Mountain Lions

I have encountered two mountain lions near my Theopolis Vineyard on hwy 128 on the Sonoma/ Mendocino border.They are stunning magnificent creatures. They appear healthy and relaxed while lying in the sun. Should I take this as a positive sign for the upcoming Harvest?

They’re definitely looking forward to harvest.

They’ll keep the deer out of your vineyard.

As well as the workers…

They are strikingly beautiful and majestic creatures to see in person. Super rare to see them in person and I’ve been in the right place and time 3 times in my life and always consider myself amazingly lucky. I keep it quiet for fear someone will try to find them and kill them.

And yeah, they may be waiting for wild turkeys who are foraging for nice ripe grapes. Certainly not gonna mess with pickers.

Take some pictures and post them here. I’d love to see them.

Sounds like a good sign to me! [cheers.gif]

I hope so. I think that’s better than the dead boar in the middle of the road I saw by your place 3 weeks ago. You have a beautiful spot up there. Good luck this year.

You’ve got your harvest, they’ve got theirs.

Not if you’re the one they’re gonna harvest.

As an adult male [simian], you ought to be able to fight off a single lion by yourself, at least if you have an aluminum baseball bat in your hands [or a nice heavy length of galvanized pipe, such as 1" or 1&1/4" or similar].

But definitely I wouldn’t want to go up against lions [plural] without a 12-gauge shotgun and the proper ammunition.

In all seriousness, if you’ve got a lion problem, then I’d have everyone slinging a 12-gauge over their shoulders - especially if you have women working for you [up in the hill country, mountain lions kill female (human) joggers for fun].

I thought Nathan was going to post about economics again.

You do realize that Theodora is not an “adult male [simian]”??? It’s also good to know that mountain lions single out “female (human) joggers”

This one’s for you Nathan…

In all seriousness, if you’ve got a lion problem, then I’d have everyone slinging a 12-gauge over their shoulders

So in addition to working in the hot sun and carrying tubs of grapes, they’re supposed to carry around fully loaded 12-guages? And will all of them know how to use those guns and be ready for the recoil? Or do you only hire workers who are trained in firearms?

Not to mention that you’ll have a crew of workers out there so firing into the crowd will likely take out one or two of your workers, and if you’re going to do that anyway, why not just let the lions have them?

Since 1850, when California became a state, there have been 16 mountain lion attacks on people. Six were fatal; of those, two were fatal because of untreated rabies.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s Book of Odds, an you have a 1 in 100,000 chance of suffering a serious toothbrush-related injury in any year, but your chances of being injured by a mountain lion are like one in several million.

I’d be cautious not to surprise the lions, but even that is unlikely, as they’re pretty aware animals.

No pictures? I think you’re lion to us Theodora! [snort.gif] [wink.gif]

"Since 1850, when California became a state, there have been 16 mountain lion attacks on people. Six were fatal; of those, two were fatal because of untreated rabies.

I’d be cautious not to surprise the lions, but even that is unlikely, as they’re pretty aware animals."

Yes and if you look at human homicides over any comparable period, you are about 10,000X more likely to die by a human hand than cougar teeth. So if you want to stay safe, leave the city and move to the mountains [thankyou.gif]

They are very secretive and for the most part assiduously avoid people. Also, unlike wolves or coyotes, they are solitary hunters.

The only mountain lion I have ever seen was a house pet named Toby. He was like a 120 pound house cat that rubbed up against you and loved to be petted.

Shooting mountain lions in California is correctly against the law. As to Theodora’s original post, that is just stupendous. Not many people have been lucky enough to glimpse one in the wild. I managed to see one, just once, in the Selenite Range in Nevada. Awesome.

Jealous. I have yet to see one, thought given how much time I’m outdoors, I’m sure they’ve seen me.

Let’s not let facts get in the way of an ill-informed rant.

That sounds terrifying, whether it enjoyed being petted or not.

I’m not a fan of MTN lions. If you have any domestic animals or house pets they will be in danger. When they have no fear of humans I don’t think that’s a good thing.