Mountain Lions, Pumas, Lions, and Porcupines oh my, just how much of a danger are they to your self reliance?

  I don't like the camera on my phone, I don't like my phone either, I want a "flip" phone, one that only texts and acts like a telephone. I have a Samsung Galaxy S6, it has a million apps on it, I'm not really an apps person, I use a guitar chord finder app and an app to track my grandson, I got it when he was living in Florida, two blocks from the massacre in Orlando when it happened, at least I will be able to find his phone if something happens. Back to my phone, I cannot see what I am taking a picture of if I am in the sunshine, I kind of guess that the subject is in the screen, what good is that? I bring this up because I (as regular readers know) I drink coffee on my riverside deck every morning, I keep my camera (phone) handy, I want to take a picture of a Mountain Lion if one passes by.

A mother and cub, they are beautiful animals, also strong,
fast, and silent.

Will I see one? I'm not sure, it's possible, years ago one was spotted crossing the Antioch Bridge, so sure I may, I certainly want to. They are all over the state, I'm sure one is on at least one of these islands, they follow the Feral Pigs down from the Diablo Range of Mountains, or follow the river North from the Sierra Nevada's where Pine Flat is near Fresno 250 miles from the Bay Area. I have seen two Lions in my lifetime in California, the first one was running across a dirt road I was hiking on in the foothills. He/she was hightailing it very rapidly and did not even know I was there, it must have been chasing a jackrabbit or similar fast prey. That incident happened so fast it didn't faze me either, I didn't slow down or react in any way, I just kept hiking. The second was slightly more hair-raising, I am not a firearms carrier, so I did not have one with me, indeed it never crosses my mind to ever carry one. This big cat was on a trail I was hiking on, just over a small hill, I saw the back of his head. He turned and looked at me, as I was at him, he was about 50 yards away, I stopped and straightened up as tall as I could get. ( This link will lead you to more information on Mountain Lions) He looked at me for what seemed like 10 minutes but was, in fact, more like 10 seconds, he turned his head and ran away from me directly down the trail, then abruptly turning into the tree-covered hills on each side of the path, I did not see him again. I encountered a lot of large animals in the wild, the scariest of them all was a bobcat. I've seen a lot of bears, two puma's, a wolf, and many others. That Bobcat, however, was defiant, more so than the wolf we had seen 30 years ago. The Bobcat was on a trail beside a lake I was hiking, he was about 25 yards ahead of me when he saw me his ears went down, and he took a defensive position. His legs were slightly bent as if he was ready to jump on me, his ears were pinned back, that I recognize as a sign of aggression. I stopped in my tracks, I know enough not to turn my back on any wild animal, not to run from it and not to challenge it needlessly. I stood there staring at him staring at me, I was thinking of what I was going to do, I suspected it had cubs somewhere close by. Suddenly the small cat leaped up and spun around in one motion, rapidly running up a hill and out of sight, it made me happy beyond words.

Mother Bobcat and Cubs, of all the animals in the woods, this and
the Wolverine is in my mind the biggest threats.

  Mountain Lions are common in the state of California, many are sighted throughout the year in residential areas, one was captured last month in Golden Gate Park, that's right in San Francisco. They will stalk people, attack pets, and livestock, being an actual danger they fit well in the wildness but don't make good neighbors in the suburbs of cities. When one is spotted people call 911, it's then up to the police to "do something quickly", as if they don't have enough to do. The do something quickly is normally sedation and relocation, I have to hand it to the police, very few are killed in the process, it appears if they are not violent they are spared. The big cats prey on small animals, pets, raccoons, squirrels, birds and Wild Hogs. They will descend from the mountains in search of water and food, sometimes following the pigs when they are on the move. If they preyed only on the pigs we would be in high cotton, but unfortunately, they are a danger to almost every small animal, I don't know if porcupine is on their menu, however. (Link to more on Mountain Lions, including the relocation methods.)
  Mountain Lions are able to leap 15 feet high and as far as 40 feet, if one is crouched and aimed at you and you're not 40 feet away, you have a problem. Their diet consist of deer, mice, squirrels, raccoons, rabbits, beaver and alas porcupines, I am sure a number of birds appeal to them also. There are an estimated 30,000 in the western U.S. the Florida Panther is terminally endangered most likely disappearing within the next 20 years or less, there are fewer than 100 in the wilds of Florida.

The Florida Panther and Cub, look at those spots, maybe we
can save them from extinction.

The Mountain Lion range is wide, it is the largest habitat of any mammal in the western hemisphere, found from Canada to Argentina, in other words everywhere. In North Amerca alone they inhabit from British Columbia and Alberta to Texas and to the border of Mexico and California, they actually exist south of the border as well. There are some populations east of the Mississippi River, I suspect in search of wild pigs and deer. They live alone, they are territorial actively avoiding other Puma's with the exception of during the mating season, as with all other animals they are very active during that period of time. The range they claim varies in size, it can be the size of a few square miles up to 400 square miles, males claim larger domains than the females do. They will bury what remains of their latest meal, returning later to dine again when hunger pains arrive. They mate from December to March, common time for a lot of animals and large birds, they are not restricted to that timeframe alone, they actually mate year around. The Gestation is 82-96 days resulting in the birth of 2-4 kittens, during times of plenty of food and water the litter size is large, during times of drought and scarcity fewer kittens are born. The young cats remain with their mother until they are about 2 years old. Habitat loss and poaching are the biggest threats to Mountain Lions. Young Mountain Lions have spots, mature Lions do not, they are pretty animals. (Link to the latest Cougar captured in San Francisco)
  Once in a while we hear of a Mountain Lion attacking a human, it is terrible when it happens, they can inflict great harm in seconds, they will stalk us. Many are spotted in populated areas throughout the year, we have a fairly good handle on that situation, we should, they have had to be reckoned with since we have occupied North America. When they are run off by dogs or humans they have a tendency to run fast and far, they will stay away for a while.

Porcupine is on the menu, a guy has to be hungry.

The younger Lions are the ones that are the pest, they have not secured a habitat or it's boundaries, in their hunt for such they end up strolling through a backyard, if a pet is out there, well it sometimes does not end up well for the smaller animal.
  Thank you for reading and sharing, leave a comment or story I'd like to hear them.
jacquesandkate  emergencykitsplus.com