Western Railroad Discussion > Caution: Mountain Lions in Niles Canyon ...

If any of you go railfanning Niles Canyon, be REAL CAREFUL !!!   Several hours ago, the following report came into PLA from a lady on Kilkare Road in Sunol ----

"My Comcast repairman got a little freaked out yesterday morning when he parked near the end of Kilkare and wouldn't get out of his van until the mountain lion stopped stalking him and finally trotted off up the hill. He fixed my phones, but wouldn't leave until his friend came to watch his back while he put his tools away. The pools of water must be drying up on the ridge so all the deer are down on the road, and I guess the lion is too.   Be careful !!  "

Nuff said !

KRK

Bear Spray seems in order along with increased vigilance and not being out of the vehicle alone.

Be careful out there.

Posted from iPhone

"Here kitty, kitty.....nice kitty....got a nice rat for you kitty....hey stop biting my arm!"

Posted from iPhone

We have them down here in SoCal too. They find little dogs very tasty...

Wouldn't a hand gun be a better option?

DFWJIM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wouldn't a hand gun be a better option?

Better pack a lot of punch, because a wounded animal is even more dangerous.

Mountain lions in general hate people, so they hide during the day, sometimes up high on a tree, where "concerned citizens" have found them in suburban areas (usually near a creek). Makes sense that one is hanging out in Niles Canyon, because of Alameda Creek.

Be extra careful if you are taking your kids with you to watch the NCRy trains. When mountain lions choose to attack, they go after smaller targets.

Just scritch them behind their ears! 8^}

Discharge of a firearm within the city limits or residential area is illegal.

It is unlikely the shooter will get a clean shot at the cat and stray bullets might strike a neighbor or their house.

Unless you are out in the forest stick with nonlethal force.



DFWJIM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wouldn't a hand gun be a better option?

Posted from iPhone

Ken  ---

Would you please be so kind as to clarify which end
of Kilkare Road this happened at?  Did is happen at
the end of the road that is right near the PLA's Sunol
station?  Or at the far north end of Kilkare Road --
which is a LONG way from the PLA's Sunol station?

TIA!

Mountain lions are a normal fact of life in the canyon. I've seen tracks from one end to the other throughout the years. No biggie. I worry more about rattlers or hidden wasps nests to be honest.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/16 20:03 by ChrisCampi.

wait until swarms of killer bees invade that canyon.  mountain lions won't be so bad.........

66

I have no idea about location Margaret.   If it was at the far end of Kilkare Road, why would she bother to tell PLA ?

KRK

Margaret_SP_fan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ken  ---
>
> Would you please be so kind as to clarify which
> end
> of Kilkare Road this happened at?  Did is happen
> at
> the end of the road that is right near the PLA's
> Sunol
> station?  Or at the far north end of Kilkare Road
> --
> which is a LONG way from the PLA's Sunol station?
>
> TIA!

DFWJIM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wouldn't a hand gun be a better option?

I think you guys have some pretty tough gun laws in California.  Where I live it's a bit more relaxed.  I have a "Carry Concealed Deadly Weapons" permit but I can carry open without a permit.  If your concern is shooting at the lion and missing and maybe hitting someone, there is a somewhat safer option, yet effective.  Taurus (Taurus International) has a product they call "The Judge."  It is a 5 round revolver that will chamber either a .410 shotgun shell or a .45 cal pistol round.  Some people use them for personal protection and put 2 or 3 shotgun rounds in the first cylinders and then the pistol round in the remaining slots.  On or two blast of buckshot will usually discourage an aggressor.  With a shotgun, the pattern spreads out pretty quickly, especially with the short barrel of a hand gun.  If that doesn't stop the aggressor, the .45 cal pistol round can be pretty devastating.  If you miss with your shotgun shot, the buckshot won't carry nearly as far as a single chunk of lead of the piston bullet.

Of course, you're going to make some noise when you shoot it but usually if you are protecting yourself or another person, you'll be OK.

If you do choose any type of firearm and you are not familiar with them, PLEASE find an experienced person to assist you.  Don't just buy one, load it, and hang it on you hip, and expect it to protect you in an emergency.  At a minimum, you need to fire it several times to become used to it.  Go to a range, or a safe outdoor location.  Use eye and ear protection.  Be safe. but don't be afraid.  Be aware of what you are doing and where the muzzle is pointing at all times.  Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.

John

If you see a mountain lion coming, then you have a chance of deterring it.  Several joggers and mountain bikers never heard or saw the mountain lion that hit them.  As I've said before, if you see deer, then generally you're in mountain lion territory in the West.  At a ranger campfire talk, we were told that mountain lions can jump 30 feet linearly from a standstill ("spring-loaded muscles"). They can drop 60' from a cliff or tree without hurting themselves (but it's hell on the victim!). They can leap to the top of a basketball backboard (almost as high as the top of a railroad car!). They're most active dusk to dawn. Stay tall, you look like an easy meal to a mountain lion if you sit down or crouch looking thru a tripod!  Decide if the risk is worth the shot.

mapboy

I used to take a lot of guff from my police co-workers for owning a cat (correction, cat owned me). They said a more "manly" pet was a big dog. I'd ask them what a 100 lb. dog was called. They'd answer "a big manly dog". Then I'd ask them what a 100 lb. cat was called. They usually could not answer so I'd answer for them - a Mountain Lion. I rested my case after that. Cats seem to scale up very nicely. Of course I suppose you could call a really big dog a wolf but I left that out of the conversation ;-)

BTW, bear spray doesn't work on something sneaking up behind you.

Have fun, be safe,
Bruce "Doc" Jones  Sierra Madre CA (also Cougar country)

Ken ---
Thank you very much.  I had thought that the lady
would not have told the PLA about that mountain
lion if she lived at the far end of Kilkare Road --
more than 3 miles away from the PLA's Sunol Station,

We here in the Mid-Peninsula often read about people
living in Woodside and Portola Valley seeing mountain
lions on their property.

mapboy ---
Thanks so much for the info about the physical abilities
of mountain lions.  I knew they could leap horizontaly
25 feet from a standing start --but now I know they can
actually leap 30 feet!  I did not know the other 2 facts --
their ability to drop so far - 60 feet! -- without hurting
themselves! --or that they can leap up to 12 feet above
the ground!!  These anilmals are *very* dangerous!
They have been seen even in suburban areas here on
the Mid-Peninsula, fr from the Peninsula foothills.

One mountain lion was even seen in May of 2014 in
an apartment complex on a major arterial in Mountain
View, CA, east of El Camino Real -- far from the Peninsula
foothills and any creek!  (It was tranquilzed and released
in the Santa Crz mountains.)

Another mountain lion was seen back in 2004 in suburban
Palo Alto around dawn, east of Middlefield Road in a residential
area -- again, far from the Peninsula foothills or any creek or
stream.  This lion had to be shot, as it was jumping fences from
backyark to backyard, and a trnquilzer would have taken far
too long to work, endangeroung people.

Folks -- please be careful out there betwee dusk and dawn.
And call 9-1-1 if you see a mountain lion.

And, yes, rattlesnakes and wasps (and killer bees, if any are in
your area) can be very dangerous.

Oh, Bruce -- that is soooo funny and soooo cool!
Methinks any man who feels he needs a big dog
to show how "manly" he is does not really feel all
that "manly", or he would not need to prove anything
to anyone.