Mountain lion spotted on Overlook Trail

Three people out for a Sunday evening walk were surprised by what one described as a “full grown mountain lion” bounding across the Overlook Trail in Sonoma’s upper Mountain Cemetery.
Trail docent Marc Armstrong was hiking the Lower Trail around 8 p.m. in the small forest just east of the rock wall. Armstrong was looking for rattlesnakes along the wall when he heard two hikers approaching through the forest about 40 to 50 feet away.
“With that, the mountain lion jumped out of a tree and ran across the trail between us,” Armstrong said Tuesday. “This guy was definitely an adult, and fairly good size.”
The trio compared notes and figured the feline to be about five feet long with a four-foot, black-tipped tail. “It was a pretty big cat – you wouldn’t want to tangle with it,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong has led hikes through the property since the trails were established in 2001, but this was his first lion sighting. He installed a trailside sign stating the event’s date and time and warning hikers not walk alone.
According to California’s Department of Fish and Game, the animals typically avoid people but sightings have been increasing as humans expand into the lions’ habitat. Another mountain lion was anesthetized and relocated without incident May 22 after a two-hour stare-off behind an Agua Caliente home.
Richard Dale, executive director of the Sonoma Ecology Center, said center educator Elly Seelye was one of the three on the trial Sunday night. He said serious encounters are rare – but only from a human perspective.
“Almost anyone who’s been hiking in nature, according to (Department of) Fish and Game biologists, has probably been seen by a mountain lion – but probably most of us have never and will never see a mountain lion,” he said. “They’re a real treat when you get to see one. They’re beautiful animals, larger than most people expect them to be.”
Dale said the lions tend to run off when they know they’re being observed, but stressed the importance of not hiking alone – especially around dawn and dusk, when the animals are hunting. If an encounter occurs, however, hikers should take an aggressive stance.
“Make yourself look as large as possible – shout and throw things, but don’t run,” he said. “Face the lion and back away if you want, but definitely don’t give him the sense that you’re a prey animal.”