>
>>Just got back from a day field outing. I tracked a bear that came
>>into the clear to get away from the flys. Looked pretty lean. When
>>I lost the track I got scared which does not happen often to me. Not
>>knowing where a hungry bug bitten bear is, when you know you are
>>under 200 yards, will get your heart going. I got no audio so the
>>only thing I did get is a little more wisdom about what not to do.
>
>A California woman hiking with three other people was jumped by an
>underweight mountain lion the other day. Serious injuries. Previous
>attacks have been people alone. Must have been desperate.
Only 18 humans have been iced by mountain lions since the 1890s in
the US although several more have been injured. The lions and bears
are (generally) more afraid of us then we of them and they get a
terribly bad rap in the press. I just tell my students and interns to
be especially aware of their surroundings - to listen, look and sniff
the air for signs of change or tension that is often expressed within
the biophony, by the way. My wife and I live on 10 acres surrounded
by oak savannah and scrub and enjoy the 200 lb male lion that lives
and wanders (along w/ coyotes, foxes, deer, skunk, possum, hare,
gophers, moles, voles, etc.) at the ridge about 50M from our house.
Our cats, YoYo Meow and Eddie-puss-Rex, are indoor/outdoor critters
and have never yet been bothered. I run 4 miles every other day along
the rural county road at the bottom of the hill and have caught
glimpses of the lion at dusk and early AM on occasion and have never
sensed that I was in danger. I am certainly aware of him, though, and
stay alert.
I do have the recording made of a black bear wrapping its mouth
(probably testing to see if there was something of nutritional value)
around our MS system in Sequoia one fall evening a couple of years
ago while on assignment for the NPS. It's the only stereo-surround
audio of what it sounds like from the perspective of being INSIDE a
bear's mouth.
Bernie
Wild Sanctuary, Inc.
P. O. Box 536
Glen Ellen, California 95442-0536
Tel: (707) 996-6677
Fax: (707) 996-0280
http://www.wildsanctuary.com
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