Mountain Lions Near Denver

[travis_smith1]

Hello-

 

I live in the Denver Metropolitan area and am interested in

finding/photographing a mountain lion. I've heard that the area

between Boulder and Rocky Mountain National Park has a good number of

sightings. I was hoping that some of you might have information

about time of year, time of day, location, technique (finding and

photographing) that would be most beneficial.

 

Thanks a lot.

[scott bacon]

<p>Hi Travis, </p>

<p> I don't want to rain on your parade, but mountain lion sightings are fairly rare along the front range. So rare that when one is sighted, it usually makes the nightly news. I've lived here my whole life and I hike and/or photograph in the area least once a week. I have never seen a mountain lion in the Denver area. And I have only seen one in the wild once in my life (on the Western slope kind of near Grand Junction). The sighting lasted all of 5 seconds. Not enough time to pull the camera out of the bag. </p>

<p> That being said... I think the best habitat and the most frequent sightings in the area are on the Southwest side of Denver. Roxborough State Park would be a good place to start. You may be able to get some information from the Park Rangers there. There is a trail to the summit of ??? peak that starts South of the Visitors Center. Once I met hikers on their way down that claimed they saw a mountain lion 20 minutes prior to seeing me. </p>

<p>Another area that might be good (which you mentioned), is the Indian Peaks

Wilderness. I've found the Rangers at the Boulder office very friendly and

helpful (303) 444-6600. You may be able to pick up some tips from them. </p>

<p>Patience and persistence will be the key to success. Good luck and have fun. If you don't find any cats, at least the scenery will be enjoyable!</p>

<p>-Scott</p>

<p><a href="http://www.naturalorderphoto.com">http://www.naturalorderphoto.com</a><br>

</p>

[bobatkins]

Read <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=001DZo">this thread</a> and decide if looking for mountain lions in the wild is really a good idea unless:

<p>(a) You know what you're doing and

<br>(b) You're not alone

<p>

My guess is that if you're close enough for a <em>worthwhile</em>

photograph (i.e. much more than a blurred shot of a tail in the distant bushes), you're

in a situation I don't think I would want to be in.

<p>

Probably 99% of the really nice mountain lion shots you see in the magazines,

in calendars or on posters were shot "under controlled conditions" (

i.e. captive animals in zoos or on game farms), not in the wild.

[steve_thompson]

Travis: I agree with Bob. Given a choice I would rather come face to face with a Grizzly Bear than a Mountain Lion. I never go looking for Grizzlies.

[roger___3]

Here's a few cut and pastes I thought were relevent:

1995 - Photographer Moses Street was jogging on a popular trail in Rocky Mountain National Park near Estes Park, CO, when he glanced over his shoulder and saw a cougar about to pounce on him. The cougar backed off when Street yelled and waved his arms. Street used a large tree branch to stop a second and third attack.

1997-. A 10-year-old Lakewood boy was killed by an adult female cougar during a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, after he went ahead of his parents on the hike. The lion retreated when the parents arrived, but was killed soon afterward when it tried to pounce on a National Park Service officer who was guarding the boy's body. 1997 - A 20-year-old mountain bike rider was attacked by a cougar at Walker Ranch Open Space near Flagstaff Mountain, in the hills west of Boulder, Colorado. The lion lunged and "took a swipe" at him, then stopped and snarled with its ears laid back. 1998- Andy Peterson, 24, an experienced hiker from Littleton, was attacked in Roxborough State Park, Colorado, while hiking alone in the 3,000 acre park on the Carpenter Peak trail about 2 to 3 miles west of the visitor center. The hiker received deep cuts to his head and face, and was hospitalized in fair and stable condition. 1998 - 10-year-old Mark Miedema was killed in Rocky Mountain National Park. ( I thought Todd's comments were quite related to the question.)

[lawrence_king]

Roger's comments make a good point. In all but one of the examples, the attacks were either on trail runners or small children not in close proximity to their parents. These scenarios are more likely to induce the mountain lions' predatory response. If you are going to enter areas where there are mountain lions, at least educate yourself on what to do and how to minimize encounters. There have been numerous times when I've been in their territory and find children far ahead of their parents on hiking trails. And just to put it into perspective, between 1890 and 1996 there were only 15 of 49 attacks on humans by Mountain Lions that were fatal in North America and half of those occurred in British Columbia. The two times I've encountered these animals on trails was just before sunrise, one of the times when they are most active. Oh, and if I'm picking between mountain lions and grizzlies, I'll take the mountain lion. I've been bluff charged before just south of Yellowstone and it wasn't a pleasant experience...

[bill_green2]

I remember one taking a walk through my high school parking lot, but that was a few years ago. It was eventually caught at Hampden and Monaco near the Continental theater.

[don_grall]

Mountain lions typically inhabit areas with a high density of its favorite prey, deer. A Div.of Wildlife officer was quoted in the ColSpgs newspaper a few years ago, and if I remember correctly, he said that the highest concentration of mountain lions in Colorado is the area between Canon City, S.W. Colorado Springs, and Cripple Creek (this area includes the Beaver Creek Wilderness, a very rugged place to hike). I've lived here 26 years and have never seen one in the wild and I spend a lot of time in the backcountry. I once came across tracks left during a light snowfall that crossed my boot prints I left on the way into Queens Canyon as I was heading back out, and there were only a few snow flakes in its paw print.

Never did see it although I'm sure it was watching me!

In any case the above cautionary comments if anything are understated!

Remember,if you have a close-encounter-kind-of-experience it could end in the death of the cat because of the possible overreaction of local authorities trying to project a safe environment for the area residents.

[tom_thurston]

I've enountered a wild mountain lion only once. It was in a remote part of Zion National Park, but less than a half mile from a road. I was walking through scattered scrub oaks, and it was in a meadow about 60 or 70 yards away. I didn't have a very long lens with me, so I decided to get closer for a better shot. Bad plan; by the time I had come about 20 or 30 yards closer and gotten around the trees so I could see the meadow again, I saw that the lion was also coming closer to me. It was now only 30 yards or so away; far too close for comfort. My immediate reaction was panic. The lion bounded out of the meadow, into the oaks to the side (neither away from nor towards me). I immediately headed back to my car, all the time considering the best way to use my tripod and other equipment as defensive weapons.

 

I have no desire to encounter a lion like that again when I'm off by myself. It may be that my immagination got carried away, and the lion really wasn't after me, but I'd rather not find out the hard way.

 

Interestingly, when I reported this to the park rangers, it rather excited them. It seems that mountain lion encounters in Zion are quite rare. They did say, though, that tracks had been regularly seen in the area where I saw the lion.

 

One winter in fresh snow, I tracked a lion (backwards, to where he'd come from) for three hours or so. It was great fun until I got to the partly eaten beaver that looked like it was cached for another meal. I then realized that I was probably just as vulnerable as that beaver, and probably less prepared to escape to a safe place while I was out in the wild. Needless to say, it was quite some time before I felt comfortable back in that area.

[matt_englert]

Hey Travis,

There are lots of mountain lion in Boulder! Just go west on Linden Road and you will find them in Pine Brook Hills...www.pinebrookhills.com, look on the message board!

Some people just don't know where to look...

-Matt<div></div>