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May 20, 2003
Mountain lion shot on SVL golf course
Fish and Game officer fires three shots at large cat after it took threatening pose in bushes
By EMILY BERG, Spring Valley Lake Daily PressStaff Writer
SPRING VALLEY LAKE — A mountain lion that was apparently eyeing golfers at Spring Valley Lake Country Club was shot and killed by a state Fish and Game officer after the big cat took up a threatening pose, officials said Monday.
Golf course employees said the Fish and Game officer needed three shots to take down the large cat on May 10.
The Fish and Game officer, who authorities refused to identify, said the large, female mountain lion was hiding in the brush on the golf course and eyeing golfers.
"It watched me intently, twitching its tail," the officer wrote in the report, according to Mike McBride, an assistant chief with the state wildlife agency.
The cat was full-grown, and it took three men to carry its body to the truck, said Claude McCaslin, a players' assistant at the golf course.
McCaslin was making his rounds of the golf course around 10:30 a.m. on May 10 when golfers on the sixth hole told him they'd seen the lion, McCaslin said.
The lion had come out of the trees and onto the fairway, which allowed golfers to see it. Golf course employees notified the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, which notified Fish and Game.
The Fish and Game officer had to come from Wrightwood and didn't arrive until about 1:30 p.m., McCaslin said.
McCaslin stayed near the lion, keeping golfers on the other side of the fairway, and waited for the officer. McCaslin said he wasn't nervous, but thinking about it later, he said he decided he wouldn't want to do it again.
"The only protection I had between me and (her) was a golf cart," he said.
McCaslin said the officer told him it would be too dangerous to use a tranquilizer on the lion because there were a lot of people around who could get hurt if it didn't work right.
"If the officers are out there, we're not going to second-guess them," McBride said.
This case is unique because the lion was still on scene when the officer arrived, McBride said.
McBride said the department has received reports of mountain lions in every populated area.
"Having a mountain lion in that area is not a big shocker," he said.
Bill Bottoms, administrator of the Spring Valley Lake Association, said he didn't know of any reports to the association of a mountain lion in the area prior to the shooting.
Emily Berg can be reached at emily_berg@link.freedom.com or 955-5358.
Mountain lion shot on SVL golf course
Fish and Game officer fires three shots at large cat after it took threatening pose in bushes
By EMILY BERG, Spring Valley Lake Daily PressStaff Writer
SPRING VALLEY LAKE — A mountain lion that was apparently eyeing golfers at Spring Valley Lake Country Club was shot and killed by a state Fish and Game officer after the big cat took up a threatening pose, officials said Monday.
Golf course employees said the Fish and Game officer needed three shots to take down the large cat on May 10.
The Fish and Game officer, who authorities refused to identify, said the large, female mountain lion was hiding in the brush on the golf course and eyeing golfers.
"It watched me intently, twitching its tail," the officer wrote in the report, according to Mike McBride, an assistant chief with the state wildlife agency.
The cat was full-grown, and it took three men to carry its body to the truck, said Claude McCaslin, a players' assistant at the golf course.
McCaslin was making his rounds of the golf course around 10:30 a.m. on May 10 when golfers on the sixth hole told him they'd seen the lion, McCaslin said.
The lion had come out of the trees and onto the fairway, which allowed golfers to see it. Golf course employees notified the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, which notified Fish and Game.
The Fish and Game officer had to come from Wrightwood and didn't arrive until about 1:30 p.m., McCaslin said.
McCaslin stayed near the lion, keeping golfers on the other side of the fairway, and waited for the officer. McCaslin said he wasn't nervous, but thinking about it later, he said he decided he wouldn't want to do it again.
"The only protection I had between me and (her) was a golf cart," he said.
McCaslin said the officer told him it would be too dangerous to use a tranquilizer on the lion because there were a lot of people around who could get hurt if it didn't work right.
"If the officers are out there, we're not going to second-guess them," McBride said.
This case is unique because the lion was still on scene when the officer arrived, McBride said.
McBride said the department has received reports of mountain lions in every populated area.
"Having a mountain lion in that area is not a big shocker," he said.
Bill Bottoms, administrator of the Spring Valley Lake Association, said he didn't know of any reports to the association of a mountain lion in the area prior to the shooting.
Emily Berg can be reached at emily_berg@link.freedom.com or 955-5358.
