Locals experience mountain lion scares

Make yourself look big

[  by Mark Reaman  ]

What seems to be an unusual number of mountain lion encounters in the north end of the valley are popping up as several people have posted their experiences on social media sites.

Sightings in the last couple of weeks have been reported on the Woods Walk above Crested Butte, the Baxter Gulch Trail, the Gunsight Connector and even on the trails located on Crested Butte Mountain Resort.

Neil Watko was on a hike with his wife, Sandy McNamara, a couple Saturdays ago when they ran into a lion. “My wife and I encountered a male mountain lion running to attack us while hiking down the Westside trail towards Happy Hour,” he explained in an email. “I stepped forward and raised my hands while shouting at it to stop it from jumping on me. I was face to face yelling at it for 5-10 minutes while it was in the pounce position 10-feet away from me. I called 911 and slowly walked out of the woods to an open field. It stalked us stopping at the edge of the woods near the top of Summit Drive. We escaped into the neighborhood safely to our car. I reported the incident to both the Crested Butte Police and the Colorado Parks and Wildlife.”

Last Thursday an encounter at the top of Gunsight Connector was described on Facebook. A local man said he and his wife were riding up to the trail at about 5 p.m., “when a big lion magically appeared less than one foot from her (right at the Lando sign).” She put her bike between her and the lion but it was aggressive. They both put their bikes over their heads and yelled and after about 30 seconds it walked away into the woods.

Experts say the best thing to do if you run into a mountain lion is to slowly back away, yell forcefully and make yourself look as big and intimidating as possible. Throwing stones is also advised.

Local wildlife officials have said that while rare, encounters are not uncommon, especially at dusk or dawn. We do live in their habitat after all, so be prepared.