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I was looking through the fauna photos and noticed that no one has managed to snap a shot of a mountain lion. Any reports of sightings anywhere in AZ? If so, where and what advice would you have about increasing my chances of a sighting? I've spotted a black bear (Mazatzal Wilderness) and a bobcat (Catalina SP) and I've hoping to round out the trifecta but no such luck in 2 1/2 years of hiking around the state.

Darrell has a ledge shot
http://hikearizona.com/dexcoder.php?dex=2&PID=39

I haven't seen one, but did hear one in Upper Woods Canyon. The shriek was enough to stop us in our tracks making us realize we were live bait in the bottom of a canyon. Which if you find yourself near a lone pond just before dawn be on the lookout!

I've seen several footprints in the eastern Superstitions. Foot prints on top of the ruins at Roger's Canyon, prints going up to Circlestone and prints at Reavis Ranch. I know of 2 people who has seen the mountain lion at Reavis Ranch. I have heard a bob cat in Ontario, Canada and that does raise the hair on the back of your neck! :yikes: Mary

I just saw one about three weeks ago in the northern Tucson mountains. I was shaking too hard to get a good picture (came out pure blur). I was climbing down an steep narrow canyon, and it was climbing up the other side. We were actually very close, but separated by the narrow canyon. Had a staredown for about 5 seconds, then we each decided to go our own way. Absolutely amazing experience.

Did you stand up tall, fill up your lungs, look very big, and like you said stare the mountain lion down?

I can see me shaking from head to toe if I had seen the mountian lion.
:yikes:

Although, I have lived in two residential neighborhoods here in the Valley which over the years reported mountain lion sitings, altering my morning walks at the time.

Oh, I was shaking. That's for sure.

I saw a cougar a few months ago out at Red Mountain in East Mesa. I was mtn biking before work one morning and the cougar ran across the trail in front of me. I stopped and watched it make it's way down a wash; it's tail and ears sticking up above the brush. Super awesome!

Have seen two in AZ--one in the Chiricahuas, and the other up here in the White Mtns. at Wenima Wildlife Area, within the Springerville Town Limits.

I had a scary episode while solo backpacking at age 20 in the Cuyamaca Mountains in San Diego County, Calif. I was sleeping under the stars, and was awakened at 3 a.m. by the most horrific screaming you can imagine. I just stayed in my sleeping bag until it got light. This was in about 1973. Just a few years later a woman was killed by a mountain lion in the same mountains while jogging or hiking alone.

I've seen four so far in the wild.
The first two I saw together from the safety of a truck out on Bloody Basin road. We came around a corner and there they were in the middle of the road. One was larger than the other. I don't know if they were maybe a mother with an older cub, or male and female. They took off immediatly and dissapeared. We stayed in the truck.
The next one I saw on a solo hike in the Upper Burro Creek wilderness. It was such a brief and fleeting glimpse though, that I'm no longer completely sure that I did see it. I was convinced enough at the time, though, to shorten the hike.
The most recent was during the spring of '05. I came face to face with one on Pinal mountain, and that is no exageration. It was simultaniously one of the coolest and most terrifying things I have ever experienced. It's actually a pretty good cat story, but I'm supposed to be working right now.

The two Valley of the Sun sitings that I know about were:

1. Mummy Mountain (just across the little valley from Camelback Mountain in the town of Paradise Valley, during a very dry spell, and

2. east Scottsdale about 120th Street south of Shea on Mountain View rd. It was the year of the fires up on Four Peaks when all the bears came down to Mesa. This mountain lion would stroll through the area of Stonegate (a gated community of about 500 homes) in the middle of the paved road and sometimes lay down and nap awhile. The rangers told us it was on a 10 mile loop over to Mesa and around which meant we could see it every few days or so. Someone in Mesa shot and killed it.

Ok, I'm confused now. Like in Florida, they shoot "nusiance" alligators, which people built houses (and condo's) on THEIR turf. They were here first. As in the case of the mountain lion that was shot at Granite Mountain, why can't they tranquilize it and relocate it? We are on their territory, they probably are just defending whats theirs. My humble opinion.

Jeff

I so agree. However, it was a private party who took it upon himself to shoot it before anyone could tranquilize it. At least that's what we were told.

AZHikr4444 saw one minutes before Mrs. big_load and I met him on the Reavis Ranch Trail last year. Since we were going where he came from, we kept our eyes out for a while, but our vigilance waned before long.

He must have been from New York or New Joisey! What goes around....

Jeff

0hurricanes wrote:He must have been from New York or New Joisey! What goes around....

Jeff

Jeff, Newsflash about mountain lions in AZ.They fall under the Predator catagory in Arizona and any Resident of the State can kill one for a 13.00 permit, (200.00 for non-residents) and they can be hunted 365 days a year. Why anyone would want to kill one is another question though.

Hi Dan. I knew they were a predator, but unlike Florida, it's rare from what I have been reading about mountain lion sightings. In FL. I have seen at least several thousand alligators in my 29 years there. We counted 350 on one trip across alligator alley (I-75). But the difference here is that uninformed people swim in fresh water there and as a result become gator bate, I knew a girl in high school who did just that and died as a result, and out here it seems the pedator is more man than animal, at least in these cases. If a mountain lion is where it's not supposed to be (?) then how about a more humane way of dealing with it as you proably agree. My question is did this numbskull have a license and if not did he get in trouble? Again, my humble opinon

Jeff

In response to 0hurricanes' reply: Hi Jeff, I dont know about that particular case you are talking about. I was just pointing out that unlike the alligator, mountain lions are under no form of protection other than the protection afforded to them by a 13 dollar permit . And the people who hunt them generally use dogs and the succuss rate is very high..The dogs smell them, persue them until cornering or chasing them up a tree tree and the so called "sportsman" walks up and shoots it out of the tree. Its too bad they arent protected, but, Alas, they are not. There are sub-species of rattlesnakes and sucker fish that are protected in AZ but not the mountain lion.

Mountain lion attacks against humans increased dramatically after Calif. discontinued legal hunting of them. It's better for the cougars if they don't lose their fear of us, and it's also safer for us if they are afraid of us. From everything I've read, the wildlife management people say there is a very healthy population of them in AZ. I agree with continued limited hunting. Without dogs the success rate is about zero for hunters, so only the people with the trained dogs can usually find them and tree them. And there are not huge numbers of these people, there aren't a lot of lions being hunted in the state, compared to any other game. And if cougar hunting suddenly became very popular, the G & F Dept. would probably respond by limiting the tags. This is not likely to happen, as most of us do not want to be saddled with caring for 6 or 8 very large, noisy hounds in the backyard!

As for why anyone would want to hunt them, I'm sure some people want the skin, or for taxidermy, and they are also pretty tasty, believe it or not. I tasted the meat one time at Tucson Rod & Gun Club's annual game BBQ. I personally would not want to hunt them, however. I like the fact that there are large, scary predators running around out there, ready to pounce on unsuspecting city slickers.

I saw my first wild mountain lion this weekend near Moqui Hill on the Rim. It was about 30 yards down a forest service road just working its way down the hill. It did not see me until I stepped onto the road and said something over my radio.

It made eye contact for about 20 seconds before skulking back up the hill. It didn't seem to appreciate me getting the jump on it. But I have this funny feeling it was also deciding whether or not to chase me down and eat me. I wasn't really concerned at the time since I was carrying, but I didnt sleep as well in my thin walled tent knowing one was hunting in the area.

That was definitely not the time to shoot one of these animals, IMHO. But there are times when it is a good idea.

Every once in awhile in AZ we get a very good year(s) for certain kinds of animals, followed by very bad year(s). That animals population surges in the good years and then they tend to spread out in the lean year. When that animal population spreads out, they can threaten human life even if the human population in the area remains the same. So regardless of encroachment, these natural population cycles can harm people if the excess population is not removed (some people consider human life more important than animal life).

If I had to make a choice between people in east Mesa getting hunted down, or having a depredation hunt for mountain lions, it wouldnt be a difficult choice. Some politicians in California dont seem to agree.

The incident with the alligator and the girl I knew happened in 1974. Just before we moved 4 people were killed, 1 while jogging along a waterway, and another while swimming in a fresh water lake, a 12 footer got her I think. I agree with hunting (I don't hunt nor do I own a gun) but to kill an animal for the fun of it, then I don't agree with it. Anyway, if I have a run in with a moutain lion... well I'll let you know.

Jeff