Northern California - Mountain Lions a concern around dublin/pleasanton/castro valley at night?

I've been starting my rides early morning due to the recent heat wave. Around 4am. When I reach the Canyon roads around the Dublin/Castro Valley area...it is still extremely dark(pitch black), and while there is extremely sparse housing along this road...it seems to be heavily vegetated. I've run past quite a few deer along this road at night. I've seen some ridiculously huge..from what appear to be mosquitos as well, lol, but I'm starting to think they were bats now. And while you might laugh at me, I have been startled by sounds of movement in the wooded areas quite a few times. I think it just might be deer...but I'm started to think...where there is prey, there might be predators.

Quick google search has shown rare mountain lion attacks and sightings in this area...around Dublin, Castro Valley, and Pleasanton. And in one of these articles, it says mountain lions are most active at dusk, night, and the early morning. What do you guys think...cause for concern....or just paranoia? I do have a CCW permit and could carry on these rides. Of course a mountain lion attacking from an elevated position isn't enough reaction time to dig in the bag and fire off a round. Not that I would want to kill a mountain lion, as I am a big fan of these majestic creatures.

The general rule for mountain lions is that you can find them anywhere you can find deer. However, if there is plenty of deer, they're likely to leave you alone. I'd be more worried about hitting a raccoon or opossum running out in front of my bike, causing me to crash.

The heatwave will be over soon. In a few days you won't need to ride so early and won't have to worry about mountain lions.

The more important question is - how the hell did you get a CCW in Contra Costa/Alameda county?

And you'd probably shoot a bum who just rolled down the hill because walking was to strenuios.

I'm going to go against my weight weenie nature and say that carrying a gun on rides sounds like great fun. Probably want to reinforce that jersey pocket though.

Also, good thing about Mountain Lion attacks, they always come from the front, with plenty of warning. That way you'll have tons of time to unclip, put the bike down and then unload that clip.

edit: just imagined a cooler scenario where you ride no-hands and shoot while still moving. Don't even need to stop!

Yes, we all ride armed. I've had to shoot two lions in the last week. No one told you?

You need a really big gun too... at least a Desert Eagle .50.

You're more likely to be hit by a drunk driver, hit a deer, get bitten by a rattlesnake, or even hit by lightning, than get attacked by a mountain lion. Don't worry about it.
+1
Deer and squirrels (esp. for those with fewer spokes) are the animals that pose the greatest risk to cyclists in our area. Mountain lions are way down the list of possible hazards.

The more important question is - how the hell did you get a CCW in Contra Costa/Alameda county?

That was exactly my thought. Moving from NV (where obtaining a CCW is relatively easy) to CA I was under the assumption that it was next to impossible to get a permit here. Please explain!

Any chance of getting injured usually causes a mountain lion to break off an attack. Yes, they will attack from the front, regardless of what people might tell you. An archery hunter got one through the mouth as it was sneaking up on his side while he was waiting for his wife to "lighten her load".
Any sharp object poked in it's ribs should usually make the attack stop, as well as pepper spray.
Other animals in the area looking to take down a deer could be coyotes, bobcats, or even people's dogs running loose.

That was exactly my thought. Moving from NV (where obtaining a CCW is relatively easy) to CA I was under the assumption that it was next to impossible to get a permit here. Please explain!

Yes, it is ridiculous, but not necessarily impossible. You really have to "Need" a CCW in order to have one here, not just because you think it would be cool to walk around with a sidearm.

Any way, I don't think it's right. I believe everyone should have the right to be armed at all times. At least everyone with a clean record any way. If anything the difficulty of aquiring a CCW here impedes on our rights given to us in the 2nd amendment.

"There's another train coming! Another train I tell you! Quick, get this train on a different track"




Noooo, it's too late......:trainwreck:






Oh the humanity.

I have never heard of a mountain lion attacking a road cyclist anywhere, ever.
If you are really paranoid about this, I think the only time you would have to be worried is if you get a flat and sitting down to fix it makes you look a sitting duck to the lion.

I've seen lots of coyotes, raccoons, opossums, bobcats, skunks, deer, tule elk, snakes, lizards, and wild pigs and even the occasional fox riding at dusk or at night, especially on my commute route around Calaveras reservoir. But I only think I saw a mountain lion once a few years ago. Big cat with a long tail about 1/4 mile ahead of me crossing the road. A few days later I saw rangers with off road vehicles and rifles in the same area. I stopped and asked them if they were looking for a mountain lion and they said yes, it had been crossing over the hills and dropping down into the eastern edge of Fremont. So I'm pretty sure it was a mountain lion I saw a few nights earlier.

I'm more concerned about the wild pigs though. Big, mean, fast, and stubborn.

-gw_12

I'm still waiting for an explanation of how this will work. Mountain Lions kill people by stalking them and hitting them from behind. So if a huge cat manages to catch you, pull you off your bike, ride you to the ground and is you know, biting you, how long do you have to unholster and defend yourself with a handgun?

Your best bet, in all seriousness, if you're afraid of mountain lions is to put 2 reflectors on the back of your helmet in aproximation of animal eyes. If the cat sees the eyes they will not attack.

Best bet is to not have a heart attack on a trail. Or not to hang out next to a guy who had a heart attack and is being eaten by a mountain lion.

"8 January. (Attacks #12 and 13; death #6) 35-year-old Mark Jeffrey Reynolds, an amateur mountain bike racer, was reported as being killed by a mountain lion sometime after 1:25 p.m. at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in southern Orange County. His bicycle was later found with the chain unbroken, but off the sprockets. Jim Amormino, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department, speculated that Mark was attacked as he was fixing his bike.

However, the autopsy results apparently show no damage to his neck at all, or any damage indicative of an actual attack that caused his death.

The speculation that fits the facts best is that Mark had a heart attack while riding his bike, fell off his bike, causing the chain to fall off the sprockets. The cougar then simply scavenged him while he was dead on the ground. Unfortunately, as is typically the case for lion feeding, the heart was missing, so we'll never know for sure if he did have a heart attack."
http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/lion_attacks_ca.html

+1
Deer and squirrels (esp. for those with fewer spokes) are the animals that pose the greatest risk to cyclists in our area. Mountain lions are way down the list of possible hazards.

But isn't this a bit like the crashing airplane statistics? It's more likely you'll sprain your ankle than crash in an airplane, but once the airplane is gonna crash, you're pretty much dead.

"There's another train coming! Another train I tell you! Quick, get this train on a different track"
Noooo, it's too late......:trainwreck:
Oh the humanity.

+1.

Don't get paranoid. Mountain lions are very very shy, they will do everything possible to avoid human contact. As a nature photographer (amateur) I wish I could get the opportunity to shoot one, with a camera, in the wild. I can only count two sightings so far, one zipping across the road at night close to Rocky Mountain N.P. in Colorado and one in the Sierra across a ravine.
Lions attacking humans are very rare, either because they are defending offsprings or because they confused a runner with a deer (and they will attack from behind or mostly from a tree above). If you see a lion face it, make the kind of noise a deer would never make, and never run from it, that's what deer do.
I actually think you are safer at night, I do not remember deer carrying lights. :rolleyes:

Nice to some diversity in norcal! Issuing them only to those in "need" would be step in the right direction for CA. IMO it's more restrictive than that in this state

Yes, it is ridiculous, but not necessarily impossible. You really have to "Need" a CCW in order to have one here, not just because you think it would be cool to walk around with a sidearm.

Nice to some diversity in norcal! Issuing them only to those in "need" would be step in the right direction for CA. IMO it's more restrictive than that in this state

That's because California's definition of "need" is way off base in that regard.

I've seen lots of coyotes, raccoons, opossums, bobcats, skunks, deer, tule elk, snakes, lizards, and wild pigs and even the occasional fox riding at dusk or at night, especially on my commute route around Calaveras reservoir. But I only think I saw a mountain lion once a few years ago. Big cat with a long tail about 1/4 mile ahead of me crossing the road. A few days later I saw rangers with off road vehicles and rifles in the same area. I stopped and asked them if they were looking for a mountain lion and they said yes, it had been crossing over the hills and dropping down into the eastern edge of Fremont. So I'm pretty sure it was a mountain lion I saw a few nights earlier.

I'm more concerned about the wild pigs though. Big, mean, fast, and stubborn.

-gw_12

Yeah I saw a pair of foxes on Palomares in the middle of the night on the DMD staff ride. Wasn't sure if I was hallucinating or not at the time. :lol:

Yeah I saw a pair of foxes on Palomares in the middle of the night on the DMD staff ride. Wasn't sure if I was hallucinating or not at the time. :lol:
Yes, lots of wild critters out there, just not seen too often. Saw a mountain lion and her two cubs just outside Walnut Creek and we had a fox that regularly showed up in our neighborhood in San Ramon. Also had a bobcat wander by while we were at a rest stop near Dublin. I've seen those a few other times too, but usually just a blur of fur as they ran.

I'm with the folks here who say that mountain lions are not that interested in us as a food source. There's bound to be easier prey for them than a large person on top of a bike.

Riding along the coast as I do, I've had two mountain lion sightings here in the last two years. One was a lion about 50 yards away, munching on something (probably rabbit). That one didn't scare me too much, as the cat was already feeding.

The other sighting was just last week, going up Tunitas at 8:30am. He was in the shrubs about 20 yards away. Moving away from me. I was spooked for the next 10 minutes on the ride, imaging the dude stalking me from behind. Then I forgot about it.

Maybe it's just me, but thinking of carrying firearms on a bike ride in case of mountain lion attacks just does not enter into my thinking process....

Well I was actually contemplating it since I was riding alone in the dark at that time. I'm more concerned with criminals rather than I am with mountain lions. I must admit, riding on a pitch black canyon road with all kinds of noises around you does spook you. I guess that's what got me thinking of mountain lions. For all I know, one was watching me. I've seen a deer before on this path, but I saw like three of them this time. A mountain lion could get up to 8 feet long and 150 to 198 pounds from what I've read.

I'm jealous of all of you that have seen lions. I worked in the woods for years (USFS and getting a wildlife biology degree) and have lived in the mountains for the last 10 years, and I've never seen one.

OP Denis Menchov has been permanently banned.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=388447&highlight=banned

Well I didn't see that coming...

He fired his gun while riding... missed the lion but got his own foot.

I'm jealous of all of you that have seen lions. I worked in the woods for years (USFS and getting a wildlife biology degree) and have lived in the mountains for the last 10 years, and I've never seen one.

I've only seen two. Both while out hunting, and the second time it was a small young one very close by, which made me nervous because I wasn't seeing "Momma". At San Luis Reservoir I realized that I was walking through a broken up deer skeleton on a dirt road, and the side of that road was an embankment higher than my head.

I've only seen two. Both while out hunting, and the second time it was a small young one very close by, which made me nervous because I wasn't seeing "Momma". At San Luis Reservoir I realized that I was walking through a broken up deer skeleton on a dirt road, and the side of that road was an embankment higher than my head.

I hunt up there all the time - Dinosaur Point and Upper Cottonwood. I've seen just about every California indigenous critter there you can imagine at one time or another, including elk. But never a mountain lion.

They've probably seen me, though. :)

Anytime you need a hunting partner, feel free to look me up. Mine have a tendency to marry and then move out of state to wherever their wife originally came from. :(

Eric (long time no see), hang in there. I was in same boat until this last year -- no sightings at all. Then I saw a whole family cross the road, and a few weeks after that one loping along the road. They are there. Go out riding in a deer suit, you'll find them faster. ;-)