“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”– Ralph Waldo Emerson
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A secretive, elusive inhabitant of Lake County's densely tangled slopes, canyons and forests, the mountain lion makes its presence known from time to time.
Most recently, a mountain lion was sighted in the treeline off Highway 29 in south Lake County, as you are leaving Middletown.
Also called cougars or pumas, these majestic creatures are following a trend in evolving wildlife patterns which are being studied in our state and elsewhere.
Crucial questions beg being asked of wildlife experts, such as what is the mountain lion count in Lake County? How are mountain lions, and for that matter, other wildlife affected by the drought?
If knowing that you are neighbors with such a wild creature unnerves you, take comfort in the fact that the mountain lion's preference is to steer clear of humans.
Wildlife researchers say that a person is more likely to be struck by lightning than to be mauled by a mountain lion.
According to Bay Nature Magazine, there was a rare mountain lion attack in the Santa Cruz mountains in 2014.
The mountain lion was caught and killed, and a study was undertaken to ascertain the health of the young lion.
Prior to that attack, the last assault on a human being in the Bay Area was in 1909. In that case, the aggressive mountain lion was rabid.
Mountain lions range all across North and South America, where they are native.
These cats prefer rocky outcrops to ambush their prey, and nearly impenetrable underbrush in which to hide.
That being said, they also can adapt to open areas. They have adapted to reside in the cold Yukon in the north, all of the way to the Andes in South America.
Mountain lions belong to the family Felinae, and are both solitary and secretive, making a sighting a very rare occurrence.
Their diet here in Lake County includes deer and sometimes elk, along with mice, rats, gophers and other rodents. Sometimes they consume insects. In other regions they have been known to dine on cattle, and other livestock, as well as bighorn sheep.
These cats are known to be territorial, but it is difficult to determine how large their territories are, as the terrain determines the size of a cat's territory.
For more information about these fascinating creatures, along with safety tips, visit the Department of Fish and Wildlife's Web site, http://www.dfg.ca.gov/keepmewild/lion.html , and watch the video above.
Kathleen Scavone, M.A., is an educator, potter, writer and author of “Anderson Marsh State Historic Park: A Walking History, Prehistory, Flora, and Fauna Tour of a California State Park” and “Native Americans of Lake County.” She also writes for NASA and JPL as one of their “Solar System Ambassadors.” She was selected “Lake County Teacher of the Year, 1998-99” by the Lake County Office of Education, and chosen as one of 10 state finalists the same year by the California Department of Education.
The Living Landscape: The elusive, mysterious mountain lion
- Kathleen Scavone
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