Cyclist Fights Off Cougar : Wildlife: Scott Fike was riding along a hiking trail when the mountain lion attacked. Authorities are trying to find the animal.

Federal trackers and dogs searched the San Gabriel Mountains above Altadena on Thursday for a mountain lion that attacked a 27-year-old bicyclist until he fought it off with rocks earlier this week.

Scott Fike of Pasadena was not seriously injured in Monday’s attack near Mt. Lowe in the Angeles National Forest, but his head was sore where the lion bit him three times, and he had other cuts as well. He was examined at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena but declined treatment.

“It was very much a shock,” said Fike, a free-lance illustrator. “ ‘Don’t think it can’t happen,’ is what you should probably tell people.”

On Thursday morning, state Fish and Game wardens, along with U.S. Department of Agriculture trackers, found old and new mountain lion tracks in the Mt. Lowe area at the 4,500-foot level. Teams will track the mountain lion until they find it and probably will kill it, said Patrick Moore, spokesman for the Department of Fish and Game in Long Beach.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Forest Service issued an advisory, warning the public to beware of mountain lions in the hiking areas of Mt. Lowe and in the San Gabriel foothills.

Fish and Game biologists estimate that there are about eight mountain lions per 100 square miles in the 693,000-acre forest. Two weeks ago, sheriff’s deputies and game wardens unsuccessfully hunted a mountain lion in the foothills near La Crescenta that killed two dogs and came within 10 feet of people.

Wardens do not believe the La Crescenta mountain lion is the same one that attacked Fike because mountain lions usually stake out an area and don’t wander more than a few miles away.

Since 1919, state officials have recorded nine mountain lion attacks on people, three of which resulted in death, Moore said. The last attack before Fike’s was in December, 1994,when a 56-year-old woman was killed by a mountain lion at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park in San Diego County. Mountain lions, who do not see well in the daytime, only attack people when they are mistaken for prey as they run or cycle by, Moore said.

Fike said he was riding alone on a hiking trail when the mountain lion began loping alongside him. Fike, who is 6-foot-4 and 165 pounds, said he stopped and tried to use his mountain bike as a shield.

“I was completely frightened,” he said.

The lion chewed on a bike tire, clawed the wheel spokes and then headed around the bike toward Fike. He threw the bike down and ran down a steep embankment, the lion at his heels, he said.

Fike slipped and fell on his back, then rolled onto his stomach to protect his face. The lion clawed and bit him on the side of the head, he said, but he managed to push it away and scrambled for a rock that he used to hit the mountain lion.

“It ended up with a few wounds itself,” Fike said with a chuckle.

Fike said he grabbed more rocks and ran back up the hill with the mountain lion in pursuit. But he reached his bicycle and escaped.

He ended up with a severe case of poison oak from his run down the embankment. Undaunted, he returned for another bike ride the next day--this time armed with a wooden club.

Fike was lucky that he scared the mountain lion off with rocks, Moore said.

“That was exactly the right thing to do,” Moore said. “He might have been the mountain lion’s lunch had he not done that.”

Experts advise people who encounter the animals to avoid running or making sudden moves. Instead, they should stand tall, yell and wave their arms.