a short hike the other day ..

well it was in the 40's the other day and I just had to get out for a little walk as I couldn't take this sitting around anymore !!
followed some large tracks up and down the rocks for a good mile or 2 , then I went to go in a smaller cave and something took off through the cave , I could hear the rocks falling inside as whatever it was running inside .. so being all manly like I am I jumped , drew my handgun and walked away backwards as fast as I could .., ooppss I mean I ran in there after that critter !!lol..

we have had a couple mountain lion show up on trail cameras and one on a local police cars dash cam as it ran across the road over the last couple years and some large tracks but some how the state says no such thing in the areas ..lol..

I can honestly say I have never saw mountain lion tracks so I cant tell you but these are much bigger then any dog track I have saw and they had long strides and in and out of the rocks so who knows as this is an area of low people traffic and of course the snow was melted to much to get any good pictures on the rocks do to snow melt ..all in all a nice walk and realization that this winter has left me way out of shape !!!

http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/IMAG3915.jpg

http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/IMAG3918.jpg

http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/IMAG3916.jpg

tracks next to deer tracks
http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/IMAG3922.jpg

tracks next to my tracks ( my hand isn't on ground)
http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/IMAG3923.jpg

http://i658.photobucket.com/albums/u...s/IMAG3925.jpg

Looks like lion tracks to me. We have more than we need around here. Now protected , they can't even spend tax money counting them. We actually have lion tunnels going under the freeway so they can cross. The last 1 I saw didn't take the tunnel and was run over. About 200 feet from a flat bobcat.
One thing for sure, in most cases IF you see 1, your being hunted. They are very elusive.

10pups they killed one down here for stalking a family. I think it was lat year. I know they are real sneaky.

Yeah the new style of deprivation hunting. The self defense clause. I think they get 1 or 2 a year that way. I had this nice gal telling me she was helping/supporting the law protecting these beautiful cats and she had one in her neighborhood they spotted once in awhile. I told her to go out and pet it :<0)

LOL... Yep. Tell her they make fine pets and they are easy to catch.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Redcane

LOL... Yep. Tell her they make fine pets and they are easy to catch.

---

3 years ago the state game warden said IF there is one in OH it is a pet that got loose .. uumm ?? ya ok !!!! I know in southern OH they have been seeing more and more the last couple years !! the bears and bobcats are popping up all over OH now sow why not a little ol kitty cat ?? :rofl2:

Wild animal pets are a problem in Ca. Don't ask me how they get them but all kinds of critters get loose. I saw a guy in the mountains going towards a shopping center with a young lion on a leash. He rounded a corner and the lion spotted a lady with a dog. That lion must of dragged that guy 200 feet before it stopped at a car door with 1 scared woman inside.
In my old town of Norco they passed a law saying you had to have a permit to own a rhino. Apparently , yep , somebody had 1 :<0)

If I were you I would keep a gun handy all the time. Pet or not a lion for a neighbor is not a good thing.

Mtn Lion sightings have become very common in my local,our drought is driving them and the deer out of the foothills.
Things are real bad as far as water,we have one year left in our dams:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 10Pups

Looks like lion tracks to me. We have more than we need around here. Now protected , they can't even spend tax money counting them. We actually have lion tunnels going under the freeway so they can cross. The last 1 I saw didn't take the tunnel and was run over. About 200 feet from a flat bobcat.
One thing for sure, in most cases IF you see 1, your being hunted. They are very elusive.

---

The same was said about Siberian tigers. If you see one, he has not decided whether to eat you or not.

Those definitely look like lion prints. I had a friend (fairly reputable source) claim that he was chased by a lion on his mountain bike in northern California. He does the downhill stuff and he said it jumped out of no where, so he point the bike straight down the mountain and didn't stop till he reached his car.

Really like when people upload photos from different places of residence. Can be found in these photographs the beautiful scenery. Thanks for the review.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RoobtheLoob

Those definitely look like lion prints. I had a friend (fairly reputable source) claim that he was chased by a lion on his mountain bike in northern California.

---

Makes you wonder where the lion got the bike from. Wonder if he was also wearing lycra?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Redcane

LOL... Yep. Tell her they make fine pets and they are easy to catch.

---

Suggest that she go out with the fresh pork-chop necklace to cover her "people scent" and be more approachable...

Seriously - they are amazing to see, but when they see you first you are no longer the top of the food chain.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by UKRob

Makes you wonder where the lion got the bike from. Wonder if he was also wearing lycra?

---

I'm fairly certain the animal wasn't even wearing a helmet... Some people just don't understand safety.

http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/...pseqaeyyif.jpg

The DNR used to say that we didn't have any mountain lions near me also until they got quite a few photos and videos of them after people complaining because they were coming into town and going into backyards when kids were playing. They also decided to place some rattlesnakes in the area also to kill off the some of the turkey population instead of issuing more turkey tags and the snakes aren't even going after the turkeys. Reminds me when they brought in beetles to kill off the tent caterpillars, which worked, but then they brought in some cranes to eat the beetles and the cranes eat everything but the beetles.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Mtn Lion sightings have become very common in my local,our drought is driving them and the deer out of the foothills.
Things are real bad as far as water,we have one year left in our dams:)

---

a few friends I talk to on another forum were telling me that the low water levels has revealed nice cracks in the bedrock where they are pulling nice size pieces of gold since it was in areas where dredges are banned and now what was once submerged is now visible ..

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JSmith1983

The DNR used to say that we didn't have any mountain lions near me also until they got quite a few photos and videos of them after people complaining because they were coming into town and going into backyards when kids were playing. They also decided to place some rattlesnakes in the area also to kill off the some of the turkey population instead of issuing more turkey tags and the snakes aren't even going after the turkeys. Reminds me when they brought in beetles to kill off the tent caterpillars, which worked, but then they brought in some cranes to eat the beetles and the cranes eat everything but the beetles.

---

that sounds like the coyote saga .. the activist say the state released them to lesson the deer population , and some DNR guys will say the activist reintroduced them to lesson the deer population so hunters will not have anything to shoot .. but now there eating more cats and poodles then deer so no one wants to except responsibility ..lol

Mountain Lions/Cougars are on the endangered list in Ontario but that hasn't stopped occasional sightings of them around here. The white tailed deer are really growing in numbers here so mountain lions may be making a comeback with more food available. I don't recall any incidents here with them, not like in BC. All the same, not an animal you want to tangle with.

Bob

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BobH

Mountain Lions/Cougars are on the endangered list in Ontario but that hasn't stopped occasional sightings of them around here. The white tailed deer are really growing in numbers here so mountain lions may be making a comeback with more food available. I don't recall any incidents here with them, not like in BC. All the same, not an animal you want to tangle with.

Bob

---

in the small town I live in we were on average 43 deer-car incidents a couple years ago , and most city's now allow bowhunting in city limits as well as a few cities hiring companies to come in and kill a certain amount so there is no lack of food source ..lol , we had a disease 2 yrs ago that wiped out a good number in certain areas but the numbers are way back up already .. between them and the turkeys the menu is plentiful ..

apparently the red wolf is starting to breed with coyotes and working there way north from the southern states ...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gooser

in the small town I live in we were on average 43 deer-car incidents a couple years ago , and most city's now allow bowhunting in city limits as well as a few cities hiring companies to come in and kill a certain amount so there is no lack of food source ..lol , we had a disease 2 yrs ago that wiped out a good number in certain areas but the numbers are way back up already .. between them and the turkeys the menu is plentiful ..

apparently the red wolf is starting to breed with coyotes and working there way north from the southern states ...

---

Yup, they resorted to a bow hunt within the city limits here too. Unfortunately as the deer move in the moose move out and some moose die from the brain worm parasite picked up from the deer. A growing deer population also bring increasing wolf numbers which are also no good for the moose. If you have ever seen vids of a moose dying from brain worm it ain't pretty.

Bob

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gooser

3 years ago the state game warden said IF there is one in OH it is a pet that got loose .. uumm ?? ya ok !!!! I know in southern OH they have been seeing more and more the last couple years !! the bears and bobcats are popping up all over OH now sow why not a little ol kitty cat ?? :rofl2:

---

My family still owns land in Lancaster and Adelphi (south of circleville). People are always claiming to see things. I guess bears are becoming more common farther south. Don't know how much truth their is but hey... its possible.

Along the lines of wildlife in places you don't think about...
The only human death by bear attack in the U.S. in 2014 was in New Jersey...
Also the first recorded death by bear in New Jersey...

Student snapped final photo before bear attack in New Jersey | Fox News

Reminds me of that old one about the two friends hiking out in the wilderness. They heard a mountain lion growling and the one guy immediately sits down and takes off his hiking boots, pulls running shoes out of his backpack ........ his friend says, "Do you really think you can outrun a mountain lion ?"

"No ........ I don't have to outrun a mountain lion ......... I just have to outrun you !" :rolleyes:

Attachment 196289

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Redcane

My family still owns land in Lancaster and Adelphi (south of circleville). People are always claiming to see things. I guess bears are becoming more common farther south. Don't know how much truth their is but hey... its possible.

---

we have had one den pretty much where I was at for the last 3 years ( don't know about this last winter) it shut down the roads as it ran through town last spring .. the DNR set up trail cameras in the cave and at the entrance to monitor the situation , they tried to keep it on the down low but we all know how that goes ..lol

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Reminds me of that old one about the two friends hiking out in the wilderness. They heard a mountain lion growling and the one guy immediately sits down and takes off his hiking boots, pulls running shoes out of his backpack ........ his friend says, "Do you really think you can outrun a mountain lion ?"

"No ........ I don't have to outrun a mountain lion ......... I just have to outrun you !" :rolleyes:

Attachment 196289

---

good point !! so I need to start hiking with people I know I can out run ..lol..

I did a google search on tracks and came up with so many images it was nuts , e verything from house cats , fox , coyotes , and bear that I knew were not Mt Lion ..lol

some facts.

https://youtu.be/feavfdrhBwc


Very interesting tracking.

https://youtu.be/72-yMcwVq94

so on the trapping forum some say cougar/lion , but most agree that these are from a large Tom Bobcat do to the spacing and as far as width of track they seem to think a 5" minimum on a lion with the one's i have posted to be real close but not big enough but no for sure .. i do know there also have been some bobcat sightings over the years .. who knows but either way considering there is about 800 acres in this area surrounded by well populated areas either guess is pretty rare to come across and pretty cool .. i can now see myself spending all summer looking for the critter as well as more sign to get some measurements ..lol..

After watching the vid I would still say lion and female at that. I also noticed that the lion/cougar/panther range is no where near Ohio so unless you see one who knows , could be bobcat.
As far as bobcats go I have seen them get very big. I used to live on National forest boundary and had a Mother bobcat come down with kitties every year and hang around the property. They would stay for a few weeks and then head back up. Probably to teach the little guys how to get rabbits and squirrels which there were an abundance of around the house. Never seen a picture of one that made them look about 25" tall at the shoulders so I was a little dumbfounded when I first saw these. They were very dark too, not like the ones I seen in the desert.