An encounter with wildlife

An encounter with wildlife in New Mexico

Dave D'Abate

rating ***

In this article a man explains is encounter with one of the worlds most fierce predator, the mountain lion. 

Dave D'Abate was hiking in mountain lion territory. When he starts walking down an outcropping back to the trail, he spots a deer, the suddenly a mountain lion kills the deer. It showed Dave how vicious these animals can be and how easily they can take animals down. Dave didn't want to cross it's path so he decided to take another way to his campsite which would take longer. The darkness set in and without a headlamp it was almost impossible for David to see, but then he heard a snap. He tried to shout and throw rocks at the noise, then is friend Rosy came to the rescue with an ax. They quickly headed in the opposite direction of the noise and walked toward the campsite. On their way, in the light of Rosy's headlamp they spot a mountain lion and prepare for the worst. 

This article makes me think of how I would react to an encounter with a predator. When the Dave sees the mountain lion maul the mule deer, it makes me think how easily one of these kinds of animals could eat me. In the beginning of the article he explains the differences of eyes glowing in the dark. I learned that deer eye's are green and further apart, bear's are silvery and close together and mountain lion's are yellow and fairly close. I also learned to stand your ground. I feel like it has changed my behavior to respect nature even more and it's predators.

Dave D'Abate" http://4alloutdoors.org" December 14 2009

http://4alloutdoors.org/outdoor-articles/an-encounter-with-wildlife-in-new-mexico/