Woman Survives Mountain Lion Scare
By Glenn Barr

With some quick thinking, determination and the help of strangers, one with a highly appropriate name, a Running Springs woman survived an encounter with a mountain lion on a lonely Lake Arrowhead trail on May 4.

As the animal crouched to attack, Laura Cuaz used several protective strategies before finally climbing a pine tree and screaming for help.

After dropping her daughter off at the Lake Arrowhead Christian School, Cuaz, 47, had gone jogging on a U.S. Forest Service (USFS) road near the Lake Arrowhead Community Services District’s (LACSD) sewage treatment plant on Alberta Lane around 9:50 a.m. She waved at a plant employee as she passed.

It was the first time she had jogged on the path. Clad in a short skirt and a top, she carried only a water bottle and her cell phone.

On her return trip, about 20 minutes later, she said, “I heard a loud, running sound and leaves crackling. I knew what it was and turned in an offensive stance, shouting as loudly as I could.”

You can read the rest of the story over at the Lake Arrowhead Mountain-News.

How prepared are you for a mountain lion attack? Have you planned well enough ahead?  I know when I go out scouting or hunting I bring along some necessary gear. I bring it whether I am by myself or with my hunting buddies. I always have an air horn, bear spray, a knife (or two) and my cell phone. One item that I will be purchasing before the fall hunting season is a SPOT. The SPOT is a GPS locator (mentioned in the article) that will relay your position to search and rescue personnel and could very well save your life. I know that now that I have a family depending on me that my safety isn’t something I can take for granted anymore. I haven’t done that in years, but I used to. Now I try to be as prepared as I can. I get harassed by some of my hunting buddies, but I don’t care. I’ve been told I am too much of a worry wort, I have too many tech gadgets, and that I’ll never encounter a mountain lion. Well, I am not worried, just preparing myself for what could happen. I love technology! I am a geek and if I can take something I will use, I probably will. As far as never encountering a mountain lion… well… I hope I never do, but with my average luck it’ll happen and I plan on walking away from it.