Outdoors With Mat Taylor
Mountain lion population should be controlled

Former Soil Conservation Service employee and longtime writer Mat Taylor offers his outdoors column for Dispatch Record readers. He can be contacted at (254) 518-2262 or via e-mail at mntaylor@agristar.net.

A number of years ago, I was selected to participate in an elk hunt on the National Rifle Association Whittington Ranch near Raton, N.M. I hunted for several days and saw a lot of game, including some trophy mule deer.

Unfortunately, I did not bag an elk or even see one, but the hunt was still enjoyable.

The hunt took place in early December, with several inches of snow on the ground. One day after tracking an elk with no success, I backtracked to my pickup.

Suddenly I noticed another set of tracks that followed mine. The tracks were made by a large cat that I assumed to be a mountain lion. The hair on the back of my neck bristled, and I wondered if the cat was tracking me. After several hundred feet, however, the cat tracks veered off down into the canyon, and I felt a sigh of relief.

Mountain lion attacks on humans are very rare, but they do occur, and I am sure now this particular cat just happened to be traveling in the same direction. I did not see the mountain lion and in all my years of hunting, I have never spotted one. I have viewed coyotes, foxes and bobcats while deer hunting, but never the large cat.

Most Texans have never seen a mountain lion, also called a puma, panther, catamount or cougar. Texas Parks and Wildlife gets more than 500 reports of mountain lion sightings each year, but less than one percent are ever verified by physical evidence such as tracks, scat or photographs.

One recent study estimated the Texas mountain lion population at about 5,000, although Dr. Michael Tewes, a faculty adviser at Texas A&M-Kingsville, said there are no accurate estimates for mountain lions in the state.

The animal is difficult to census, as it is nocturnal, sensitive, wide ranging and by nature a low-density species.

Tewes, one of the elder statesmen of wild cat research in North America who has been supervising and reviewing research on mountain lions, believes Texas lion numbers are stable, at least in some areas. Mountain lions are found primarily in far West and South Texas.

Since 1919, the government agency responsible for nuisance wildlife control has kept records of mountain lions trapped in Texas. Now called Texas Wildlife Services, the agency's harvest data show a widely fluctuating trend line over the decades. In recent years, they have trapped between 30 and 50 per year. Almost all lions were trapped at the request of landowners, usually due to concerns about them killing livestock, and mostly in far West Texas.

In one South Texas study, it was found that mountain lions feed primarily on white-tailed deer, followed by feral hogs and javelina. Of the 75 prey animals killed by lions in the study, only seven were livestock -- a longhorn calf and six sheep. These predators generally are not a major problem for livestock but locally, individual lions have become a problem for some landowners.

Another study performed in a western state revealed that a mature mountain lion kills an average of one deer per week. That is 52 deer a year.

If there are 5,000 mountain lions in Texas, the total potential deer kill could be as high as 260,000 per year.

I would not like to see mountain lions disappear, but I also think the population should be controlled to keep it at sustainable levels. Cougars are classified as non-game animals and may be taken by anyone with a valid hunting license, with no season or bag limits. Most mountain lions killed are by hunters seeking deer. There are a couple of outfitters in West Texas who hunt the big cats with dogs.

If you see a mountain lion, consider yourself fortunate. They are very secretive, and one lion ranges over 50,000 to 80,000 acres. If you happen to kill one, find a dead one or can verify a sighting, contact the local game warden or TPWD biologist. Persons also may report a mountain lion to TPWD headquarters at (800) 792-1112.

Although I do not know the details, TPWD records show at least one report of a dead mountain lion found in Lampasas County.

On a similar note, in past years there have been numerous reports of black panther sightings. Although it may be possible, there have been no documented cases of a black mountain lion. There are black phases of jaguars or leopards, however.