Coexisting with Cats
Also known as the puma, catamount, panther, and cougar, the mountain lion is North America’s largest wild cat species. As solitary animals, they can have home ranges from 30 to 125 square miles, and they live throughout the lower 48, from the Northern Rockies, to California, to a small, endangered population in Florida. They are opportunistic hunters, active at dawn and dusk, capable of reaching speeds of 50 miles per hour and leaping up to 15 feet. Mountain lions are an elusive animal, making them difficult to study and almost impossible to count, but it’s unlikely their population exceeds 30,000 in the United States. Unfortunately, their habitat is becoming increasingly fragmented by roads and developments. They are over-hunted and often hit by cars, and humans generally have a low tolerance for mountain lions, putting their future in the wild at risk. Humans account for almost 3,000 mountain lion deaths in the United States each year.
Although many people may go their entire lives without seeing one, mountain lions can live close to residential and commercial areas. To keep mountain lions away from attractants at home, it’s important to keep their prey and food sources away. Deer are one of the main sources of prey for a mountain lion. While deer are often a natural site in urban and rural yards around the region, they can attract in lions at times. Discourage deer and other prey from hanging around to avoid this. Prune, remove, or keep fruit trees inside of electric fencing. If you see an animal carcass on your property, especially of an ungulate species, remove it.
A Foxlight uses randomized flashing to mimic human activity and keep carnivores away.
Simple tools like motioned censored lights can scare away a lion at night, and making sure to avoid recreating at dawn or dusk can reduce conflicts with the animals. Keep pets on leashes, and don’t let them outside alone, as mountain lions can enter fenced areas fairly easily. Making sure to trim dense vegetation around a property and seal open areas under or around porches or decks can eliminate areas that mountain lions may use as cover or shelter.
Scare devices including motion-censored lights and radios work well. When these alarms are randomized, they work even better because they more realistically mimic human activity and keep lions alert and hesitant to approach. Foxlights (a specific brand of scare device) flash haphazard lights at different time intervals, while acoustic devices can sound off at random times. Some people get creative: there has been an instance of a property owner placing timed water spickets around their property, which successfully warded off large predators from their livestock. The use of Halloween twinkling lights and lights that look like eyes (like this one) have also worked for ranchers and homeowners in the past, although not recommended for long periods and not proven to be effective for mountain lions.
Making sure that areas under porches and decks are sealed off and trimming down thick vegetation (which gives lions cover) can lessen mountain lion activity. Deer are lions’ main source of prey, and diminishing attractants for deer can in turn diminish mountain lion activity. If you notice deer feeding on trees, grasses, or bushes on your land, remove these items or surround them with fencing so that deer cannot access these food sources.
This enclosure is secure from mountain lions as it has a roof, no gaps or windows for a lion to climb through, and secure wire fencing. (Source: Mountain Lion Foundation)
Fencing also works great to keep lions away from livestock. Predator secure fencing--a completely fenced in, indoor and outdoor area for small livestock--creates a mountain lion resistant space. Predator secure fencing must have a roof that can support the weight of a mountain lion, windows and doors that shut completely and latch, and secure wire and electric fencing. Since mountain lions can jump, the best practice for fencing is for it to be high and to have a two-foot overhang of electric or barbed wire facing outward.
Currently, there are few conflict prevention or educational resources available through state wildlife agencies about living with mountain lions. The current approach when it comes to mountain lion management is lethal removal from the wild. But there are non-lethal prevention techniques that work to deter lions, that we often use with other large carnivores.
People need to remove or reduce lion attractants and make sure we are switching up the tools we use to keep them on their toes. Mountain lions and humans can live side by side, but we need to put in a little extra effort to keep them away from livestock and off our properties.
