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Juicy surprise in Spring Canyon today

4K views 35 replies 22 participants last post by  ljracer 
#1 ·
At about 100 yards south of the entrance to the side trail best known as Barrels. 6:45AM today. Try to remember these canyons (Oak, Spring, Sycamore and everything in between) has been the buffet restaurant for these carnivores WAY BEFORE the Marines called it theirs! Keep your eyes open and ride in pairs! Plant Plant community Soil Shrubland Wilderness
 
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#3 ·
Good thing that carnivore got a bit of its fill on that before you came along. As long as you didn't try to claim that juicy carcass for yourself, I bet you probably couldn't detect it was still nearby. ;)
 
#4 ·
Oh my goodness . . . I know the apex predators are out there, but I hate getting such a graphic reminder. I suppose that's the mountain-biking equivalent of a bite-marked seal carcass washing up on shore. Pretty soon every trail in Spring, Oak, and Sycamore will be called "Cat Canyon" or "Deer Kill." Thanks for the heads-up.
 
#7 ·
There was loads of blood and intestinal "innards" on the trail. Good 'ol ma nature sent in her "clean up crew" thus every morsel found a belly. Another part of the story: When the four of us rolled up and saw it, there was one other deer about 30 yards away walking around looking stunned and kept looking back to the area of the carcass. We rode away quite quick northbound to our first canyon run WITHOUT taking any pictures, as the kill was "glistening" fresh. Once we completed half our route (R1 to R2) then south to ride up Barrels then down Western (Teote) was when I went back and found what you see in the pic. The carcass was moved about 20 yards south (distinct drag mark). I took the pic and BOOGIED THE HECK OUTTA THERE QUICK back to Barrels and rode FAST up Barrels all the while thinking that cat has got it's eyes on us. Yeah, I was a bit spooked.

Respect and share the trail with ALL critters and cyclists alike!
 
#8 ·
I've been riding there for years and never got spooked.....until last night. I didn't see a soul out there at dusk and for some reason I kept thinking something was following me at the bottom between GN and Iron. Never once thought about the critters other than the occasional snake on trail until last night. Damn.......I got chills thinking about that and seeing the aftermath!!
 
#13 ·
I'm kinda jealous. I've seen 3 mountain lions in my life, not counting the ones in the Desert Museum in Tucson, but all of them were in the Lagunas. I know they are around MTRP and LPQ, but I've never seen one in those places.
 
#23 ·
I stopped to catch my breath for a second after descending rusty barrels last night. During the course of the ride i had completely forgotten about kitty. Heard rustling of something in the bushes on that ridge above the barrels and realized i was alone in the dark at ground zero kill zone. I literally roared as loud as i could and took off.

Was probably a rodent or bird or something small, gave me a fun little adrenaline rush though! Weeeeeeee!
 
#24 ·
I stopped to catch my breath for a second after descending rusty barrels last night. During the course of the ride i had completely forgotten about kitty. Heard rustling of something in the bushes on that ridge above the barrels and realized i was alone in the dark at ground zero kill zone. I literally roared as loud as i could and took off.

Was probably a rodent or bird or something small, gave me a fun little adrenaline rush though! Weeeeeeee!
Glad you didn't get eaten otherwise we would never find out your true identity.
 
#26 ·
On second thought, maybe that deer kill was the result of poachers. With the DFG understaffed as they are, deploying wardens to DMM to write tickets to cyclists and runners on the trails there, there ought to be plenty of new opportunities for poachers to go out and kill game illegally!
 
#30 ·
From the pic I saw, the wounding was not typical for the average lion kill. But then again, it was hard to tell from that pic. Usually, the first thing most cats go for in a deer kill is the fresh liver. Thinking about that, I also believe that is usually true in most cases where they killed/ate humans............
 
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