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What To Do If You Encounter a Mountain Lion
by Gary Kvasnica
D.M.C.G. Executive Committee
It is likely that a mountain lion either resides or visits Dove Mountain. After reading about the attack in Washington State and the recent fatality in California, I decided to do some research on what to do if you encounter a mountain lion.
First of all, it is unlikely that you will ever see a mountain lion, let alone be attacked by one. Over the last 100 years there have been less than 130 attacks and 30 fatalities in all of North America. I was unable to find any recorded fatalities in Arizona. So, the odds are in your favor. However, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. Below are some suggestions on what to do if you encounter a mountain lion:
Don’t Travel Alone For a variety of reasons, hiking, walking and biking alone in the mountains is not a good idea. Groups of people make more noise, alerting the mountain lion to your presence and increasing the chance they will avoid you.
Don’t Run You may trigger the mountain lion to attack.
Make Yourself Big and Make Noise Don’t crouch, sit down or bend over. Stand up tall, wave your arms over your head and open up your jacket, if you have one. Don’t scream. Use
a calm loud voice.
Throw Rocks If you feel that the mountain lion is stalking you, while keeping eye contact with the mountain lion, pick up and throw a rock at it.
Fight Back If attacked, use rocks or anything sharp or heavy. Try to stay standing. If on the ground, protect your head and neck.
Call 911 If you are within cell tower range, call 911. This is way easier to do if you have someone with you! Per the above, don’t travel alone.
Carry Bear /Mountain Lion Spray If you are really paranoid, you can buy bear/mountain lion spray and carry it with you. Obviously, it needs to be handy. The mountain lion might not wait for you to remember where you put it and read the directions!
In reality, it is highly unlikely that you will ever be attacked by a mountain lion. However, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.
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