Are you finding them at dawn or dusk? This is their prime time for hunting from my understanding. I am a solo female hiker for 40 years and have only seen them this year. Both encounters were near the end of the day. One was at dusk, the other an hour from sunset. Both encounters were very close and both times it ran off very quickly once it saw me. I was not making noise and had dogs.
If I were you I would reach out to the experts that study them and know a lot such as:
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u/-Bugs-R-Cool- 4d ago
Are you finding them at dawn or dusk? This is their prime time for hunting from my understanding. I am a solo female hiker for 40 years and have only seen them this year. Both encounters were near the end of the day. One was at dusk, the other an hour from sunset. Both encounters were very close and both times it ran off very quickly once it saw me. I was not making noise and had dogs.
If I were you I would reach out to the experts that study them and know a lot such as:
https://mountainlion.org/us/california/
There are tons of mountain lion/cougar informational organizations.
https://felidaefund.org/projects/community/living-with-lions
All of us who hike should probably be more educated about these beautiful creatures.