flagstaff newspaper. so you want a deer herd in the 'hood?

[biglakejake]

5 hours ago • ERIC BETZ Sun Staff Reporter

(3) Comments

Coyote Springs resident Roman Lewicky went to take his puppy out early on the icy cold morning of Dec. 27. He stepped outside to a commotion.

The crows were cawing in the trees and the young German shepherd was upset. He stepped back inside and told his wife, Puka, that he’d be going for a ski instead. He suggested she could check out the commotion.

The crows led her to a fresh mountain lion deer kill. The heart and lungs had been eaten, but the intestines were still nearby, filled with fresh grass.

“That morning was 17 degrees and nothing was frozen,” she said. “This kill didn’t happen in the middle of the night.”

As she called her neighbors to alert them, she found out about a number of other recent deer kills in her neighborhood, Coyote Springs, which sits just south of The Peaks Senior Living Community. One neighbor said they’d had multiple deer kills in their yard. Another neighbor had actually seen the lion twice.

An Arizona Game and Fish official told her no staff was available to come out because everyone was on vacation, but advised her to call back.

Lewicky called a friend, a local expert in mountain lions, and had him come out to examine the kill. He showed her that the lion had walked around her garage, house and barn, where they have animals. He suggested some precautions, like not letting children play outside by themselves.

ATTACKS ON HUMANS RARE

But Paul Beier, a regents professor at Northern Arizona University and leading national expert on mountain lions, said the kills shouldn’t trouble residents too much.

“It’s not at all alarming by itself,” Beier said. “(Mountain lions) kill deer and they put them places to come back to eat them over the course of four or five days.”

Beier said that residents should be cautious when viewing lion kills in what he referred to as the lion’s “kitchen” as the animal is likely nearby watching its dinner. But still, he said he’d likely return with a friend to check out the kill, as a lesson in nature.

Beier did the first comprehensive study of mountain lion fatalities in the United States and Canada. He found that in 100 years, only 10 people were killed and 53 attacked.

“They avoid us most of the time, but there have always been reports of attacks,” he said. “It happens. It’s always been rare and it’s still rare.”

When asked what a resident should do if confronted with a rare face-to-face lion interaction, Beier said, “Myself, I would take a picture.”

A game officer did eventually come out to Lewicky’s home, but not until the snow had melted. She provided him with a haunch from the deer that she’d kept in the freezer. The officer told her that if there was another deer kill, they’d come out to track the animal.

KEEP DOGS ON A LEASH

A rash of human-lion encounters near Mount Elden in 2001, including reported attacks on unleashed dogs, prompted fear in residents and pushed Game and Fish to hunt down and kill two area lions. That move ended with a lion “memorial” attended by 100 people. Some offered prayers and smoke to the lion’s spirit.

Kim Crumbo of the Grand Canyon Wildlands Council said that spotting mountain lion activity isn’t too unusual in northern Arizona. He worked as a wildlife coordinator at Grand Canyon National Park for 20 years and said that although attacks are very rare, they are possible. He used to have to go into the schools and talk to kids about the potential dangers when a lion was spotted near Grand Canyon Village.

“It’s sort of like living in Phoenix — you don’t go out at night by yourself,” Crumbo said.

He said concerned residents should keep their dogs on a leash and walk with a friend. Children should be kept a close eye on in the woods. Still, the only lion-associated fatality in northern Arizona has been a biologist studying the carcass of a plague-infested lion — the biologist was killed by the plague.

A study done by a U.S. Geological Survey scientist in Flagstaff found that lions here split their kills nearly evenly between elk and deer, with a few small mammals thrown in. That study managed to collar 10 lions locally.

“It’s just part of living around the Peaks,” Crumbo said, adding that he’s found a lion’s deer kill in his own yard. “It’s just part of nature. Killing a deer is not abnormal behavior, that’s what they do.”

A bad sign from a lion would be if it’s not afraid of a human, he added.

A HUB FOR WILDLIFE

Coyote Springs resident Ken Lamm says he found out about the lion from the Lewickys, but hasn’t been too troubled by the predator’s presence. He did say his nephew was concerned about being outside at night while they were stargazing recently.

Lamm said the neighborhood has long been a hub of wildlife, with its own herd of deer and elk, plus foxes and coyotes. He recently spotted a herd of 100 elk passing through, which eventually appeared in a photo in the Daily Sun as they crossed Highway 180.

“We feel very lucky because there’s a lot of wildlife out here,” Lamm said.

Eric Betz can be reached at 556-2250 or ebetz@azdailysun.com.

 

[DesertBull]

A rash of human-lion encounters near Mount Elden in 2001, including reported attacks on unleashed dogs, prompted fear in residents and pushed Game and Fish to hunt down and kill two area lions. That move ended with a lion memorial attended by 100 people. Some offered prayers and smoke to the lions spirit.

 

 

 

I can imagine what kind of smoke they offered the lion spirit. Im surprised they were willing to share the hippy spinache with it.

[AZP&Y]

What about the peyote buttons? LOL

[120carp]

Iv'e taken a class with Professor Paul Beier at NAU. This guy really knows his mountain lions. No wonder I haven't been seeing the deer in this neighborhood anymore.

[AZLance]

"An Arizona Game and Fish official told her no staff was available to come out because everyone was on vacation, but advised her to call back."

 

I couldnt even make stuff up this good...

 

P.S. Sorry Tony Mandile, I still can't find the special bashers forum...

[elkhunter]

Paul Beier was my professer at NAU, the guy knows lions better than anyone! Funny to see that if he was face to face with a lion he would take a pic, lion attacks are rare as rare can be! More ppl have won the lottery than been attacked by lions

[MT_Sourdough]

Attacks are not that rare at least not where I am from, Western Montana. We have had several conflicts between humans and cats, but despite being tough mofos, they are scaredy cats. One 9 year old was attacked and his 13 year old brother fought the cat off with a stick. Most of the serious issues are with children or smaller adults.

I am not afraid of cats because their track record is not scary. I haven't seen a lot of sign lately but my first couple of years here in AZ, I got stocked on a few occasions, but that is what cats do. They are curious. They are around people way more than people realize. They're really slick.