When Deer Run from Bears and Mountain Lions…

August 18, 2011 By John Soares 10 Comments

If you’re out hiking, and you see deer running fast, could they be running from a bear or a mountain lion?

Mountain Lions and Bears on Shasta-Trinity National Forest

I’ve seen several bears this summer, most recently near Chipmunk Lake below the Pacific Crest Trail in Shasta-Trinity National Forest where I hiked from my nearby dispersed camping site. I also wonder if I was near a mountain lion: when I see deer running fast, I wonder if they have a good reason.

I wrote recently about my writer’s camping retreat in the Trinity Divide mountains west of Mount Shasta, which ended yesterday afternoon with Thai food in Mount Shasta.

Bears On My Hike to Chipmunk Lake near the Pacific Crest Trail

On Tuesday I took a six-mile hike to Chipmunk Lake, mostly on old dirt roads, with the last three-quarters of a mile cross-country. It was on this last stretch, while climbing near the edge of a meadow, that I saw a deer sprinting uphill. I watched the deer and immediately wondered why it was running.

And then I spied a very large black bear on the far edge of the meadow, about 100 feet from me. He (she?) hadn’t seen me yet. I first scouted for cubs as I took off my day-pack and pulled out my camera, and as I did so I noticed a large brown lump 10 feet from the black bear, partially obscured by bushes. And then it moved — another large “black” bear.

And as always happens when I’m trying to take a bear picture, the subjects quickly shuffled behind some bushes, headed in the same direction I was going to Chipmunk Lake. (I never did see them again, although I kept a very watchful eye.)

Chipmunk Lake below the Pacific Crest Trail in the Trinity Divide Mountains west of Mount Shasta.

My Predawn Walk in Lake Shastina — With a Mountain Lion?

Hikers rarely encounter mountain lions on the trail. But should they stand tall or run? — Mountain lion photo courtesy of Stephen Lea and Wikimedia Commons.

This morning I’m doing my usual at my Lake Shastina home: walking in the pre-dawn dark with my coffee in the moonlight, watching the stars and hoping for meteors and fireballs.

And then I hear noise, and then I see two deer running very fast past me. Now they could have been running for any number of reasons, but my mind leapt to large animals that would scare them.

We don’t have bears in Lake Shastina, but we sure do have mountain lions. I walked at a fast pace in as bipedal a fashion as possible back to my house, all the while looking left and right.

Your Thoughts?

OK, it probably wasn’t a mountain lion that spooked the deer, but still… What would you have done?

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Comments

Mike Carlson says
August 18, 2011 at 9:40 am
Even though I get out in nature several times a week, I never tire of hearing other people’s experiences. A bear sighting is always exciting! I saw a pair of bald eagles arguing with an osprey while kayaking on Whiskeytown lake on Tuesday morning.
Who knows what spooked the deer, but better to be on the safe side where mountain lions are concerned.
Mmm I can smell the scent of the woods from up by you just from memory.
Reply
- John Soares says
  August 18, 2011 at 10:30 am
  I love seeing bears. I don’t get afraid, just excited and very vigilant. The first thing I do is look for cubs; that’s the one sign that I could be in a dangerous situation.
  Reply
ulogoni says
August 18, 2011 at 8:05 pm
Although bear attacks are rare to begin with, when it comes to black bears the males attack much more frequently than mothers with cubs.
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- John Soares says
  August 19, 2011 at 9:38 am
  Great article! Thanks for sharing it with us.
  Reply
Eric Soares says
August 19, 2011 at 5:13 pm
You did the right thing with the mountain lion by getting away from what you perceived as a possible dangerous situation. If your intuition is telling you to skedaddle, then skedaddle. I don’t know a lot about bears except I know they can run a hell of a lot faster than a human can and they’re really strong and have big claws and teeth. I respect bears and keep my distance.
Deer run for a lot of reasons. Often they run back and forth at great speed just for the fun of it, especially younger deer. A deer can outrun a noisy bear, but not always outrun a stealthy mountain lion.
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- John Soares says
  August 21, 2011 at 9:05 pm
  My intuition didn’t say this is definitely a mountain lion, but it did say that it’s not a usual occurrence for a deer to sprint like that in the dark, even if there was a moon. The prudent action was to assume the worst and act accordingly.
  Reply
John Hunter says
August 20, 2011 at 10:10 am
It makes sense to be wary. Nature has risks we sometimes forget. My guess is the deer were not spooked by a cat, but you never know. I was spooked quite a bit by a deer I spooked walking down the North Rim of the grand canyon – it took off very fast. It then seemed to realize, what I was scarred by that little thing?, and stopped.
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- John Soares says
  August 21, 2011 at 9:03 pm
  John, I agree it probably wasn’t a mountain lion that spooked the deer. But it still definitely seemed the prudent thing to get inside the house pronto.
  Reply
Jason says
August 21, 2011 at 5:58 pm
I would have been pretty spooked too! Especially since they stalk their prey… a little creepy!
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