One young man was killed and his brother suffered severe injuries while out collecting shed antlers. The lion was caught and killed. It weighed 90 pounds. Obviously they did not have a firearm, but should two young men not be able to defend against a 90-pound lion?
Mountain Lion Attack El Dorado County
- Thread starter Iguanason
- Start date
Bare handed? I've had a feral house cat about rip me a new one. Cats are crazy. I would put my money on a 90lb lion against two unarmed humans. If either or both had at least a knife, maybe they'd have better odds.
This must be fake news. Why just ask any greeenie and they will tel you that animals don't attack humans. Except when they do and then they never eat the human, except when they do.
Seems folks forget that humans are not an apex predator. In fact, based on our physiology we are prey animals. Not only prey animals but ones that are slow, weak and have no significant teeth or claws. Once we enter into the woods unarmed we are simply asking for it.
In many cases animals have developed a fear of man based on the fact that man, when armed has killed animals. But California has outlawed mountain lion hunting for decades. No where in California do lions have a fear of man. In fact as attacks have proven lions look at man as their next meal.
Apparently, the brothers got separated. The younger one survived. The older one when located by deputies still had the lion "crouching over him". The media and officials haven't said, but it sounds like the cat was feeding. The deputies "fired their service weapons to scare the cat off". I don't know what El Dorado county sheriffs carry, but even a 9 mm will kill a mountain lion. Assuming they were actually capable of hitting it. And the ability to hit the cat is in serious doubt when one looks at the marksmanship of the average LEO.
"Hear kitty kitty... nice fluffy kittens cat......" I'd much rather take on a 90lb dog than a 90lb cat.
Prey with both eyes on the front of the face. Unique.
Dogs only have one weapon, teeth. Cats have five and use them all.
One more reason we are so unprepared in dealing with predators, we see them coming and our senses of hearing and smell are terrible.
I've been told I smell terrible. 
. Most humans do have superior intellect. Some of them use it to develope weapons. It's sad when that advantage is not utilized.
. Most humans do have superior intellect. Some of them use it to develope weapons. It's sad when that advantage is not utilized.
We seem to be evolving superior intellect out of the human species. As evidenced by the fact that they entered a predators world unarmed.I've been told I smell terrible.
The tradgedies are sad. Its sad when someone dies out if stupidity or carelessness. The Darwin report is full of these events. Now, here hold my beer, bet you never seen anyone do this before.......
That's why we make tools to make up for that lack.
Tough deal. Frankly California is to blame. Not much a couple of young people are going to do with many various animals. If California doesn’t see a need to protect the population against wildlife, probably it’s not going to happen. Parents assume nothing has ever happened before, probably won’t happen this time.
This could happen a lot of places.
This could happen a lot of places.
I'll just say Darwin was right.... I'll have to think hard to remember the last time I went out in the woods unarmed. There are all kinds of critters out there and some of them are not nice... and some of those walk upright on two feet most days.
bobski
Hunter
was a time when man could wave his hand and all animals would do as he said.
man could also tell a blade of grass to grow or stop growing.
we gave up that right when we gave the keys of the earth to the liar of time.
i look forward to the day it all returns to the rightful owner.
man could also tell a blade of grass to grow or stop growing.
we gave up that right when we gave the keys of the earth to the liar of time.
i look forward to the day it all returns to the rightful owner.
The closest 'interaction' I've had with a mountain lion was in Montana about 40 years ago. I'd shot an elk about 3-3.5 miles from end of road and was packing the meat out while the others were still hunting. Five trips in/out and on four of them, a ML had followed me (or at least the cat tracks were imprinted on top of mine) for quite a distance. Several times the cat had moved off to one side(always the uphill direction) and at one point, I found where the cat had laid behind a large boulder as if in ambush.
I assure you that my head was on a swivel and the other hunters would move into the meat stash ahead of me to make sure the cat wasn't on the stash. I carried a walking staff and a 44 handgun in a chest holster but never got a single glimpse of the cat.
Kind of makes the hair stand up on back of my neck just thinking about how close the cat might have been numerous times.
I assure you that my head was on a swivel and the other hunters would move into the meat stash ahead of me to make sure the cat wasn't on the stash. I carried a walking staff and a 44 handgun in a chest holster but never got a single glimpse of the cat.
Kind of makes the hair stand up on back of my neck just thinking about how close the cat might have been numerous times.
Personally, if I were going out in the woods, I would be carrying a pistol of sufficient power to stop an animal attack. If it was legal to do so I would carry openly, if not I would carry concealed. In figure my life is worth more than some stupid regulation.
Iroc
Bearcat
California had two verified mountain lion attacks that proved fatal in 1994 and another in 2004, they didn’t change anything and I’m sad to say I doubt this one will either. See attached. In my area we’ve had two mushroom pickers go missing, one a number of years ago and one only a few months. Search and rescue never found the bodies so you can’t verify the death but I told my wife both times it could very well be mountain lions.
https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Mountain-Lion/Attacks
https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Mountain-Lion/Attacks
In the national parks ignorant people think that it is, by definition, a safe place for visitors. The occasional idiot who walks up to a grizzly in Yellowstone or Yosemite thinking he is safe because he is in a park proves the point, or the recent woman who wanted a selfie with a bison and was trampled. I think this ignorant thought process extends far from the parks. As human development moves further into what was wild, people seem to assume that since their are homes, or campgrounds, or whatever, that it must be a benign location. Think about the increasingly common alligator attacks in Florida. Add to that, a sizable portion of the population are people who cannot even imagine themselves owning, let alone carrying a firearm of any kind. Some of these folks likely would carry a handheld pepper spray and think that they are safe and "responsible" visitors to the outdoors.
contender
Ruger Guru
"The tragedies are sad. Its sad when someone dies out if stupidity or carelessness."
As noted above,, it's the people who believe that animals are a Disney creation that started the base cause of these kinds of things.
Many people believe a Disney version of animals. And they want to make "natural & wild" places restored "before man moved in" type of environment. They push for laws to stop hunting,, to re-introduce species into places where they've been wiped out or almost wiped out. Then they think they can go into these very same places without any concerns for safety or worry. They push for regulations against the carrying of a protection device,, (firearms,) and even impose strict penalties against the humans who ignore the laws or even use a firearm for SD.
So they create a sanctuary for wildlife. And often,, a sanctuary for 2 legged predators as well. Animals adapt & thrive in such places. And when the carrying capacity of the land is exceeded,, the predator animals move out of the sanctuary places in search of food. I actually had a customer ask me; "Why can't the bears stay in the woods?" because one was tearing up his trash.
Disney mentality.
Yet,, in the very same county locally where we have the biggest problems of human/bear encounters,, it's also the biggest population of PEOPLE who have the Disney mentality. They pass laws or restrict access to places to hunt. They do everything to protect all the bears,, even at the expense of human injury or death.
In California,, where the hunting of mountain lions was stopped,, it was very predictable that there will be more encounters between humans & mountain lions.
With the human population growing,, and the available land being reduced all over,, animals can & will adapt. They move into places where humans live & then,, when a human gets hurt,, the very same Disney educated types make all kinds of excuses for the animals, AND even worse,, STILL do all they can to protect the animals over the humans.
A couple of times I've had discussions about allowing more hunting opportunities for bear in Buncombe Co. NC,, with these types,, I've used a common phrase often used against gun owners. I say; "Well,,, if it'll save just one life,, isn't it worth it?" Boy,, they do NOT know how to answer THAT challenge.
In this case & others,, it's often the simple fact that the animal felt a human would be an easy prey and chose to attack. Or in other cases,, encounters are a simple protection event by an animal against what they perceive as a threat, and they attack.
Until ALL humans accept the fact that we need a balance of things,, based upon facts & science,, NOT DISNEY,, and use common sense approaches to fixing things,, we'll see more of these types of events.
As noted above,, it's the people who believe that animals are a Disney creation that started the base cause of these kinds of things.
Many people believe a Disney version of animals. And they want to make "natural & wild" places restored "before man moved in" type of environment. They push for laws to stop hunting,, to re-introduce species into places where they've been wiped out or almost wiped out. Then they think they can go into these very same places without any concerns for safety or worry. They push for regulations against the carrying of a protection device,, (firearms,) and even impose strict penalties against the humans who ignore the laws or even use a firearm for SD.
So they create a sanctuary for wildlife. And often,, a sanctuary for 2 legged predators as well. Animals adapt & thrive in such places. And when the carrying capacity of the land is exceeded,, the predator animals move out of the sanctuary places in search of food. I actually had a customer ask me; "Why can't the bears stay in the woods?" because one was tearing up his trash.
Disney mentality.
Yet,, in the very same county locally where we have the biggest problems of human/bear encounters,, it's also the biggest population of PEOPLE who have the Disney mentality. They pass laws or restrict access to places to hunt. They do everything to protect all the bears,, even at the expense of human injury or death.
In California,, where the hunting of mountain lions was stopped,, it was very predictable that there will be more encounters between humans & mountain lions.
With the human population growing,, and the available land being reduced all over,, animals can & will adapt. They move into places where humans live & then,, when a human gets hurt,, the very same Disney educated types make all kinds of excuses for the animals, AND even worse,, STILL do all they can to protect the animals over the humans.
A couple of times I've had discussions about allowing more hunting opportunities for bear in Buncombe Co. NC,, with these types,, I've used a common phrase often used against gun owners. I say; "Well,,, if it'll save just one life,, isn't it worth it?" Boy,, they do NOT know how to answer THAT challenge.
In this case & others,, it's often the simple fact that the animal felt a human would be an easy prey and chose to attack. Or in other cases,, encounters are a simple protection event by an animal against what they perceive as a threat, and they attack.
Until ALL humans accept the fact that we need a balance of things,, based upon facts & science,, NOT DISNEY,, and use common sense approaches to fixing things,, we'll see more of these types of events.
A few years ago a friends door bell camera captured images of a mountain lion in his condominium complex, some of his neighbors also had images of the mountain lion walking the complex.
This happened near the coast of California, less than 300 yards from the offramp of Interstate 5 . Maybe 2 miles from Dana Point Harbour.
A mountain lion was seen walking in Oceanside CA a few weeks ago. It was seen looking into a movie theater by a security guard iirc.
These cats aren't only in the wilds of California.
This happened near the coast of California, less than 300 yards from the offramp of Interstate 5 . Maybe 2 miles from Dana Point Harbour.
A mountain lion was seen walking in Oceanside CA a few weeks ago. It was seen looking into a movie theater by a security guard iirc.
These cats aren't only in the wilds of California.
trebor44
Blackhawk
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2012
- Messages
- 912
- City & State/Province
- Idaho, East of Boisemento, or is it Boisangelos
Mountain Lions and other "wildlife" do frequent urban areas and in some cases take up residence there. Over the years they have been reported within the Boise city limits and have dined on the family pets. While hiking in the hills (close to town) I have seen ML's and their sign. Neighbor just a few house up lost all of his caged fowl to a ML in one night!
While the state can be held accountable for allowing the lion population to go unchecked, wandering into the woods unarmed, both kids were hunters, was just irresponsible.
Haven't been any Grizzlies in Yosemite for a century. But yea, idiots do walk up the the Black Bears and get mauled from time to time. But that's just nature's way of trying to clean up the gene pool.
I wasn’t clear on the age of the kids, so hard for me to say they should have had guns or not.
I remember when my son was about 16 and wanted to go camping up here, I called the forest service to ask if it was legal for him to carry my 44. They said “no problem “. I doubt California would have been so generous.
I think I recall this attack:
I was working at the UC Davis hospital in Sacramento. I was down in the ER and in the center of the room was a large Xray view box area with some xrays up, generating alot of interest from everybody there. One was a chest/abdomen postmortem xray of a female jogger killed and eaten by a Mountain lion in the area recently. The soft internal organs were gone according to the ER guys and the thoracic spinal cord was severed with the vertebral bones literally pulled apart and now side by side; very impressive and thought provoking...
| Apr. 1994 | Fatal | Auburn State Recreation Area | El Dorado | Female | 40 yrs. |
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gundog5
Single-Sixer
I have lived in the People’s Republic of California for 65 years and remember when you could hunt lions in California. Since they banned lion hunting the population has increased and the cats have lost fear of humans. They frequently are seen on security cameras and door bell cameras hunting in residential neighborhoods.
I think it’s only a matter of time until a small child is taken and killed. I have seen lions several times while riding my horses and see their tracks all the time on trails where people walk and ride bikes. Nobody is armed when out enjoying the outdoors. Since I am a retired police officer I carry all the time to protect myself from predators both human and animal.
I think it’s only a matter of time until a small child is taken and killed. I have seen lions several times while riding my horses and see their tracks all the time on trails where people walk and ride bikes. Nobody is armed when out enjoying the outdoors. Since I am a retired police officer I carry all the time to protect myself from predators both human and animal.
