The incident occurred in the Santa Rita Mountains south of Tucson, a place I’ve hiked before when I had two golden retrievers, the often-mentioned Molly (still with us) and the rambunctious and uber-friendly Hana, now in doggy heaven.
Here’s some details of the mountain lion/hiker confrontation:
The hiker was walking with his dog on a trail Saturday near Madera Canyon when he saw that he was being followed by a mountain lion, said Heidi Schewel, a spokeswoman for Coronado National Forest. It’s possible that the lion saw the dog as prey, she said.As the mountain lion got closer, the hiker “did everything that he was supposed to do” — shouting and making himself look bigger by waving his arms, Schewel said.When the lion didn’t stop, the hiker fired two warning shots into the air with his gun. When the lion kept coming, he shot at it, and this time it ran away.Because the lion had lost its fear of people and had become “an obvious threat to human safety,” officers had little choice but to kill it, Schewel said.
Read the rest of the story at the Arizona Daily Star.
Read what I have to say about hikers encountering mountain lions, including safety tips.
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