Mountain lion kills California man in state’s first fatal attack in 20 years (Sacramento: living, law)

[gofunme]

I hear the gun laws are crazy in California. Too bad. If these gents had been armed they both might be alive today having a beer and telling the story of how one shot took out the mountain lion charging at them. Sad.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by gofunme

I hear the gun laws are crazy in California. Too bad. If these gents had been armed they both might be alive today having a beer and telling the story of how one shot took out the mountain lion charging at them. Sad.

How do you know they weren’t armed?

[Mathguy]

Originally Posted by mgforshort

We subscribe to the much-despised "Nextdoor" website. Every few weeks someone posts a quick video of a mountain lion crossing their yard, usually at night. I haven't seen one yet, but they are around.

We had two encounters with black bears, one at night and it ran away when we went outside to check with the Airedale. The other was in the early afternoon and the bear climbed a big oak tree halfway, and was so scared of us it didn't leave until later that night. I'm more worried about raccoons and lions.

Our 5-feet-high chain link fence is for decoration only. I had seen deer jump over it the way I step over a paper bag on the street. The black bear climbed over it coming in under 4 seconds. We don't allow our dogs out at night unless I'm there watching.

Good point, the fences for deer at the tree farms here are 10 feet.

Seen coyotes easily clear 5 foot fences to nab pets online.

Wildlife is spreading, where my parents live in northern IL my father whom is around 80 has seen it go from "wow we saw a deer" back when he was 10 to people seeing black bear, cougar and even wolf.

This is good news but something to be aware of.

P.S. Nextdoor is hilarious depending where you live, if you have any cranks or nervous neighborhood karen types.

[Aredhel]

Originally Posted by Mathguy

P.S. Nextdoor is hilarious depending where you live, if you have any cranks or nervous neighborhood karen types.

Got that right! "OMG, I just spotted a FOX down the street! Everyone be super careful!"

Of course, every now and then someone's backyard security camera or Ring doorbell picks up a sighting of a very BIG kitty... Now THAT is something I'd love to see the reaction to on Nextdoor.

Honestly, when you consider how common mountain lions are in many parts of the US and how stealthy they are, it's a minor miracle that more people aren't killed or seriously injured by these cats. This was a truly freak event, and I feel very sorry for the brothers and for their friends and family. Some times bad things just happen, and nothing you could have done would have prevented it.

[mgforshort]

The following is from the late evening edition of the Sacramento Bee. This wasn't a silent ambush. Unfortunately they didn't carry a suitable weapon, a gun or at least a machete.

"Taylen was the first to spot the mountain lion prowling up the one-lane road as they searched. The brothers did exactly as trained: Both raised their arms to appear large and yelled at the lion, said the family and state wildlife officials. Wyatt threw his backpack at the predator to scare him away, the family said. Nothing helped. The cougar charged at Wyatt, biting at his face. Taylen began yelling and beating the animal, but the predator still didn’t let go. Family identifies brothers, 21 and 18, in fatal Northern California mountain lion attack. DNA from mountain lion killed after fatal Saturday attack matches sample from scene. Wyatt managed to get on top of the 90-pound beast. But the mountain lion clawed at his midsection leading the 18-year-old to lose his grip. That’s when the young male lion charged at Taylen, chomping at his neck and tackling him to the ground. Lacerations ripped through Wyatt’s face as he repeatedly beat the animal to loosen its jaws. The predator skirted away and Wyatt called 911. But, he had no cellphone service. The 18-year-old ran to his vehicle where he ultimately got cell service and called authorities.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article287080335.html#storylink=cpy"

Here is more:
Taylen and Wyatt grew up in the unincorporated community Mount Aukum where they enjoyed hunting and fishing together, almost daily. The brothers knew March was the best time to search out the deer antler sheds before they were blanketed by tall spring grasses. Saturday was also the opening day of junior turkey hunting season, so they didn’t carry firearms that would draw the eye of game wardens.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article287080335.html#storylink=cpy"

[gofunme]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

How do you know they weren’t armed?

If they were armed then chances are they both would be alive. It being California, the news outlets would have made a big deal about being armed and still attacked. I have read numerous different sources on this story and none of those sources said anything about being armed. I was not there, so not sure about it. What makes you think they might have been armed?

[saibot]

Originally Posted by recycled

Two decades ago I was living in Foothill Ranch (part of Lake Forest), CA which is the entrance to Whiting Ranch Regional Park (Orange County regional park system). I was a frequent trail runner on the 20+ miles of trails in the park at the base of the Santa Ana Mountains. I usually ran in the early morning hours, at dawn's early light before going to work. I went out for a run in Whiting Ranch park just a few hours before the mountain lion attack described below occurred. What really spooked me was that I ran on a trail that was just 100 or so yards away from the place where a few hours later, a mountain biker crouched over to work on his bike chain was killed and partially eaten by a large mountain lion. Shortly after the lion attacked two other women mountain bikers.

Yikes. Yes. that would be spooky. Back in 1996-98 when we were living in Lake Forest, I rode my mountain bike through Whiting all the time and never thought twice about it. By 2004, we were five miles away, I had two small children and was pregnant with a third, so I hadn't been there for a while, but I remember this incident very clearly. The woman who was attacked was lucky to survive and needed extensive plastic surgery to put her badly mauled face back together.

Originally Posted by NORTY FLATZ

Now here's someone who is greatly under estimating a mountain lion's capabilities. Greatly.

The same woman stated that being jumped by the lion was like being attacked by ten men at once. There was absolutely no way to fight back.

[heavymind]

Horrifying, but we have to remember that these attacks are rare and come down to wrong place/wrong time situations.

Reminds me of a guy in Utah a couple years who was not directly attacked, but charged at and followed by an angry mother lion for six terrifying minutes. I'm not sure what I might have done differently in that situation, and I think he lucked out when the lion finally got spooked.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p25MgRZ9rJc

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by gofunme

If they were armed then chances are they both would be alive. It being California, the news outlets would have made a big deal about being armed and still attacked. I have read numerous different sources on this story and none of those sources said anything about being armed. I was not there, so not sure about it. What makes you think they might have been armed?

I never made an assumption one way or the other. I’m not much of a speculator. Prefer to wait for facts to come in. And now, mgforshort has updated the readers. Thanks mg

That said, turns out they weren’t armed … because they didn’t want to attract attention from game wardens … had nothing to do with California’s gun laws.

[CalWorth]

This happened in Washington a few weeks ago. It was a group of older women mountain bike riders who ended up holding the mountain lion down with their bikes.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...aws-rcna143806