Yeah, I know, you’re all sick of Jake- but let me tell you what he did on Friday.
So he and I were hiking at our secondary park. It’s actually my primary park because it’s wild and hilly and a little scary at times, but it’s his secondary park because he can’t run off leash… much.
We’ve had to move our hiking to the hilly park because the foxtails are too awful at the more open park. Jake would be covered- feet, legs, tail, stomach, chest, nose, eyes and ears within seconds. And that would entail a visit to the vet and probably the development an abscess or two or three or more due to foxtails I would miss. Once again it’s that high energy dog frustrating time of year.
Okay so there we were - we’d hiked along the west border of the park, climbed to the peak and we headed down the incredibly steep, narrow, dangerous trail along the east border of the park. Now, because I know Jake needs a little running and because I don’t feel like falling over a cliff, and because this area is lightly traveled, I let him off leash.
What we do is this - he heels down the steep side of the ridge. We dip down into the forest and he heels along the scary steep switch-back for maybe 50 yards, until I determine that there are no deer around, no other hikers, and we pass the point where he’s tempted to slide under the barbed wire into the meadow adjacent to the park - where he would pick up a million foxtails. Besides, those first 50 yards are bad enough. To keep him on leash after that is so dangerous I simply won’t do it.
The trail is only three-four inches wide at some points and if I were to slip over the edge to the right I’d fall between 15 and 50 feet. The hillside on the left is almost straight up so there’s no help there.
Jake, however, can run straight up those hillsides and straight down over the edge. Nothing bothers him. He goes crazy joyous nuts running up and down. Loves it. But he always comes back, listens to my directions, and waits for me at a specific downed tree. The downed tree signifies the end of the most dangerous section and I put him back on leash. The rest of the trail is steep and narrow, but except for a couple of relatively short sections there’s no more cliff edge. Thank god.
Anywhoo, there we were, having passed the most challenging stretch, heading down into a gully when all of a sudden Jake stops and stares off to the right. Stops, stands still as stone, and flat out stares. I look to the right, down the gully, but I don’t see anything. So I’m thinking if this is a squirrel he’d be tugging me into trees. If this is a deer, ditto. But he’s not tugging me, he’s just staring. Maybe there’s something bad down there.
The next thing I know, he’s hauling ass up out of the gully and hurrying me along the trail, all the while staring off to the right. So he tugs me up this rocky rise in the trail, along one of the remaining cliff sections and just as we come around a corner I see a tree branch move in a chestnut tree down below us, a big branch. Jake stops again and stares and I follow his gaze. It’s a mountain lion leaping from a lower branch to a higher branch.
And I’m like… oh shit.
But then we spot a small buck maybe a hundred yards down the gully and I realize we’ve interrupted the lion’s hunt. Jake sees the deer too, but for once he doesn’t care. He’s again hauling me down the trail while keeping an eye on that mountain lion.
He was on high alert from that point on - checking out every sound, glancing over his shoulder, rushing back to me and herding me forward if I slowed down at all. He didn’t want any trouble.
When we got home he went bonkers - you know how dogs tuck their tails and run around in crazy-ass circles? Jake ran around the yard like a maniac for ten minutes. He was so excited over his first mountain lion encounter.
My hero gets his well-deserved cat nap.
Jake’s nap.
He’s very intelligent. I love Jake stories and his pics make my day.
I thought he treed one in your yard last year. But I would have peed myself.
No Steph, he treed a bobcat. Different cat. Smaller. This is a cougar. Well, no peeing. You just keep an eye on it and don’t run.
Yeah, Amber, thanks. He’s scary smart.
Nah, never get tired of Jake and his outings and his smarts, well done Jake when we go hiking in the woods I wanna see a mountain lion …….
Bless him! I want a picture of him running around in crazy-ass circles next time, LOL!
Hi AD. It would be a big blur! I may manage a video at some point.
Well, Tom my love, if you and Ishbel come visit we will take you to see a mountain lion. They are gorgeous and because I have a big dog I’m not afraid. It’s more that I’m cautious.
Yea for Jake. What a guy. We have quite a few mountain lions around here. A few years ago, a young male came to downtown Ontario. The police and animal control tried to catch it. It ran into the garage portion of a gas station, looped the room several times and ran into the bathroom. It hit the door and it slammed shut, trapping the animal. Good, huh? No, there were no windows in the room, no way to get to the lion.
Finally, they cut a small hole in the wall and used a stun stick to knock it out. Turned it loose. LOL
Oh the poor mountain lion! He must have been scared to death. I always figure that unless an animal is sick or starving it is more frightened of me than I am of it. Interesting story, Stephanie!
Oh my goodness gracious! Along with the 1500 hundred feet of bubble wrap, an anti-wasp suit, and a week at a spa, I’m sending you a big Caspar the Friendly Ghost mask with huge eyes to wear on the back of your head. That way the cougars will think you’re watching and not ambush you from behind.
Good dog, Jake. Good, good dog.
Which trail were you on? We hike in Marin frequently, but we usually stay on the main trails that have a fair amount of traffic. I’m just curious, because I think I’d prefer to avoid this one, LOL (plus, my hiking part is scared of heights and from the way you’ve described it, that trail would terrify her even without the cougar).
Jake IS a hero, and heroes need their sleep (I love the picture). Mountain lions-and any hungry, wild critters-are nothing to mess with.
And as innocent as little foxtails seem, they’re a mess, too. Maggie once had one deep in her ear and the vet had to sedate her to finally get it out. There’s no such thing as a carefree, totally safe stroll in the hills!
I hate ticks and foxtails with a passion, Marylin! Just pulled three ticks off Jake’s neck and he’s got that tick stuff on him. When he comes home from a hike I grab two different brushes from a drawer and he heads into his den (the study) so he can lie down and I can check every single inch of him for foxtails. I have the boy well-trained!
This is the third time I’ve seen this mountain lion at this particular park, always after deer. The first two times Louie was with me. Once I followed her (cuz I saw her hunting with a cub one year) and stuck Louie’s huge foot in the footprint she’d left in the mud - hers was three times the size of his.
Hi Jen! Hiking in Napa - one of our wilderness parks. I know there are mountain lions in Marin. If you’ve hiked in Marin Headlands you could probably do this hike. It’s just that it’s super steep, narrow, and slick in the dry season so you really have to watch where you put your feet. And if you have vertigo, yeah, probably not a great idea. I’m not a huge fan of heights or cliff edges but I really love this particular trail. It’s just impossible to try to hold onto a dog and navigate the trail.
I know, Jaye! I was thinking about you and I knew you would say- put a mask on the back of your head! I’m hiking as much as I can right now before yellow jacket season hits again. And I got my bee suit!
We let him off today and he rushed to the area where we’d seen the mountain lion. He was obsessed with finding it. Took a long time to get him back.
Gorgeous doggie. He looked after his mum.
He is a hero! Thanks for sharing. Whew, that was close.
He is my hero, hon.