Mountain Lion Attack

We have seen Desert Big Horn Sheep, Mule Deer, White-tail deer, gray fox,
javelina, and Barbary Sheep (or Aoudad Sheep) on our outings. We have yet to see any bear or mountain lions.


We have had mountain lions close. A few days before Christmas, I noticed offal along side the road at the visitor center (about 300 yards from the RV). My first suspicions were that a javelina was hit by a car but after discussions with others and a closer investigation, we have all come to the conclusion that this was a mountain lion kill right in the parking lot of the visitor center. I followed the sign from beginning to end. A relatively large scattering of loose javelina hair marked the site of the initial attack in the roadway leading from the highway into the visitor center parking lot. There is a culvert under the highway that allows an arroyo (dry stream bed) to pass underneath. This arroyo is a main thoroughfare for javelina and apparently the hunting ground for the local mountain lion. The lion first attacked the javelina in the driveway and then killed it and eviscerated it under a clump of creosote bush in a strip between the parking lot and the highway. The biologist in the park stated that mountain lions normally do not eat the entrails, hence the reason they were left in a pool of blood in the driveway. The javelina was then dragged across the highway, leaving a blood trail that ended on the other side of the road. The carcass was dragged into the arroyo and dropped several times as evidenced by the piles of hair. One piece of flesh attached to bone indicated that the lion probably stopped for a snack before continuing on. Perhaps 50 yards up the arroyo all signs of the javelina and the cat disappeared. The rocky soil makes track identification virtually impossible and the abundance of animal tracks in the arroyo’s gravel bed hides any additional tracks.
I believe the last sign of the attack and ensuing events was where the cat probably picked up the carcass and carried it off.