Cat and human encounters are increasing, the basis of much discussion and theorizing, but Parks said there are no definite answers. “But mostly we are taking their habitat from them as fast as we can.”In recent years “strange things have been happening,” with mountain lions reported in New England and within Chicago’s city limits, a dilemma for police. “Yes, the cat wound up being killed, it was just a mess” and caused a public outcry.Aside from size, Parks said the only difference between female and male lions is “some slight discoloration of pubic hair.... But no one is going to get that close” to determine the lion’s gender.Adult lions can jump vertically 22 feet “from a dead stop... no guy you ever chased over a fence can do that.” Or leap far distances horizontally: “No gang banger can jump 45 feet... and a lion can bound up to 16 feet carrying a deer in their mouth.”Mountain lions can short sprint up to 50 mph, walk many miles at about 10 miles per hour, and will swim to reach game. Like officers, lions have “a patrol area they stake out,” but in the cat’s case if can cover 200 square miles. “They don’t like other cats coming onto their turfs,” which can complicate relocation efforts.Parks said if a cat is seen in a particular area, chances are good it will not stay long unless food or comfort is available. Cats can also be spotted repeatedly as they travel their patrol area. It’s a different situation when a person walks outside their home and there’s a cat in the yard, and the issue of shooting or not shooting is controversial.General law enforcement training does not include such situations, often accompanied by “fear, hysteria, myths and attitudes. You’ll deal with a lot of people,” ranging from those who “absolutely do not want you to kill that cat” and fail to report sightings to those - such as parents of small children - who want the cat destroyed immediately, no matter how far the animal has moved on.Parks said when it comes to law enforcement lion response, “There is no single solution to any of this, no one size fits all when it comes to shoot and not to shoot.... For every rule I come up with, you can come up with a half-dozen what ifs?”
Mountain Lion Foundation briefs personnel on cat encounters
April 01, 2009
Santa Paula Police Department
With persistent sightings of mountain lions in residential areas and last month’s fatal shooting of a puma cub, the Santa Paula Police Department didn’t hesitate accepting the offer of a briefing by the Mountain Lion Foundation.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesWith persistent sightings of mountain lions in residential areas and last month’s fatal shooting of a puma cub, the Santa Paula Police Department didn’t hesitate accepting the offer of a briefing by the Mountain Lion Foundation. The briefing for SPPD supervisors was held March 19.Chief Steve MacKinnon said the session provided officers with information “so they can better field questions from citizens” as they distribute cat safety brochures, as well as to provide a “better understanding of what the issues are and, if they have to make the tough decisions,” an awareness of alternatives.The SPPD was criticized following the February 17 shooting of a 6-week-old 15-pound cub after the cat, and four other lions of varying ages and sizes the cub was traveling with, were spotted repeatedly in the Dana Drive area over a four-day period. “My guess is there are a couple” of juvenile lions that MLF Executive Director Tim Dunbar said were moving through the area “looking for their territories.”But the first report “was not a common sighting; the way it was described” it did not fit the profile of females traveling only with their cubs. State Fish and Game, noted Dunbar, “are still trying to figure out what was going on with that.”Field volunteer Robin Parks conducted the session, also attended by a City of Glendale senior parks ranger. “They have some mountain lion issues too,” said Parks, a retired NCIS special agent, who noted he particularly enjoys conducting educational sessions for law enforcement personnel.“The hard truth of the matter is you guys are often the ones who get the 911 call that’s there a mountain lion in the yard and it has ‘Fluffy’ in its mouth,” and at times there are instances when there is no recourse but to shoot the lion. “You have to make a decision on what to do,” and Parks said the briefing is designed to help to gauge what might be suitable for any given encounter.Standardized procedures are not shared between law enforcement agencies. “There’s a problem on what to do,” when to use deadly force, “walk away, or have to drop a hammer on the cat.”
