Off Limits

Photo from 2011: Four miles in, elevation at 1,600 ft.

Since 2011 I had been hiking regularly at Rancho San Antonio Park.

However, the warnings about mountain lions in Bay Area mountains were growing louder, so I stayed away after 2017.

Two weeks ago a six-year-old girl was injured by a mountain lion at the Park.

Last Sunday the lion was put down.

(Mercury News image)

After three days of searching, state officials captured and euthanized the mountain lion that had attacked a 6-year-old girl in Rancho San Antonio Preserve.

The female cat, between 2 and 4 years old and weighing between 60 and 70 pounds, was discovered in a tree in the area on Wednesday afternoon, according to a statement from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife on Thursday.

2015: cool canopy

Fish and Wildlife initially sedated the animal and extracted DNA before confirming it was the predator that attacked the child. On Sunday morning, the girl was scratched and bitten on the calf and DNA samples were taken from her wounds, which matched the DNA of the captured mountain lion, according to the statement from agency spokesperson Jordan Traverso.,,

The girl had been hiking with her father and other adults and children when they encountered the lion Sunday on Wildcat Loop about two miles from the main parking lot.

Park rangers said at the time that the adults in the group “punched” the mountain lion, scaring it off. The girl suffered minor injuries, including scratches and a puncture wound, and was treated by a park ranger.

The Park has reopened this week, but I'll continue to stay away.

Even walking in a group, I'm the easiest one to catch...