Mtn Lion on Vail Pass

[SkeezeBall]

Went camping on VP over the weekend and saw a good mix of wildlife. Porcupine first night, couple grouse during the day, and then a mountain lion around 415am last night. Almost shit myself. I think I'll start sleeping in the truck or tent from now on!

Anyone else seen a mtn lion up there before? This one wasn't aggressive but it did go into the stalk and crouch stance as soon as I saw it and said "oh shit" 10ft away...

[Shredhead]

They're all over the place now. They closed the Rio Grand trail outside of Carbondale a couple of weeks ago. Three Cubs kept playing on the trail.

[summit]

There is a large overpopulation.

They are everywhere and around a lot more than you know.... the know how not to be seen most of the time when they don't want.

[Game Over]

I feel like you are lucky. Thinking if you would have turned your back I bet it would have attacked.

Lots of lions around here. 6 killed in our area this spring (that I have heard about). They are responsible for killing lots of lost livestock/pets-> dogs, cats, chickens, sheep, alpacas, goats. And I live basically in suburbia of Eugene (5 mimes outside)

[summit]

And some people want Wolves reintroduced to CO.

Never turn your back on a big cat. Ever. It is an invitation.

[hatchgreenchile]

To see one anywhere is a rarity....congrats you saw one, and congrats he didn't pounce.

[Game Over]

Just recently we have started to see them all the time here. During lambing this spring I had one who would watch me in the barn in the middle of the night. She would sit right on the edge of the trees and whenever I'd shine the light over I'd see the glowing eyes starting back at me. She ended up getting shot on the place next to us. She was small and pregnant (they skinned her and found three cubs)

I'll remove the pic if it offends

[~mikey b]

There is a large overpopulation.

God damn you really are dumb.

[summit]

God damn you really are dumb.

Says the idiot who won't vaccinate his kid.

COCPW doesn't have a count they consider accurate so their harvest numbers are consequently conservative and they've rolled back harvests over the last several years. So now there are more lions in the state even though the state still can't estimate their numbers.

Don't think it is a crisis, but it is why mountain lion sightings are up recently.

[2FUNKY]

Perfect shot on that cat.

[SkeezeBall]

I feel like you are lucky. Thinking if you would have turned your back I bet it would have attacked.

Lots of lions around here. 6 killed in our area this spring (that I have heard about). They are responsible for killing lots of lost livestock/pets-> dogs, cats, chickens, sheep, alpacas, goats. And I live basically in suburbia of Eugene (5 mimes outside)

Yea me and/or my dog are probably lucky. We were just sleeping on the ground while my wife and 1.5yr old were in the truck cap. My dog was sleeping near my head, got up turned around and started growling. I turned around and since it was basically a full moon I could see the perfect silhouette of the lion standing there. When I said oh shit it took a few steps in the low stalking position to behind a tree then crouched. By the time I stood up and shined my head lamp towards it I didn't see it and my dog took off sniffing around. It was literally 10ft away from the back of my head so I could be lucky. It also might have been after my 45lb dog or some other critters in the area. There were a few game trails nearby and our dogs picked up a lot of scents near the other car we had there which had all our trash in it overnight.

Lucky or not I will definitely be watching my daughter more closely while camping now.

[The SnowShow]

Creepy ^^^
Glad nothing happened.
Mtn lions scare the crap out of me. Never seen one but I'm always on guard camping.

[skiHOG]

I've seen one roaming around West Vail this summer. Big boy, too. There's also a lion that's made home on the Fred's Lunch trail below mid-Vail. I don't ride that trail anymore.

[The SnowShow]

^^^^ Really? It's not scared off by the mountain bike traffic?

Do lions usually stay in one general area or roam for miles and miles?

[hatchgreenchile]

Their ranges can be quite large, hundreds of square miles. They don't worry me much, I'm more likely to get mowed down on 70 on the way to the trailhead then get into a fight with one. I see moose left and right in a certain area I frequent , those make me nervous. Huge and they don't get spooked when they hear you coming

[danadog]

We had a big one hanging around our cabin at the base of Rabbit Ears last summer/ fall. My neighbors security cameras caught it four different times last year. As the crow flys my place is less than a 1/2 mile from theirs. We all assume he is back this year now that all of the deer are back.

[Garth Bimble]

And some people want Wolves reintroduced to CO.

Never turn your back on a big cat. Ever. It is an invitation.

Wolves are reintroducing themselves into Colorado. The DOW should reintroduce Grizzlies, but after being complicit in their extirpation they don't want anything to do with them now.

[danadog]

One more shot. Sorry for the fuzzy pics as they are screen grabs from short vids.

[SkeezeBall]

We had a big one hanging around our cabin at the base of Rabbit Ears last summer/ fall. My neighbors security cameras caught it four different times last year. As the crow flys my place is less than a 1/2 mile from theirs. We all assume he is back this year now that all of the deer are back.

Wow that is a big one!

[Shredhead]

10 years ago.
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...-Cat-in-Lenado

Keep an eye on your kids!

[summit]

Wolves are reintroducing themselves into Colorado.

I'm not talking about a stray wolf who got kicked out of the pack and came down here to die. I'm talking about the folks who want entire packs relocated to CO.

The DOW should reintroduce Grizzlies, but after being complicit in their extirpation they don't want anything to do with them now.

I'm quite fine without having Grizzlies in CO.

There are some damned good reasons humans worked so hard to push out other apex predators like Grizzlies and Wolves and we need to think really long and really hard and come up with extremely good reasons if we want to reintroduce them. "I like fuzzy wuzzies," is not an extremely good reason nor is some Sierra Club fantasy that they will bring "balance" to the ecosystem outside of Yellowstone National Park.

Mountain Lions and Black Bears are not apex predators. They don't cause nearly the amount of trouble an apex predator does when they inevitably run into the human/wilderness interface, although just last month USFS Dillon Ranger District banned all camping within 1/2 mile of a 10+ mile stretch of road (Montezuma) because too many squatters were creating bear problems by not policing their food and trash.

[Garth Bimble]

I'm quite fine without having Grizzlies in CO.

There are some damned good reasons humans worked so hard to push out other apex predators like Grizzlies and Wolves and we need to think really long and really hard and come up with extremely good reasons if we want to reintroduce them. "I like fuzzy wuzzies," is not an extremely good reason nor is some Sierra Club fantasy that they will bring "balance" to the ecosystem outside of Yellowstone National Park.

Do tell! I'm not trying to be a smart-ass...I'd like to hear your opinions. Ranching is big in my neck of the woods. (San Juan Mountains) The concern here isn't predation as much as it is access but that's not what they'll tell you...

[Muggydude]

If you think wolves are or ever will be any type of plausible threat to humans you are sorely mistaken. https://www.thedodo.com/how-many-peo...390480906.html

The chances of being attacked, or killed, by dogs, cows, moose, etc are and will always be much much higher than wolves. Historically in the US, even when there were many more wolves (1800s), there were ever only a handful of wolf attacks. You'd be protecting people's safety more if you prevented them from owning dogs or raising cattle.

Sure there are a handful of instances of fatal attacks over the past couple hundred years, but you're more likely to be hit by lightning. And like lightning, using a little common sense will prevent nearly all circumstances where there might be actual danger.

[~mikey b]

Yeah but we live in a culture of fear. Fear of critters, fear of fire, fear of people, fear of avalanches, fear of disease, fear fear fear. Lions and wolves and bears OH MY!

It's downright embarrassing

[SkeezeBall]

If you think wolves are or ever will be any type of plausible threat to humans you are sorely mistaken. https://www.thedodo.com/how-many-peo...390480906.html

The chances of being attacked, or killed, by dogs, cows, moose, etc are and will always be much much higher than wolves. Historically in the US, even when there were many more wolves (1800s), there were ever only a handful of wolf attacks. You'd be protecting people's safety more if you prevented them from owning dogs or raising cattle.

Sure there are a handful of instances of fatal attacks over the past couple hundred years, but you're more likely to be hit by lightning. And like lightning, using a little common sense will prevent nearly all circumstances where there might be actual danger.

This guy was part of that handful you speak of:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...s-in-his-sock/

Doesn't sound like the sharpest tool in the shed...