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US Fish and Wildlife Services

Mountain Lion Encounters – What Should You Do?

SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST — Following reports of two separate and confirmed accounts of mountain lion activity within the Sierra National Forest in the Jose Basin and Pine Ridge areas, SNF officials are reminding people who are frequent hikers or visitors to be extra cautious.

Here are a few tips to keep you safe while enjoying your Forest.

If you do see a mountain lion, no matter how thrilled you are to be one of the very few who gets such an opportunity, stay well back, and take the encounter seriously.

Make yourself appear as large as possible.

Make yourself appear larger by picking up your children, leashing pets in, and standing close to other adults. Open your jacket. Raise your arms. Wave your raised arms slowly.

Make noise.

Yell, shout, bang your walking stick against a tree. Make any loud sound that cannot be confused by the lion as the sound of prey. Speak slowly, firmly and loudly to disrupt and discourage predatory behavior.

Act like a predator yourself.

Maintain eye contact. Never run past or from a mountain lion. Never bend over or crouch down. Aggressively wave your raised arms, throw stones or branches, all without turning away.

Slowly create distance.

Assess the situation. Consider whether you may be between the lion and its kittens, or between the lion and its prey or cache. Back slowly to a spot that gives the mountain lion a path to get away, never turning away from the animal. Give a mountain lions the time and ability to move away.

Protect yourself.

If attacked, fight back. Protect your neck and throat. People have utilized rocks, jackets, garden tools, tree branches, walking sticks, fanny packs and even bare hands to turn away cougars.

Source: http://www.mountainlion.org/portalprotectencounters.asp

2 comments

  1. Great tips – thanks!

  2. I encountered mountain lion last year, late at night, and I was alone. It first made a steady loud sound like something scrapping, which alerted me to its presence. I tried everything mentioned above, but it would not leave, and even started to run up (but only for a few feet, twice) towards me. I decided to call search and rescue, since it wasn’t going away and to get to my car, I would have to go past it. The only thing that would have protected me (it took a while to get help) was a gun. No longer do I hike far by myself at night.

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