Then the mountain lion vanished. One moment it was there, the next, it was gone. I hiked back to my truck with all senses on alert but didn't see the lion again. I was lucky. Never wander lion country alone.
Solitary prey is easier to kill.
Despite the fact that these big cats, also called cougars and pumas, are killers, popular support for them is high. The most restrictive, California State Proposition 117, passed in 1990, prohibits the killing of any mountain lion except in the case of an animal that poses a direct threat to people, pets, or livestock. Measures in Oregon and Washington ban hunting with dogs. The favorite bad boy. Mountain lions may have won at the ballot box, but apparently no victory is permanent.