Safety

[Tim Le]

Oops, sorry, double post.

[cynthia23]

Agree with all posters--it's good to have some awareness/concern about lions, good also not overblow the concern. My understanding is that most wilderness injuries/fatalities involve either 1)tripping/falling, sometimes because one isn't conditioned enough, or just because you meet up with a slippery rock. 2/bad weather 3/getting lost and being unprepared with food and clothes. My feeling is that people grossly underestimate the unglamorous possibility that walking is the most hazardous part of hiking.

However, with the non-rational part of my brain, I too freak out when hiking alone and constantly think I'm hearing weird rustles, growls, etc. (invariably it proves to be my own stomach.) From what I have heard you never hear cougars coming, as all big cats attack from behind and they go for your neck/skull and crush it before you even have time to think "Oh, s--" They always attack from behind. I have heard that farmers in India wear masks of human faces backwards--i.e. they put the face on the back of their head. The theory is this confuses tigers and keeps them from sneaking up on you. I confess I've wondered if it would be worth digging out that old Richard Nixon Halloween Mask and wearing it on the back of my head .... because it would be no weirder than some of the other things folks do hiking up Skyline ...

[Yichus]

I've also heard about the wear-a-mask-backwards-to-confuse-tigers-and-prevent-an-ambush theory. The subterfuge apparently worked for a short period, but the tigers soon caught on, at least that's what I recall reading in an NG article, which I'll share if I can find it online.

[Perry]

I frequently watch my back at night and shine the flashlight around looking for eyes. They usually won't attack initially from the front. During the day I do nothing.

[magikwalt]

So says the only guy I know who can out run the mountain lion. It's us one-eyed fat men that have to worry.

[cynthia23]

I'd love to see that NG link on the backward-masks, Yichus, if you happen to find it. It would be good to know I didn't imagine the whole thing!

I have heard some people say that making a lot of noise (i.e. similar to wearing a bear bell, etc.) is a useful thing to do as it generally scares off the lions. Unless, I suppose, they were hungry, in which case they might think "Hey, Dinner Bell!" The thing that disturbs/frightens me about lions, as opposed to bears, is that they are predatory carnivores who stalk and seek prey. Bears are omnivores who will hardly ever willingly eat people unless startled/upset, but big cats seem to find people fairly tasty and there is a long unfriendly history of Them Eating Us. Of course I"m talking about tigers, African lions, and such. Mountain lions don't seem to eat people with any frequency--although as Yichus mentions, there is evidence big cats change their behavior in situations of hunger and stress. However, the bottom line is there still has never been a lion attack in the San Jacinto park. Statistically, it is deeply unlikely ....she said, looking over her shoulder ....but darn that Halloween mask made it hard to do that ....

[Tim Le]

Hi Cynthia, here's an article from the New York Times about face mask fooling Bengal tigers in India:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.h ... sec=&spon=

Also, some good advice on what to do to avoid or survive a mountain lion encounter:

http://users.frii.com/mytymyk/lions/onguard.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/co/KlueLass/li ... hnson.html