Re: [pct-l] Why are there so many Bear, and mountian lion worriers?

[RTestman@aol.com]

This is a response to Roy Robin's comment on the bear and mountain lion issue.

First, I am glad that so many on the list seem to realize the problem is 
people, not the critters. Yet it is USUALLY the critters that have to pay for 
our over population, and thus encroachment into their areas.

I have seen the photos from two mountain lion fatal maulings of humans. One 
was a woman, one a child. When a mountain lion stalks you, you generally 
won't know it. When they strike, it will be from behind, to the neck. They 
won't let go till you are dead. On women, they always seem to eat off the 
breasts, first, as they like the fat. Then they inevitably gut you. When 
full, they will hide your carcass in the brush, and return over several days 
to recycle all there is left of you. Brad and I have seen first hand, in 
Mission Creek, this scenario again and again, but SO FAR only with big horn 
sheep and deer.
I have personally had one-third of all my possessions destroyed by bear 
break-ins at my place on the S. Fork of Mission Creek (HikerHaven: CA 
C-3/C-4). I have been chased by an enraged female black bear, when I managed 
to accidentally come between her and her cub. I have had my llama stalked by 
a mountain lion and at least once a month, these past few years in Mission 
Creek, I have come face to face with mountain lions, often in the dark. They 
are magnificent creatures.
In all these critter encounters I had a gun, and certainly knew how to use 
it, but chose not to.
Why? There were several times my life was actually threatened. So what!  In 
the wilderness of Mission Creek, I am in their turf, their home. It has been 
my home for twenty years, too, but they were there before I came, and They 
will be there after I am gone. 
And why are humans so totally absolutely afraid of this death thing?
I mean, what a disappointment to die in an everyday road crash...when you can 
meet the grim reaper in the wilds of the ocean or wilderness! What a more 
interesting way to die! How many people do you actually know, or have even 
heard of, that have been killed by a bear, mountain lion or shark? NOW THAT 
IS SPECIAL!
But there is usually no need to die. I haven't, yet, and I have actually been 
stalked, & even attacked.
Just be intelligent, aware, and learn THEIR rules, their behavior. Then your 
odds of dying in a road crash will remain high, but the odds of dying in the 
more natural way in the clutches of a superior predator are really EXTREMELY 
low ... except maybe in the Mission Creek Section of the PCT where the 
mountain lions are particularly numerous, and the game they rely on for food 
is now scarce. 
Here kitty, kitty, kitty...

Stop in at HikerHaven, when you are at Fork Springs and I can tell you all 
about mountain lion and bear rules...that is, if you don't get eaten on the 
way up by our numerous resident bears and, particularly, BiG Kitties!
Enjoy your hike. (BUT PLEASE! Don't annoy the critters. You are in their 
home. Be polite.)

Randy Testman,  (BIG BIG News coming next week Re: HikerHaven).

Remember, the worst attack and fatalities we have had to date on the PCT came 
from a car, on a road, hitting two beloved hikers as they hiked peacefully 
along...
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