Golf course and ranchland are becoming hunting grounds for the
big cats
The divide between civilization and wilderness grows smaller
every day and despite the best efforts, cougar sightings are
becoming more common as cities burrow further into the big cat’s
home environments.
Bolado Park Golf Club is located just 10 miles south of
Hollister, but the area is rife with cougar activity, according to
Bolado Park Golf Club Manager Dan Holt.
Golf course and ranchland are becoming hunting grounds for the big cats
The divide between civilization and wilderness grows smaller every day and despite the best efforts, cougar sightings are becoming more common as cities burrow further into the big cat’s home environments.
Bolado Park Golf Club is located just 10 miles south of Hollister, but the area is rife with cougar activity, according to Bolado Park Golf Club Manager Dan Holt.
“The cats are getting brave. In the middle of September, one of my groundskeepers, Javier, was working on one of the greens late into the day. He had his Lab puppy with him and it was running around on the fairway. Five minutes later he hears the puppy yelping and goes over to find that a mountain lion has him by the back of his neck. He got after the cat and protected the dog, but the mountain lion turned on him and he was forced to kill it. I made sure that everyone on my staff saw the corpse so they know the difference between a mountain lion and a bobcat. They’re getting that brave,” Holt said.
Holt estimates that up to two-dozen people who play regularly at Bolado have seen mountain lions.
“Few days go by where the members don’t see one. And all along the fence line, up above the course, we find the carcasses [of their prey],” Hold said.
It’s getting to be a nightly occurrence. If employees use a meat smoker during the day, the smell drifts into a nearby arroyo about three miles above the course and by nightfall the cougars sneak down and get into the trash cans. Some have spotted them licking the smoker.
During the past summer, Holt said he saw one of the males actually sleeping in the top of an oak tree out on the course during the day. He said that he stayed nearby making sure it didn’t attempt to attack one of the golfers.
“They’re certainly not scared about coming onto the course. We regularly find the prints of the mothers and their young in the sand traps.”
The Department of Fish and Game says that mountain lions are not an immediate threat to this area. They have estimated the mountain lion population for the state of California at somewhere between 4,000 to 6,000 cats, but the number is just a guesstimate and the density estimates for the different habitat types vary from zero to 10 lions per 100 square miles.
There are no statewide mountain lion studies being conducted to determine whether the population is increasing or decreasing. Without such a study, Fish and Game said it is hard to tell what is happening with the population.
“There are no surveys for lions in this area,” said Jeff Cann, associate wildlife biologist with the Department of Fish and Game’s Monterey office. “I deal more with Monterey, but I know they seem to be getting more calls there. Part of that is people moving into the lions’ habitats.”
Fish and Game studies show that indications, such as depredation, attacks on people, and predation on prey populations seem to have peaked in 1996, then decreased somewhat and have remained stable during the past several years.
South San Benito County rancher Charlie McCullough said that he definitely thinks the mountain lion population is increasing. He said that several of his neighbors and he have all seen the cats and more often than they used to.
“The Department of Fish and Game has previously reported that the mountain lion population is only 4,000 to 6,000 cats, but that figure was back from the 1980s, McCullough said. “Since then the population has doubled if not quadrupled. The population has no means of controlling itself. It’s gotten to the point where ranchers have started killing the cats when they find them.”
Mountain lions are an endangered species and as such are protected under federal laws.
“It’s hell that we have to break the law to protect our families,” McCullough said.
The Department of Fish and Game will issue depredation permits to eliminate mountain lions, if an attack is reported and verified. The permit gives the user a 10-day window to deal with the problem.
Department of Fish and Game spokesman Steve Martarano said that there is no reason to believe that the numbers of cats have changed.
“We’re seeing more cats in urban areas now; wherever you see deer it’s likely you’ll see lions, too. Usually it’s about two or three in a 100-mile radius,” Martarano said. “They’ll usually stick around as long as there is a food source.”
San Benito County Agricultural Commissioner Paul Madalich said that the ranchers he’s talked to have all indicated that they have seen increases, which contradicts what the department of fish and game is reporting.
Cann confirmed that the calls are getting more frequent, but added that many of the calls they are receiving are from urban areas that were not previously urban.
The two male lions Holt reported seeing were estimated to be around 200 pounds. He estimated that the female he’s seen is about 100 pounds. Fish and Game said that the males are often more than eight feet long and generally weigh between 130 and 150 pounds – easily twice the weight of a large German Shepard dog. Likewise, adult females can be seven feet long and weigh between 65 and 90 pounds.
Holt said that he’s talked to neighboring ranchers who have reported that the tomcats often take calves from pastures, but will occasionally go after a full-size cow.
“Lions probably see us a lot more than we see them,” Cann said. “With a statement like that you’d think we were in danger, but they stay away from us; we’re not their primary prey.”
In Southern California the animals are more in danger. There are more development and urbanization encroaching into the wild, and consequently mountain lions are more likely to have contact with humans, Caan said.
Mountain lions rarely attack humans, and tend to avoid people. In fact, according to Fish and Game there have only been 15 verified mountain lion attacks on humans in California since 1890, six of them fatal. There has never been a report of an unprovoked attack on a human in San Benito County. Two people were previously killed in an attack in Morgan Hill in 1909.
Humans and mountain lions will need to find ways to cohabitate since it is illegal to hunt them and moving them is not an option. Fish and Game reports that capturing a wild animal that is accustomed to traveling great distances – mountain lions are thought to have a hunting radius of about 100 miles – and confining it to a relatively small enclosure is not a humane option.
Fish and Game receives hundreds of reported mountain lion sightings annually, but fewer than 3 percent turn out to be verified public safety threats. During 2002 there were 13 mountain lions killed for public safety reasons. During 2001 there were 14.
Mountain lions are typically thought to be solitary and elusive, but there are no explanations for why mountain lions occasionally abandon instinctive wariness of humans. In fact, statistically speaking, a person is more likely to be struck by lightning than be attacked by a mountain lion, Fish and Game said.
People who live in mountain lion habitat – which includes most of the hilly country surrounding Morgan Hill and Gilroy, and practically anywhere in central and southern San Benito County – can take precautions to reduce their risk of encountering a lion. By deer-proofing the landscape, homeowners can avoid attracting a lion’s main food source. Removing dense vegetation from around the home and installing outdoor lighting will make it difficult for mountain lions to approach unseen.
Allowing pets to roam free, regardless of their size, is discouraged.
Paul Hain, a grower in Tres Pinos, said that he’s also had problems with wild cats in the past. He previously raised chickens in outdoor pens and occasionally the chickens would get into the trees and become easy targets. Hain also had problems with pens getting broken into or dug beneath by lions.
“We’ve reinforced our pens and are generally making it hard for the cats to graze. If they can’t find food, they’ll move on. With urbanization mountain lions aren’t afraid of people anymore, but they’re not stupid; they help to keep certain populations down,” Hain said.
For more information visit the department of fish and game Web site: www.dfg.ca.gov/news/issues/lion.htm.
