Mountain lion in Southwest Austin?

[KevinFromTexas]

Yikes. I live about 5 miles from here, though. Still, a mountain lion in Austin?! I'd reconsider riding alone at the Veloway off S. Loop 1.

From the Austin American-Statesman
http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...15mtlions.html

Mountain lion in Southwest Austin?
Wildflower center closes hiking trails, although it says there probably isn't a cougar around.

By Marty Toohey
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Friday, December 15, 2006

First off, it might not have been a mountain lion. Could have been a dog, could have been a bobcat. Studies show that an overwhelming majority of the time, it's not actually a mountain lion.

But then again, it might have been a mountain lion that was spotted Nov. 27 in Southwest Austin near the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The sighting is unconfirmed.

In response, the center temporarily closed its four miles of hiking trails Nov. 29 as a precautionary measure. If there are no more sightings, the trails will probably open in early January, spokeswoman Michelle Bryant said.

Experts with the center and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department say mountain lions, which are also called cougars and pumas, pose minimal danger to humans.

John Young, a mountain lion expert with the wildlife department, said Austin is not a suitable habitat, and "99.9 percent of the time, a mountain lion is going to see a person and go the other way."

A 1991 study analyzing attacks in Canada and the United States, cited in Wildflower pamphlets, found 53 documented attacks by mountain lions over the previous 100 years, nine of which were fatal.

Young gets called to several mountain lion sightings each year. He said he hasn't actually found evidence of one. Usually, he finds dog tracks.

He found no evidence of a mountain lion at the wildflower center, he said, and if one was there, it has probably moved on.

Mark Simmons, an ecologist with the wildflower center, said the possibility that a mountain lion passed through the greenbelts around Austin could be viewed as good news.

"If you've got the predator at the top of the food chain here, it shows the (ecological) system is functioning" in the greenbelts, he said. "Austin should be proud of that."

He added that although attacks have happened, "I think you're more likely to be hit on the head by a coconut than be attacked by a mountain lion."