[pct-l] Mountain Lion Attacks

[Bighummel at aol.com]

First, at the last ADZ we had an expert from SD county on Mtn Lions come  
give a great talk to PCT'ers and we will again try to get one there this year to  
alleve aspiring hiker's worries and educate them about this.  
 
Secondly, this is a very good reason to carry an ice axe and/or trekking  
poles through risky Mtn Lion areas.  Raising you arms with the trekking  poles 
makes you appear larger and more potentially threatening to a lion, and,  of 
course, an ice axe in the hand is a wicked weapon to wield and could impart  some 
serious injury to the lion in an attack, and thereby help to prevent it or  
thwart it once begun.  
 
Me?  I hiked the trail when the mountain lion population was hunted to  
extremely small numbers and saw none, not a paw print in the trail, nada.   Too few 
Mtn lions means too many starving deer.  Too many Mtn lions means  too little 
food sources for the lions and thus hungry lions.  
 
Oh, and it helps to be really, really big, like . . . well  . .  .  6'9"!!!
 
Greg "Strider" Hummel
 
("an ice axe in the hand is worth two in the  bush!")