Mountain Lion Alert

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yellvet
Posts: 224
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2017 5:54 pm

Mountain Lion Alert

Post by yellvet »

Thought I'd give folks a heads up that there's a mountain lion that's been roaming the local Nye, MT area. Just saw a pic of it in our local paper. The photo was taken with a trail camera, which was set up fairly close to our house (NE of Slough Creek). I haven't seen it, yet and hope that that I don't. One killed my pet cat in 2003 and I sure would hate to see any of our wild bunnies or any of our local deer be taken down.

Reportedly, a male mountain lion has a territorial range of up to 170 miles and we live less than 50 miles from the Park's boundary, so I wanted to alert the folks who are in the northeastern part of Yellowstone right now. Keep your heads on a swivel, make sure that you have bear spray and that you know when and how to use it correctly. Not only will bear spray help deter a bear from attacking but it will also work on a mountain lion...another good reason to carry bear spray whenever you're hiking/walking in the wild. At this time of year a mountain lion is very difficult to spot because it blends in so well with the tall prairie grass and rocky terrain. So ya can't be too careful.

Here's the link to the photo of the big cat that appeared in our local paper: https://www.stillwatercountynews.com/co ... itty-kitty

And here's the link to an excellent article from the MT FWP that addresses the use of bear spray as a mountain lion deterrent and what to do in the event you should have a mountain lion encounter:
http://fwp.mt.gov/recreation/safety/wil ... Spray.html

Have fun if you're in the Park right now. But please remember to keep your heads on a swivel.



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Mike
Posts: 108
Joined: Wed Jul 26, 2017 3:20 pm
Location: California

Re: Mountain Lion Alert

Post by Mike »

Thanks for the heads up(better keep that head up) there has been two fatal attacks in the last three months,last week in Oregon,a solo hiker/runner and about two months ago in Washington state,two mountain bikers.Here in California I assume when hiking that a lion could be anywhere as I have one roaming within a half mile of my home(the famous P-22)right in the middle of a urban area.



yellvet
Posts: 224
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2017 5:54 pm

Re: Mountain Lion Alert

Post by yellvet »

Yep, I hear ya Mike. Last winter there was mountain lion that was seen by some of our neighbors in SoCal. It was walking right down the walking promenade that runs behind all the homes in the community.

Haven't seen any bears or cougars, yet, around Nye. But I know they're around. I'll probably start looking for tracks along the River and for any signs of a kill when it's a bit safer. Until then, I'm sticking close to the house so I can keep an eye on our bunnies and deer and the 4 new fawns that were born this year. They make such EZ targets for a hungry bear, mountain lion, coyote or wolf because they're so trusting and see the land around here as a safe haven, where they can come and go safely and do as they please. Very similar to the trusting nature of the animals that live in Yellowstone. Last week, we had 3 big whitetail bucks wandering through our yard every morning and afternoon. Today, all the whitetails have completely disappeared. Usually, it's the bucks that disappear but they don't usually start their Houdini act until the start of the hunting season. So, not to see a single whitetail today was pretty unusual. I think they must sense that there's a major predator in the area and are hiding out until it's safe to come out into the open. I'll keep ya posted on the mountain lion. Hopefully, it can be relocated to the A-B Wilderness without having to kill it.



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