Animal Blog

Animal Blog

Mountain Lions Prowl Monterey, Marina

"Eat more guacamole": That's the advice The Nature Conservancy is offering in its new campaign to conserve mountain lion habitat by supporting local agriculture. (That's TNC's pretty kitty pic, above.)

The point is that cougars and cities don't mix. Preserving ag land in mountain lion territory from development reduces the danger of habitat-encroached cougars wandering into populated areas.

Here in the Monterey Bay area, police are getting a spate of calls about wild cats in Peninsula cities.

The city of Monterey reports three mountain lion sightings: on the afternoon of Aug. 9 on Glenwood Circle, on the afternoon of Sept. 8 on Harrison and the morning of Sept. 19 in the Cielo Vista area.

The callers did not report aggressive behavior, and the cats split the scene before police arrived.

Monterey isn't the only local city to report cougar cameos: On the early morning of Sept. 19, a mountain lion was sighted near the Marina Municipal Airport.

The Marina Police Department offers the following safety tips in mountain lion territory:

1. When it comes to personal safety, always be aware of your surroundings, wherever you are; conduct yourself and attend to children and dependents accordingly.

2. Always hike, walk, jog, backpack, and camp in wild areas with a companion.

3. Supervise children, especially outdoors between dusk and dawn. Educate them about mountain lions and other wildlife they might encounter.

4. Never run past or from a mountain lion. This may trigger their instinct to chase. Make eye contact. Stand your ground. Pick up small children without, if possible, turning away or bending over.

5. Don't approach a mountain lion. Most mountain lions want to avoid humans. Give a mountain lion the time and space to steer clear of you.

6. Never bend over or crouch down. Doing so causes humans to resemble four-legged prey animals. Crouching down or bending over also makes the neck and back of the head vulnerable.

7. If you encounter a mountain lion, make yourself appear larger, more aggressive. Open your jacket, raise your arms, throw stones, branches, etc., without turning away. Wave raised arms slowly, and speak slowly, firmly, loudly to disrupt and discourage predatory behavior.

8. Try to remain standing to protect head and neck and, if attacked, fight back with whatever is at hand (without turning your back) people have utilized rocks, jackets, garden tools, tree branches, and even bare hands to turn away mountain lions.

9. Landscape for safety. Remove vegetation that provides cover for mountain lions. Remove plants that attract wildlife (deer, raccoons, etc.). By attracting them you naturally attract their predator the mountain lion.

10. Don't feed wildlife. Don't leave pet food outside. Both may attract mountain lions by attracting their natural prey.

11. Keep pets secure. Roaming pets are easy prey for cougars.

12. Confine and secure any livestock (especially at night) in pens, sheds, and barns.