Mountain Lion in Pescadero (near where Kat takes her pictures) takes dog

[Manfred]

For years I’m enjoying all the photos that Kat is so graciously sharing with all of us. The latest from the little cubs are just adorable. From time to time when I cowboy-camp in those areas I wonder whether a mountain lion might come by my bed site without me even noticing.

In this recent event in Pescadero here in the Santa Cruz Mountains a mountain lion entered an occupied home at night and took a dog that was sleeping on the owner’s bed. Now my thoughts when camping at night are wandering even more often to the mountain lions in this area …

Manfred

 

[Kattt]

I heard about that one. I also think about it when walking in the dark off the deck and to the car every morning. I have seen a mountain lion from my bathroom window stroll by my cabin in the daytime.

I am not overly worried but around here we have all changed our behavior ..

[Matthew / BPL]

Whoa! I’ve stayed at Costanoa a few times before with the fam and come up to Pescadero on many an occasion. I would not expect mountain lions there.

[Kattt]

Why would you not expect them there??? It’s prime mountain lion country. They are all over the place there.

By the way Costanoa is where I will be doing my wildlife presentation on Saturday ( every other week). I worked there on and off since the start. I was the landscaper for years, started the organic farm  there after making the proposal to the owners. The sign by the restaurant and a couple others around the property I torch cut and welded. There are bits of me all over that place. I still get called for interpretive hikes and arts and crafts. The presentation is one more gig I have there and it is the best one yet :):)

[Ken Thompson]

Woke up one morning in Anza-Borrego and had tracks circling the tent. They are in more places than one would think.

But dang, in the house snatching your pet. Could have been a child.

[BlackHatGuy]

“Could have been a child.”

Don’t be silly. Only dingoes go after babies.

[Ken Thompson]

Thanks B.G.

[Roger Caffin]

However …

they reported seeing wet paw prints at the entrance to the bedroom. The wildlife officer was unable to find any other tracks or obvious sign of a mountain lion. He did discover a small drop of blood on the door, which he collected for analysis.

There is actually no evidence that the lion ENTERED the bedroom. If the door was an exterior door, then there may be no evidence that the lion even entered the house.
Could the dog have heard the lion, left the bed, gone outside, and challenged the lion? Could the dog have chased the lion outside, even some distance from the house? It is possible.

Could the lion have entered the bedroom, leapt on the bed and taken the dog without waking the person in the bed? Or without the dog barking furiously? I have my doubts.

Cheers

[Kattt]

Very legitimate thoughts Roger. On the other other  hand….our neighbour had a mountain lion walk up the deck stairs and snatch their dog while they saw it through the screen door in the kitchen. We had a mountain lion chase the barn cat in the barn, just yards from me. My daughter was in town today ( not yesterday….today!)  and an area in Capitola was roped off by authorities as a cougar was up a tree next to a liquor store. So it may well be that the cat did not actually enter the bedroom to get the dog but it certainly is in the realm of possibilities around here. None of us have reported these incidents so theynseem unusual but they are really not.

The way cats hunt, the dog could have not been aware at all before it was too late. Not saying it went down like that, but it could be.

[Edgar H]

A knife is a luxury item.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Kat

It’s the owner sleeping through a lion jumping on the bed that makes me doubtful.

Cheers

[Kattt]

^^^^^Fair enough. That would not be me . Even at night I am quite jumpy  ?

Yeah people embellish…

[Edgar H]

As adult humans,  we might fit into the sweet spot in mountain lion hunting tactics. Where smaller prey may get a different treatment, front tooth chomp or back tooth shearing action – What I’ve heard is that a mountain lion’s jaw is so perfectly evolved to clamping off the blood and air supply of a deer,  that humans tend to survive,  or at least survive the initial clamp down,  because our necks are of a sufficiently differing shape and size,  while still qualifying as deer size, big game.

On a related note,  there’s still a quiet crisis going on,  where the Nintindo generations aren’t learning to hunt deer. Deer have absolutely no internal population control mechanisms, humans ethically hunting them is much better than letting the populations boom and bust,  for both the deer and the ecosystems,  but the best solution is to restore mountain lions, and wolves,  …but mountain lions are much more effective.

[Kattt]

 

Here is an example in how fast things happen. Took this bobcat 7 seconds to assess, pounce down the hill and come back with a squirrel.

 

[Matthew / BPL]

Wow! That’s great Kat. Costanoa is a very pleasant place. The whole area is blessed with beauty. We like stopping there on the way up to Patrick’s Point State Park in Trinidad.

I could go for a bowl of cream of green chile from Duarte’s right about now…

[Kattt]

Why not….I will post this here too :)

[Greg Mihalik]

There is a reason “pet doors” come with locking mechanisms.

That said, locally a mountain lion chased a dog through a pet door at 4 in the afternoon. Other dogs rose to the occasion, the people got out unscathed, but one dog died.

http://bigcatrescue.blogspot.com/2010/03/young-cougar-captured-euthanized-in.html

Stuff happens.

 

 

[Ethan A.]

Years ago there was a bloody mountain lion deer attack right in front of the visitor’s center in Foothills Park, Palo Alto (a park on the edge of Palo Alto only minutes drive from town that’s very popular with day hikers, trail runners and the occasional fishermen). The mother mountain lion pulled the carcass into the nearby trees where she and the cubs continued to feed on it for days and were captured by the rangers’ trail cam. What you can’t see in the video below is that the blood trail on the grass starts right in front of the visitor center doors.

Mountain Lion Deer Attack Palo Alto Foothills

As I’m sure many in the area have heard before, unfortunately, there have been mountain lions shot in town in Palo Alto in 2015 and 2004. I never understood why they couldn’t be tranquilized while people in the neighborhood stay indoors, but I’m not an animal control expert.

I don’t think most folks could sleep through an adult mountain lion jumping on their bed, but knowing how stealthily cats hunt, I think even an adult mountain lion could enter and exit a house without being heard. And slip out fast with a pet in mouth.

Kat love your trail cam pics and videos, really appreciate you posting them.

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