MOUNTAIN LIONS AMONG US

Mountain lions are powerful cats the tawny color of the rocks among which they hide. They are also known as cougars, pumas and panthers. The animals are adept at hiding and are generally solitary animals, so many Fallbrook residents are surprised to discover that they live among us.

Much of the Fallbrook area is rugged and the roads are too narrow for cars to travel very fast, which makes for perfect lion country. Lions typically move along the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve area but have also been sighted and heard in other Fallbrook areas, particularly along Reche Road from Old Highway 395 to Live Oak Park.

A young Fallbrook woman was stalked last year by a large creature that remained in the bush while she was walking alone down Reche Road at night. She was frightened but had enough presence of mind to know not to run. She thought it might provoke an attack. She was right; the lion would have perceived her as prey had she run. She kept fearfully plodding along until finally the large creature lost interest.

Around 1885, Ida Howell, a 22-year-old woman homesteader in the Willow Creek area, had an encounter with a mountain lion. This maverick who worked her own land probably had more than one encounter with lions, but only one documented version is on file at the Fallbrook Historical Society. The narration details that in the 1880s Ida Howell, while riding a horse, was chased by a mountain lion down a road known as Howell Grade.

I, myself, have seen several mountain lion tracks in the mud while hiking in an area near the Santa Margarita River, and property owners in DeLuz have also reported track sightings. One local family’s horse had large scratch marks on its side — large enough to be made by a mountain lion.

Mountain lion stories like these abound in our area and one person who hears many of them is Dr. Claudia Luke, director of San Diego State University’s Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve, which covers 4,500 acres along the Santa Margarita River in Fallbrook. Dr. Luke mentioned that some have reported sightings of pairs of young lions who are possibly siblings, but the typical case is to sight a young solitary lion that may be looking for its own territory.

Mountain Lions live to about 12 years, with the males weighing between 130 and 150 pounds and the females weighing up to 90 pounds. It is surprising that these large creatures manage to stay hidden. They do most of their hunting at night, but it is not uncommon for the animals to be active during the day as well. The lion stalks its prey then makes a surprise attack. The preferred food is deer; however, the lions are able to subsist on small animals such as rabbits and birds.

Occasionally, a hungry lion thinks a family goat or dog should be its dinner. However, the lion is not acting out of spite; he is just hungry. We have encroached upon their territory and we need to learn how to protect our livestock and pets from these predators. “Homes are being built in their habitat,” said Dr. Luke. Studies show that the mountain lion will become extinct in the Santa Ana Mountains if the habitat in Fallbrook is destroyed. Lions use the Santa Margarita Reserve, which is a critical corridor, when they are roaming between the Palomar Mountain and Santa Ana Mountain wilderness areas. “It is their only link to the Santa Ana Mountains,” explained Dr. Luke. “We need to live compatibly with them.”

Karen Cotton of the Mountain Lion Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Sacramento, urges residents to take precautions against their livestock and pets becoming prey for the lions. “A mountain lion can jump a fence that is 22 feet high,” she said, “so to ensure that your small livestock aren’t prey they need to be kept in an enclosure with a top on it.” The organization’s Web site, http://www.mountainlion.org, offers plans for a safe livestock enclosure which can be built for about $500.

Local artist Brett Stokes knows that there are mountain lions among us even though he doesn’t see them. I attribute it to his Cherokee intuition and sensitivity to nature. When he painted a fiberglass pony, which is on display at the Café de Artistes, he added the starry outline of a mountain lion spirit. “We don’t see the mountain lions, they hide, but we know that they are around us,” he said.

As we continue to build and encroach on the mountain lions’ territory we need to find ways to live in harmony with these magnificent creatures while at the same time providing protection for our own animals and families.