Last evening I went running around 6:30 on the Military Reserve trails and ended up with a hour and a half adrenaline pumping, endorphin chugging run. Don't ask me why I decide to go running then, but I just did it. I ended up all the way over by Camels Back park and then headed back to my car which was at the Cottonwood Creek Trailhead over by Saint Lukes hospital; I estimate it was around a ten mile run. It was dark when I got back to the Reserve trails complex and I ended up scaring and being scared by a small herd of nine deer when I was coming down a series of switch backs on the Ridge Crest Trail, or maybe the deer where scared by something besides me, since they ran across my path in front of me, instead of running away like they normally do. I got to the bottom of the hill and started pounding my way back along the home stretch to the car, in the failing light I could barely see more than a few feet in front of myself, my tired legs and brain focused entirely upon getting through the last half mile with out tripping and breaking my neck; it was getting very dark out. Upon reaching my car I was happy to be finished after such a long hard run and wandered around for a minute, drinking water out of my camelbak. That is when I heard it. A rustling in the dense arboreal foliage; the sound of something large trying to move stealthily through the undergrowth. Some what unnerved but still high from endorphin/adrenaline cocktail coursing through my viens; I stood for a moment considering going and seeing what was making all the commotion. Instead I took off my backpack, got my key, opened up the car and got in. I turned the car on and flipped on the lights. A pair of green eyes shone back at me not more than 15 feet away in the woods. The eyes where very similar to a cats eyes when you shine a flashlight on them and they reflect the light back; the eyes where bright green and looked quite large, about 2 or 3 inches apart. Needless to say I was pretty freaked out; I got out of there as quick as possible. I think that the owner of those big green eyes was probably a mountain lion and it had maybe been stalking me, for how long I don't know, but even being stalked a little bit by a cougar is longer than I would like. Later I looked up some stuff about mountain lions in Boise and came up with this.
"The frequency of mountain lion reports in the vicinity of the capture area suggests that the lion had been making a pretty good living among the homes along the Boise River, likely feeding on deer, raccoons and probably domestic cats." (Idaho Fish and Game)
"Since last summer, dozens of mountain lion sightings have been reported to Fish and Game, many of them from the area between the Warm Springs Mesa subdivision and Parkcenter Boulevard on the opposite side of the Boise River. "Lions are frequent visitors to the valley, and most simply pass through on their way to other areas," (regional conservation educator Evin Oneale )
"Although the recent valley plague of pet disappearances blamed on mountain lions has, for the moment, dissipated, residents are still reporting sightings of both lions and lion tracks in the Ketchum area." By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer
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2 comments:
Spooky! No need to worry if it was a big cat. Even during periods of extreme food shortages they won't go after adult humans. If that cat wanted you, it would have had no problem taking you out while on your run. Also, big cats won't go after pets if their human companions are around. I've backpacked alone through the wilderness amongst many hungry, big cats for days without altercation. So, just to be clear, there's no need to carry weapons of any kind in defense of wild animals. The question that need be addressed is why there is an increase in sightings. The quick answer is lack of proper habitat. When we develop public lands and allow ORVs (off road vehicles) into areas where animals live what do you expect? We force animals to leave their homes by taking away what little habitat is left. Support undeveloped public lands, isolated ORV parks and heavy fines against ORV violators. Learn more about our roadless areas.
I totally agree, except about the part about big cats not going after humans considering back in Colorado a person that I went to school with got taken down by a mountain lion while running, he was in my sister's class actually. I totally agree about leaving the wild areas as they are and stop encroaching on the habitats of animals. Developers never seem to think of the consquences of building houses they just look at the bottom line and profits.
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