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Mountain lion with fresh kill closes popular SF Bay Area trail

Old 06-18-21, 09:48 AM
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sean.hwy
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Mountain lion with fresh kill closes popular SF Bay Area trail

Mountain lion with fresh kill closes popular SF Bay Area trail





San Mateo County closed the highly trafficked Sawyer Camp Trail on Wednesday afternoon after a mountain lion with a freshly killed deer was spotted, officials said.

Park rangers and San Mateo County sheriff's deputies responded to the incident a mile south of the Hillcrest gate just before 4 p.m.

"Following a call with California Department of Fish and Wildlife game warden, we chose to close the trail," said Carla Schoof, a spokesperson for the San Mateo County Parks Department. "The trail is open today."

Luther Pugh was among several people in the area on Wednesday who saw the mountain lion, and he called 911.
"The mountain lion was not concerned about the presence of trail users, only moving back into the brush when a group of four cyclists approached," said Pugh, who was riding his bike. "Although I was doing only going 15 to 17 mph I did not see the lion and deer in time to stop safely before I passed the lion."

He said he stayed in the area for about 15 minutes to alert other users until officials arrived. He said he called 911 and it was sent to the California Highway Patrol. He was on hold for five to six minutes, he said, before he was transferred to the county.

Schoof said the cyclist did exactly what's advised when you spot this sort of puma activity by calling 911.

Mountain lions are shy animals who usually avoid humans. They generally hunt at night but can be present at any time, according to the county. While sightings are rare in the Bay Area, they do occasionally occur and last month a mountain lion was trapped after being spotted in San Francisco.

San Mateo Parks advises anyone who encounters a mountain lion to shout and wave your arms or your coat. "The objective is to make yourself look as large and imposing as possible," the park said. "Maintain eye contact with the wild cat; do not crouch down. Throw any sticks and stones you can reach without bending down."

The Sawyer Camp Trail is a segment of the Crystal Springs Regional Trail and extends from Hillcrest Boulevard on the north to Crystal Springs Road on the south. "It is probably the best known length of trail in San Mateo County," the parks department's website says. "More people know it and use it than all the other trails in the County Park System.
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Old 06-18-21, 10:46 AM
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Whoa!
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Old 06-18-21, 11:35 AM
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Originally Posted by genejockey
Whoa!
Kind of crazy on sawyer camp trail. It's so heavily trafficked.

I used to read stories about people running like 4/5am in the morning out in the middle of no where and some kind cat would get a runner. That's like middle of the day with lot's people.
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Old 06-18-21, 12:31 PM
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Originally Posted by sean.hwy
Kind of crazy on sawyer camp trail. It's so heavily trafficked.

I used to read stories about people running like 4/5am in the morning out in the middle of no where and some kind cat would get a runner. That's like middle of the day with lot's people.
I can kind of understand why Mountain Lions are getting so brazen. How many generations of lions have been born and grown up since humans were last a threat, here on the Peninsula?
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Old 06-18-21, 01:02 PM
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Originally Posted by genejockey
whoa!
wow!
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Old 06-18-21, 01:05 PM
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I like how the headline makes it sound like the mountain lion closed the trail, not the county officials.

I'm just picturing an officious-looking mountain lion in a short-sleeve button up shirt and bad tie telling people to move along, the trail has been closed.
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Old 06-18-21, 01:08 PM
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Originally Posted by ksryder
I like how the headline makes it sound like the mountain lion closed the trail, not the county officials.

I'm just picturing an officious-looking mountain lion in a short-sleeve button up shirt and bad tie telling people to move along, the trail has been closed.
In your mind's eye, is he wearing a ranger hat?
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Old 06-18-21, 01:14 PM
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It's illegal to hunt mountain lion in CA so the population is high.
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Old 06-19-21, 03:35 PM
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I have read that wherever there are deer, there are mountain lions, so in a way it's not surprising there's a lion near the Sawyer Camp Trail. After all, there was one just up the street from me, right off of Hillsdale in San Mateo!
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Old 06-19-21, 04:00 PM
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googling "how fast can a mountain lion run?"

50 mph!!!!! Ok close the trail.
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Old 06-19-21, 09:21 PM
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That's just up the hill from my house. There have been spottings of mountain lions lower than that area too. Some caught on the Ring cameras.
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Old 06-20-21, 12:21 AM
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We’ve had mountain lions roaming the residential streets of Palo Alto before. They probably follow the creeks into town.

Mountain Lions in Palo Alto
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Old 06-21-21, 03:46 PM
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Sounds like a perfect example of 'let the Wookie win'. To me, it also applies to buses and large trucks.
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Old 06-21-21, 05:18 PM
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wow nothing to mess with. sometimes my own house cats scare me
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Old 06-21-21, 06:24 PM
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Any animal with an 82% successful hunting efficiency has my respect.
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Old 06-23-21, 07:17 PM
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Originally Posted by trailangel
It's illegal to hunt mountain lion in CA so the population is high.
Need more of em. Too many friggin' deer and turkeys and pigs. They are out of control, esp the turkeys.
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Old 06-23-21, 07:33 PM
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Tame predators are a huge potential problem.

If they're hanging around during the day, it is inevitable that problems will occur.

Around here, for the most part the mountain lions are left alone, but we do get some nuisance animals that are killed.
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Old 06-25-21, 04:58 PM
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If I saw that I would grab the deer and throw it deeper into the woods, no reason to have a mountain lion on the trail scaring people. IDK why people thought it was a good idea to call the authorities though, what do you want them to do? Thats one fine looking cat
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Old 06-25-21, 05:10 PM
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Originally Posted by LarrySellerz
If I saw that I would grab the deer and throw it deeper into the woods, no reason to have a mountain lion on the trail scaring people. IDK why people thought it was a good idea to call the authorities though, what do you want them to do? Thats one fine looking cat
You'd mess with the kill of an apex predator known for killing the occasional human? You DO like to live dangerously, don't you?

You should check out the trail. It's fenced on both sides, for the entire length IIRC (It's been a good 20 years since I rode or walked on it). Calling the Rangers is the right move when there's a lion on the trail close enough for you to get a nice sharp picture with a phone.
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Old 06-25-21, 05:18 PM
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Originally Posted by genejockey
You'd mess with the kill of an apex predator known for killing the occasional human? You DO like to live dangerously, don't you?

You should check out the trail. It's fenced on both sides, for the entire length IIRC (It's been a good 20 years since I rode or walked on it). Calling the Rangers is the right move when there's a lion on the trail close enough for you to get a nice sharp picture with a phone.
It would complain and posture but wouldn't do anything. It has some gonads staring down humans like that though, people need to be forceful towards them or they wont learn that they should be afraid of us. I wonder if idiots feed them
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Old 06-30-21, 10:46 PM
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Originally Posted by cthenn
Need more of em. Too many friggin' deer and turkeys and pigs. They are out of control, esp the turkeys.
It’s the deer that are the menace to cycling. I’ve had too many close calls where a deer darts into the road, right in my path. Autumn is the worst, when the bucks are on the move.

This video, from Mt. Lemmon, Arizona:

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Old 07-01-21, 09:47 AM
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Originally Posted by terrymorse
It’s the deer that are the menace to cycling. I’ve had too many close calls where a deer darts into the road, right in my path. Autumn is the worst, when the bucks are on the move.
I just remember hearing about a rider who was killed on Alhambra Valley Road (going down the Pig Farm Hill) when a group of turkeys ran across the road and he ran into them. Also, there are pictures somewhere on this website of another rider who was injured when a turkey got lodged *in his wheel*!!! This actually happens a lot with squirrels, I'm always very cautious and slow down around those dumb animals. WHICH WAY DO I RUN, THIS WAY THAT WAY, NO RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE BIKE/CAR THE SECOND IT'S PASSING ME!
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Old 07-01-21, 12:38 PM
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Originally Posted by cthenn
I just remember hearing about a rider who was killed on Alhambra Valley Road (going down the Pig Farm Hill) when a group of turkeys ran across the road and he ran into them. Also, there are pictures somewhere on this website of another rider who was injured when a turkey got lodged *in his wheel*!!! This actually happens a lot with squirrels, I'm always very cautious and slow down around those dumb animals. WHICH WAY DO I RUN, THIS WAY THAT WAY, NO RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE BIKE/CAR THE SECOND IT'S PASSING ME!
I remember that turkey Pig Farm incident.
One time a pigeon flew into my front wheel - nothing but an explosion of feathers and fluff... kind of like that famous baseball video of the pitcher and the pigeon.
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Old 07-01-21, 12:49 PM
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Originally Posted by terrymorse
It’s the deer that are the menace to cycling. I’ve had too many close calls where a deer darts into the road, right in my path. Autumn is the worst, when the bucks are on the move.
I have a history with deer, but fortunately always when wrapped in two tons of car, not a couple ounces of lycra. Three separate accidents over 20 years.

The last one happened when Mrs, GeneJockey and I were visiting my family in PA. We'd flown into Dulles and were driving the 2 hours up to my folks' house. It was dark. We came over a rise, and Mrs. GJ says, "Dear".

I said, "What?"

She repeated, "Dear!"

I said again, "What?!"

Then I saw it. She hadn't been saying, "Dear." She'd been saying "Deer!"
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Old 07-01-21, 03:33 PM
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A dear took out my fd3s on skyline one night. I came around the corner late at night and it was on the left side of the road. I braked hard. The deer decided to run parallel with my car. I thought we where both going to make. Then for what ever reason the deer crosses in front of my car :/

While riding on coyote trail the other day a squirrel jumped out. I locked up both brakes as I was skidding to a stop the squirrel was running within inches and parallel to my front wheel. Had flash backs of my rx7/dear accident from the 90's flash in my head. We both got lucky that day.
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