Felis Concolor at Whiting Ranch Wilderness 2

Posted on January 9, 2004 in Mountain Lions Nature Neighborhood The Orange

A reader put me on to this:

A mountain lion was shot and killed by authorities late Thursday after it attacked two bicyclists, injuring one woman in an Orange County wilderness park. The body of a man who may have been mauled by the same animal also was found nearby, authorities said.

The 2-year-old male cat, which weighed about 110 pounds, was shot shortly after 8 p.m. by an Orange County sheriff’s deputy, said Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the California Fish and Game Department. The lion had returned to the body of the dead man when it was spotted and shot, Martarano said.

The animal will be taken to a laboratory where a necropsy will be performed.

The attack occurred shortly after 4:30 p.m. in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park when a mountain lion pounced on a woman who was riding a bicycle with her friend, said Capt. Stephen Miller of the Orange County Fire Authority.

Could it be the same lion that I saw in October? I don’t know. I almost went for a walk in Whiting Ranch this afternoon but became entangled in writing and debating on IRC.

Many bikers zip through the park. I’ve often wondered if they presented a temptation to lions. Think of it: a biker never stops to look. He is always on the move, always — in the eyes of the lion — fleeing. It’s like dragging a piece of red yarn in front of your cat. It’s going to induce it to pounce.

I suspect that I know where in Whiting this happened: there’s a popular route that bikers like to roll through, thick with vegetation, large old oaks that present overhangs, and plenty of deer. All the cougar needed was to see red movement and jump.

For the record, I still feel that lions are welcome as long as they do not attack humans.