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| Northwest end of Avalanche Lake looking toward where Mt Cannon (far) and Bearhat Mt (near) meet. |
Some of you might know the spot where Hidden Creek drops down from Hidden Lake between Mt. Cannon and Bearhat Mt. and enters Avalanche Creek. It is one of those steep, open, craggy areas that are great foraging areas for all animals. There is water, early spring plants and the carcass of those who died during the winter. Of course it is also a great spot for live prey that is attracted by the water and plant life.
On this particular day a young mountain lion - also known as a puma or cougar - was watching for just such live prey and he wasn't disappointed. A male mountain goat, known as a billy, was also attracted to the area. The billy had wondered down from the high country above Hidden Lake. Billies are solitary animals and roam large areas.
The mountain lion caught sight of the billy. His body became tense and he crouched down in predator mode. Slowly he began to circle above the seemingly unsuspecting billy. The billy never looked up until he suddenly started trotting up the side of the mountain. The mountain lion stalked behind.
This pattern repeated several times before the mountain goat started to run followed closely by the mountain lion.
Now we all know that a mountain goat isn't going to outrun a mountain lion. But the craggy ledges of mountains are the mountain goat's sanctuary. Mountain goats have been observed to go where no one else would dare to go. In fact, mountain goat expert, Dr. Douglas Chadwick (1) tells the story of watching a goat go so far out onto a ledge that it could not go in any direction and could not back up. The goat did a mountain goat version of a gymnastic walk-over, bringing its hind legs in front of its front legs and then turning and walking off the ledge. Don't under-estimate the strength and power of a mountain goat.
The mountain goat went out onto a solitary point that seemed to hang over the valley below. The mountain lion seemed to know that a mountain goat can easily eviscerate an adversary with its horns, so it stopped a few yards away. The goat was isolated. The only exit was past the lion. Could the goat outlast the lion?
Anxious hikers across the deep valley on the Avalanche Lake Trail on the side of Mt Brown watched the stand-off through binoculars. If you had asked any one of them they would have given the best odds to the mountain lion. After all a mountain lion can bring down an animal many times its size. It is fast and lethal. Most of the on-lookers knew nothing of the mountain goats agility and lethal horns.
After quite a lengthy time many of the human observers began to wonder off. Nothing was happening. Besides, they might also have decided that they didn't really want to wait for hours to watch the carnage. Shudder. The others kept watch as though in prayerful meditation for some sort of miraculous deliverance.
Ironically humans have a tendency to see the carnivorous hunter as the "bad animal". It's ironic because humans are omnivores who think we must be carnivores. Does that make us "bad animals"? Since we are no longer hunter-gatherers we can let someone else slaughter the animal and we don't have to see it. I'm a vegetarian. I have no desire to see an animal be killed by a human or any other creature, but I realize that many species are carnivores. Humans, bears and a few others are omnivores. We don't really need to kill another animal to eat and survive. The mountain lion is not an omnivore. If this lion were to lose this stand-off he would go away hungry. That could mean his death. As much as I hate seeing either of these two marvelous creatures die, I realize that we must stay out of it and stop trying to improve on or manipulate nature.
As more and more of the human on-lookers began to wonder away the mountain lion was also becoming tired of the stand-off and decided that he had to make a move. The lion stood up. The mountain goat looked over its shoulder at the lion but didn't move. The lion took a couple of steps toward the goat. The human audience gasped and all binoculars were lifted to their eyes. The goat didn't seem bothered. The lion took another step. The goat rose to its feet and lowered its deadly horns toward the lion. The lion took a step back to re-evaluate his approach. A murmur went through the on-lookers across the valley.
Suddenly the mountain goat leaped off the ledge. Oh, my gosh, it was going to leap to its death rather than be mauled by the lion. Naw! That's a human thing. If it was going to die, the mountain goat was going to go out fighting.
With an indescribable grace and beauty the goat leaped into the air, landed briefly on a ledge many feet below, paused only a moment and leaped once again. The billy did this no less than five times. Before the mountain lion could get to the edge of the ledge from which the billy had first leaped the mountain goat was running up the side of the opposite mountain several hundred yards from the lion.
A sheepish, hungry lion was left standing on an isolated ledge looking longingly at the goat who now stood on the opposite mountain looking back. I must admit that I was happy for the mountain goat. At the same time you have to feel sorry for the mountain lion who may well go to bed hungry unless he finds an animal less crafty.
FOOTNOTE:
(1) Chadwick, Douglas H. (1983). A beast the color of winter. Sierra Club Books. San Francisco. ISBN 0-8032-6421-6
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| Mt Cannon |
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