[pct-l] mtn lions

[dsaufley at sprynet.com (dsaufley@sprynet.com)]

The very best story of all from this past season is Freebird's.  I cannot do it justice, but the upshot is that somewhere up in northern California a large cat (a variety not native to the area) was hanging around the trail, and actually came up to Freebird, who tried to hide behind a tree in absolute terror.  The cat seemed to play with him for a long period of time, batting at him where he was trying to hide behind the tree.  The cat eventually became distracted, and Freebird ran for help. Ultimately, the cat was captured, and turned out to be a cat that had been kept by people and dumped, was more-or-less domesticated and declawed (which of course Freebird did not know at the time).  Poor thing was starving, and could not hunt or fend for itself.  It could not be left in the wild, and due to the kindness of a wildlife ranger who defied the rules by keeping the animal until a suitable permanet resident for it could be found, it wound up in a preserve or some sort.  The part about how a couple of rangers and Freebird caught the cat, and carried it a good distance in a massive cage, was hilarious.

It's a truly amazing story, which thankfully had a happy ending, and Freebird tells it so well. Apparently the cat had frightened a number of hikers before its capture.

I love stories from the trail.  Scott, if you could get that one on video -- it's priceless.

L-Rod

-----Original Message-----
>From: Scott Herriott <yetifan@yahoo.com>
>Sent: Jan 23, 2006 2:51 PM
>To: Carolyn Eddy <ECPG@peoplepc.com>, pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
>Subject: Re: [pct-l] mtn lions
>
>
>  While shooting the follow-up documentary to "Walk"
>this past summer (which, btw, will be available in
>about two weeks), Hobbles told me of a mountain lion
>encounter he had near Belden this past year.
>  He said it was near dusk and that he had stopped to
>rest when he he then heard something behind him.  He
>turned around to see, about 30 ft. up and off the
>trail, a pretty big cougar checking him out.  He said
>it hung around for quite awhile, moving to various
>locations around him, until he decided to flag down a
>vehicle on a nearby dirt road.  He said he definately
>got the feeling that his nutritional value was being
>assessed.
>
>
>
>Squatch
>www.walkpct.com
>
>
>
>
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