We have a drought in So Cal. What happens in drought is that the Mountain Lions are more likely to attack a human and the Coyotes get brazen... I hike. I was talking to one guy that was hiking with his wife and he talked of having to rescue her from a couple of coyotes. On the dustier trails I see mountain lion tracks... they are typically hunting at dawn and twilight but in drought they are out in the middle of the day sometimes... I see all these solitary hikers first thing in the morning, they are oblivious to the danger really, and you can't talk them into taking it serious either, they just shrug it off... I carry a big Bowie Knife, mountain lions typically are about 80lbs, I think I could take one on with the knife... mainly you have to watch for places where they can jump you from above/behind and knock you down a hill, that's their favorite way to kill somebody.. the Coyotes will team up to distract you while one attacks from behind trying to take out your achilles tendon so you can't run.. or just get you to bleed out...
Indians know that as you go through a Mountain Lion's [or anything else's] territory you have to tell it that you respect it... I do that everywhere I go, animals never bother me, dogs don't even bark at me for the most part...
