As some of you might have read my family and another couple went camping in the same spot we did last weekend for the clean up. WE got there late thursday night and set up camp. The next day we went Xploring a little. That Friday night we were all sitting around the camp fire at about 10:30 the fire was dying out and we were getting tired. We had or camp set up in sort of a circle facing the mountain so our backs were to the lake. All of a sudden my dog Poppy yelped and the first thought was our friend's dog and ours were fighting. So I rolled out of the chair and threw it to the side to brake it up only to find Poppy thrashing in the dirt. My wife was yelling coyote as she grabbed our three year old son and headed for the X. My buddy shined the flash lite on the mountain, to see a mountain lion walking off slowly like he was disapointed. The rest of us, yelling and screaming trying to seem intimdating, ran for the X and jumped in. Only to relize that this was the only time I had taken the keys out of my pocket and they were in the tent. To make a long story shorter. We got the keys and drove down to the waters edge in the river rocks where some cowboys were fishing. They came and helped us pack and we spent the rest of the weekend at home thanking our lucky stars that nothing happend to us or our son and that the wounds on our faithfull dog were miner. I just wanted to share that little tid bit of info with sho ever was interested I thought it would make a good acmp fire storey but I couldn't wait that long. Everyone is fine and our lives have changed because of it, for the better.

Glad to hear everyone is ok. Mountain lions are becoming more of a problem here in California as well. They can become pretty bold. You just don't hike alone in the mountains anymore. A few years back a lady jogging up in the Cuyamaca mountains was killed by one. She was alone and running. I make my kids stay close when we're on the trails. Thanks for sharing the story.

Travis, so glad to hear you and the family are ok!!

glad you all are ok... not exactly the story i wanted to hear after just deciding to move back to AZ... ok nevermind... any mountain lion has got to be better than people in CA

Glad to hear you are all alright!!!

I'm glad to hear most of ya made it out OK. My hat's off to your trusty sidekick Poppy.

With Rocky & Natasha we aren't toooo worried about coyotes and such. However, we are very concered about snakes. To Natasha a snake's just a moving stick to calls to her attention.

Thanks for sharing. It's a good reminder that outside of our warm & cozy homes there are other creatures we need to share space with.

wow

No doubt!
Glad to hear everybody is ok and the doggy will be too. Another good reason to put a Mt. Dew in the fire. Notice how we didn't see any while I was around?

Damn, sorry to hear about the experience Travis, glad you are all ok!

That cat's a party pooper! Do you think an airgun has enough stopping power to deter a mountain lion? I'm thinking of getting one to bring on camping trips...until I can get an UZI.

If you're being stalked by a mountain lion by the time you see him/her it's usually too late to do anything. If you do encounter one the best thing to do is make yourself look larger. Put your jacket thru your arms backwards and hold it over your head or hold your pack over your head, do anything to make yourself look larger. Never run... cats love to chase things and you won't outrun it. I have a small air horn in my day pack, I was told they hate loud noises. Hopefully I'd be able to get to it soon enough to use it. An airgun will probably just piss him off. The UZI will just piss off the game warden.

Glad you guys are ok Travis- That's interesting though, because the first time I camped there, I thought for sure that I heard one on the rocks behind camp.

I guess it probably was!

Glad everybody's alright.

Had my own experience with a mountain lion up on top of four peaks when I first moved out here. We used to camp up there a few times a year and had ran into mountain lions on a couple different trips. Once the dogs chased it into the woods only to come running back about 90mph with their tails between their legs and wimpering like puppies.

On my last trip up there, we took an electronic fencer, (the kind they use for horse fences that shock you). We wired it to the truck and ran 2 wires around our campsite, one about a foot off the ground and another about two feet off the ground. It made us feel safer anyway.

So about 3 in the morning I wake up to my tent being caved in by something on top of it, and one of the dogs howling and yelping. I scrambled for my shotgun and finally made it out of the tent, only to find out that the commotion was the 100lb burmese mountain dog that ran into the fence in the middle of the night and jumped onto my tent after hitting it. We all had a good laugh and the dog owner was estatic that I didn't shoot the dog through the tent, since he said that's how he probably would have reacted.

Thanks guys we feel pretty lucky. I know next time I'll take something besides a pocket knife and a leatherman. The advice of acting bigger worked for me. At first it was a panic scream but it turned into get out of my camp because I don't know if I would win at wrestling you sream.

Thanks guys we feel pretty lucky. I know next time I'll take something besides a pocket knife and a leatherman. The advice of acting bigger worked for me. At first it was a panic scream but it turned into get out of my camp because I don't know if I would win at wrestling you sream.
The lion walked off disapointed. We continued to sream the rest of the night until we were able to leave. I'm sure if the lion had a camera we would look pretty funny.

Surprisingly, as this sign suggests, you want to fight back. It even says throw stones! I'm not so sure I want to throw stones at a Mountain Lion.

All pussy cats are so cute and cudly!

Todays Arizona Republic.

Mountain lions capture, then let go, two dogs
Associated Press
May. 8, 2003 08:30 PM

Two dogs have been attacked by mountain lions along the lower Verde River in the past month.

Officials with the Arizona Game and Fish Department believe the attacks are the work of one or possibly two mountain lions.

Campers at the Indian Springs camp groundground near Bartlett Lake told officials they spotted a mountain lion carrying off their dog after dark on May 3. They were able to throw rocks at the mountain lion and the dog was let go.

It's expected to live.

On April 19, a group near the Mesquite campground on the lake relayed a similar story, throwing rocks at the animal and the dog was freed.

Park officials urge campers to keep their pets on a leash and to report any interaction with mountain lions at once.

Mountain lions are usually secretive and the sighting of one is rare, game officials said.

man the only thing i can recall like this is when i was like 10 yrs old my dad was in the military and we lived in Misawa, Japan. well he gets the idea of let's go camping up by this place called lake Towada or something like that on the recomendation of Japanese military guys he knows. hmmmmm we get to this little town that is all but shut down and didn't even think about why is there metal siding on all the buildings never seen that in Japan where we've gone. anyway we are the only ones camping up here in the middle of nowhere and we didn't have any problems but when we got back my dad mentioned the metal on the sides of the buildings and one of the Japanese officers replied oh that's because that is the last known place of Siberian Tigers left in Japan. never saw any and we never went back. sorry about the long post but how often do you stumble upon a subject that you can relate to a little bit.