The Sign of the Cat in Orange County : Biologists Go on the Prowl in Study of Mountain Lions

Crouching over rocks on a dusty trail in the Santa Ana Mountains, several miles from new south county housing tracts, wildlife biologist Jeffrey Froke was on the prowl for mountain lions.

As he sifted through the trail dirt, Froke studied paw prints left by several lions, then traced each print on a plastic sheet and measured it to the nearest millimeter.

“This is really the quick and dirty method, to get as much information as we can fast,” he said. “All it costs us is half a tank of gas.”

Froke, a National Audubon Society biologist at the Starr Ranch Audubon Sanctuary in southern Orange County, was tracing paw prints in an area where mountain lions have begun appearing on the outskirts--and sometimes in the backyards--of new suburban communities.

Three mountain lions, also known as cougars, were spotted this summer in Mission Viejo and in Cowan Heights. In another incident, a 115-pound cougar was found hiding in a tree in a Mission Viejo backyard. Earlier, several were seen in Irvine, Lake Forest and in the hills east of Tustin.

For wildlife biologists, the sightings prompted a flurry of questions: Were the lions seeking prey or water, or were they staking out hunting territories? How many were there? And what were the dangers, if any, to humans?

“It’s the role of a wildlife biologist to find answers to those questions,” said Froke, who is also deputy game warden with the California Department of Fish and Game. “Right now, so little study has been done that we don’t have the answers.”

Biologist Dan Yparraguirre of the California Department of Fish and Game added: “One thing is clear--the number of lions in Orange County is going up, and people can expect to see more of them around.”

Froke and other department biologists recently surveyed 100 miles of south Orange County roads looking for prints of mountain lions. More cougar prints were spotted this year than ever before--a total of 12 sets, up from eight last year--which means that 26 to 35 adult lions may be wandering the mountains here, they said. The population estimate is based on a formula counting the number of tracks spotted, the miles of roads surveyed, and the number of wilderness roads in the area.

Prints Near Developments

The sightings will probably increase, the biologists said, as south county development continues into wild land areas where mountain lions and other creatures roam.

Near the rustic Starr Ranch, lodged between Trabuco Canyon and the Ortega Highway, are 20,000 homes that make up the Mission Viejo, Coto de Caza, Irvine Ranch and other developments. Cougar prints have been spotted regularly near Coto de Caza, and mountain lions have been seen in other communities nearby, biologists said.

Although there is no documented case of a cougar attacking a human in California, Froke said, the general population has several misconceptions about the creatures.

“Lots of myths still persist,” he said. “Many people still regard them as bloodthirsty murderers, taking

baby horses out of their corrals and leaping six-foot fences, or killing more deer than they can eat. It’s hard to crumble those folk tales.”

Froke said that he hopes, if enough private funds can be raised, to begin monitoring the activities of the mountain lions this winter. The cats would be fitted with collars emitting radio waves and then tracked year-round.

Although no analysis has been done locally, Froke said, a 10-year study in the Rocky Mountains indicates that mountain lions prey mainly on native fauna such as deer, quail, gophers, wood rats, mice, snakes, bobcats and coyotes.

‘Waste of Their Time’

Froke also said that it does not make biological sense for cougars to kill more animals than they need--”it would be a waste of their time and energy.”

Much of the fear of lions springs from misunderstandings about the cats’ behavior toward humans, Yparraguirre said. “Because of the lion’s way of ‘making a living,’ it is romanticized a bit,” he said. “But attacks on humans are highly overrated and often precipitated by man’s actions, such as cornering a lion.”

“If anything, humans are the lions’ only natural predator,” Froke added.

Last month, Froke set out to study the local mountain lion population, touring the mountain areas in a Land Rover with graduate ecology student Scott Gray. It didn’t take long for them to find several tracks, mostly on high ridges with commanding views of grazing deer. By the end of one day, Froke had traced numerous paw prints ranging from the tiny rounded dots of kittens to the spread print of a “monster lion” with a 46-inch stride.

Froke said that he is always on the lookout for lions on the Starr Ranch, where he lives with his wife and 5-year-old son. His son is a budding naturalist, already adept at spotting the tracks of mountain lions and bobcats, Froke said.

Froke’s job is not without its anxious moments, however.

He recalled one jittery day when he discovered a rattlesnake den under the driver’s seat of his truck. Another time, a carpenter at the ranch workshop was disturbed by a large deer that had crashed through the brush, followed by a mountain lion in pursuit.

Habitat Threatened

That sighting of a cougar in the wild--like another incident last year when Froke spotted a mother and two cubs--was rare, he said. Froke is worried that the sightings will become even rarer in years to come.

As south county highways have begun crossing their natural habits, many mountain lions are being pushed deeper into such areas as the Cleveland National Forest. There are no figures on lions that fled the area because of development, because areas slated for construction were never surveyed for tracks, Froke said.

Lions also are threatened by poachers, who mount stakeouts with tape recordings of wounded deer and then “blow the lion away,” Froke said. “They’re hunted for trophies alone. Hunting them is really an anachronism, because they’re not needed for meat.”

Yparraguirre agreed, but added that lion hunting is a complex issue that involves more than the taking of game. “A hunter achieves enjoyment and satisfaction from all things that lead up to the take,” he said.

Yparraguirre, noting that a 1972 state moratorium on hunting lions is up for review in January, said that the state Legislature may regard this year’s high lion count as an indication that the population is healthy and that it may not be endangered by licensed hunting.

Now, farmers and ranchers may seek a so-called “depredation permit” to shoot a lion if it is caught plundering livestock. But Yparraguirre said that the Department of Fish and Game has had no complaints from ranchers in recent years.

Meanwhile, the results of the Orange County mountain lion census--combined with sightings of the animals in several cities--suggests that the creatures may be running out of room.

“The census is evidence of a healthy population with a reduced habitat,” Yparraguirre said. “I think of the habitat as a bowl that can only hold so much. Every new development decreases the size of the bowl.”