain lion was a female with a cub nearby. They didn't say Schoener actually had contact with the cub; they said one theory - since no one witnessed the attack itself they'll never know - was that the lion was protecting her cub.

http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/lion_attacks_ca.html

You should always be careful about moutain lions, to be sure, and walking in areas where they've been spotted is just not a good thing to do. And losing a beloved pet to one really sucks ... But there have only been six deaths from mountain lion attacks in California in over 100 years.
 
You go into wildlife areas, you risk being attacked by wildlife. It's a fact of life and is actually pretty darn rare. Go in to the ocean, a shark could get you.

Life is not risk free and in these cases people are going into the animal's territory most of the time. There are cases where animals actually enter urban/sburban areas, but not often.

A person I know lives on a remote ranch. "Pets" disappear pretty often, if left outside. Large birds of prey will just snarf up the little kitty cat. Wolves or coyotes will certainly kill bigger pets, as well as the samll ones.

Which animal is the most deadly to humans? Other humans, intentionally or not. By a huge margin. I'm regularly scared out of my wits commuting on highway 99. :eek:
 
You go into wildlife areas, you risk being attacked by wildlife. It's a fact of life and is actually pretty darn rare. Go in to the ocean, a shark could get you.

Life is not risk free and in these cases people are going into the animal's territory most of the time. There are cases where animals actually enter urban/sburban areas, but not often.

A person I know lives on a remote ranch. "Pets" disappear pretty often, if left outside. Large birds of prey will just snarf up the little kitty cat. Wolves or coyotes will certainly kill bigger pets, as well as the samll ones.

Which animal is the most deadly to humans? Other humans, intentionally or not. By a huge margin. I'm regularly scared out of my wits commuting on highway 99. :eek:
I agree with all of this. People are the most dangerous animal by far.

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door," he used to say. "You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.
J.R.R. Tolkien
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
Okay, now I'm just getting a little tired of Brother Bear and his nightly sojourns through this area in his hunt for sustenance. I was sitting out on my back porch, enjoying the beautiful night, and happened to see movement out of the corner of my eye... Sure enough, it was the bear, ambling along. In all the years I've lived up here I've never had to deal with one of the ursine critters quite so close to home. I don't think I like it...

I'm putting in a call to the ranger station in the morning. Find out what, if anything, they can do to persuade the giant furry beast to move on down the road...
 

6th

Homer Fan Since 1985
Okay, now I'm just getting a little tired of Brother Bear and his nightly sojourns through this area in his hunt for sustenance. I was sitting out on my back porch, enjoying the beautiful night, and happened to see movement out of the corner of my eye... Sure enough, it was the bear, ambling along. In all the years I've lived up here I've never had to deal with one of the ursine critters quite so close to home. I don't think I like it...

I'm putting in a call to the ranger station in the morning. Find out what, if anything, they can do to persuade the giant furry beast to move on down the road...

Good luck! Hopefully, they can help him along.
 

6th

Homer Fan Since 1985
Whew! My car just passed its smog test. It was barely under the max allowed at 15 mph, but was way fine at the 25 mph. How the heck does that work? This was only in the NO test (EGR system).

But, it did pass. And since I cannot afford car work right now...Hurray!!
 
Whew! My car just passed its smog test. It was barely under the max allowed at 15 mph, but was way fine at the 25 mph. How the heck does that work? This was only in the NO test (EGR system).

But, it did pass. And since I cannot afford car work right now...Hurray!!
Yay! :D
 

Warhawk

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Bride Still in Wedding Gown Saves Family From House Fire

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,523720,00.html?test=latestnews


BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — A Connecticut newlywed in her wedding gown is being credited with helping save a family from a Bridgeport house fire.
Officials say that Georgette Clemons had just left her wedding reception Sunday evening when she spotted smoke coming from a home on West McKinley Avenue.
Clemons got out of the car she was riding in and ran into the home. She says a woman was yelling about her animals and didn't want to get out so she had to pull her out.
As firefighters arrived and battled the blaze after members of the Eitelberg family were rescued, Clemons was nearby folding her blackened wedding dress.
Clemons says she messed up her shoes, but says that's no big deal because the people inside the burning home are safe.
 
Okay, now I'm just getting a little tired of Brother Bear and his nightly sojourns through this area in his hunt for sustenance. I was sitting out on my back porch, enjoying the beautiful night, and happened to see movement out of the corner of my eye... Sure enough, it was the bear, ambling along. In all the years I've lived up here I've never had to deal with one of the ursine critters quite so close to home. I don't think I like it...

I'm putting in a call to the ranger station in the morning. Find out what, if anything, they can do to persuade the giant furry beast to move on down the road...
What, may I ask, did the Ranger tell you? The fall before last, when I was having my bear issues (a mother and her cubs were going on my front porch), I put some calls in to see what I could do, and they basically told that, if I felt seriously threatened, that they could give me a tag/permit (can't remember which, it's been a while) to shoot the bear, but I wasn't about to do that. There's no way I was going to kill a mother bear unless it was life or death for me, and going through my garbage doesn't qualify.
 

6th

Homer Fan Since 1985
Weather report:

Looks like our area is getting one of those isolated thunderstorms. Not storming here in Natomas, but dark clouds overhead and lightning just east of us. Don't see lightning here much.
 

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
What, may I ask, did the Ranger tell you? The fall before last, when I was having my bear issues (a mother and her cubs were going on my front porch), I put some calls in to see what I could do, and they basically told that, if I felt seriously threatened, that they could give me a tag/permit (can't remember which, it's been a while) to shoot the bear, but I wasn't about to do that. There's no way I was going to kill a mother bear unless it was life or death for me, and going through my garbage doesn't qualify.
I ended up not calling. I asked one of my neighbors and they said they had called, and the response they received was pretty close to what you got. I'm living in a national forest and I agree with your thought. I'm not going to push for the death of an animal who belongs here more than I do.