(NOT) COOL FOR CATS

Published in the Nov. 1, 2025 issue. 

Two weeks ago, The Sheet received an anonymous tip from a Big Pine resident, asking us to do a story.

“Can you guys please do an article on the mountain lion problem we have in the town of Big Pine, it’s out of control,” the tip said. “We have made numerous reports to our worthless fish and game and they aren’t doing anything. Please help us.”

Hungry for more information, I posted a note on a Big Pine Facebook page asking if anyone had information. Immediately, responses began to flow into my inbox. Security camera footage depicted mountain lions on top of resident’s cars and slinking through backyards.

“We lost our two cats a couple months ago,” one user wrote. “We’re certain that they were taken by mountain lions.”

“We feel like we’re being stalked,” replied another.

In the beginning of October, a mountain lion grabbed Gerard Harvey’s 15-pound dog by the neck while his pet was walking with his wife. The lion ran into their fence and “the dog went flying,” Harvey told The Sheet. A few vet bills later, the dog is now okay.

Despite the fear these cats are sowing in the people of Big Pine, their behavior is not abnormal, Beth Pratt told The Sheet. Pratt is the Regional Executive Director of California’s National Wildlife Federation; her work centers on co-existence between mountain lions and people in urban areas.

“Mountain lions have always walked through our backyards and they’ve always preyed on our pets and our livestock,” Pratt said. “It’s just that now we have security cameras and social media to share these stories.”

There is no evidence mountain lion populations are growing in California, Pratt added. She described them as an extremely “self-regulating species,” meaning they will not share territory. “They are not an animal that is going to overpopulate.”

There are 65 mountain lions currently collared by fish and game in the Eastern Sierra, according to local herd biologist Brian Tillemans. But there are many more that are not collared.

It’s unclear how many mountain lions are currently in Big Pine. “[It’s] a pretty closely held number by California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW),” said Jen Roeser, Inyo County Supervisor, in an interview with the Sheet.

Mountain lions have a pretty significant range, she added. “There are other places other than Big Pine that are being affected.” 

Roeser pointed to Round Valley, Hammil, Chalfant, Lone Pine, and Bishop as other communities in Inyo and Mono who have been impacted by mountain lion activity.

Tillemans raised a different concern: the local mule deer and bighorn sheep populations.

“The lion predation has the biggest impact on the mule deer and the endangered bighorn,” he said. “We are right on the cusp of a predator pit.”

What is a predator a pit? In this case, It’s when the mountain lion predation rate creates a positive feedback loop, rendering the deer population unrecoverable, Tillemans said. “After that, the [deer] population starts spiraling.” 

Currently, mountain lions are regulated by Prop 117, a piece of legislation passed by California voters in 1990. This law established mountain lions as a protected species, and prohibited hunting the animals, except when livestock or public safety is threatened, in which case a landowner can get a depredation permit from CDFW to kill a specific mountain lion.

“Sacremento has got to return thecontrol of lions to our local biologists and experts,” Roeser said. “Right now, decisions about what to do with the lions are being forwarded up the chain of command. And that’s just not an effective way to deal with predators who have been habituated.”

Roeser believes a voter-driven policy change from the Prop 117 status quo could be a possible solution to the mountain lion problem. A local control policy would allow the local biologists in each CDFW region to make decisions such as relocating mountain lions, rather than that decision coming from the capital, she furthered.

“But honestly, I don’t think we’re there,” she said. “We are navigating a difficult political situation.”

Tillemans’ solution was more extreme. 

“I’ve been advocating that we euthanize them,” he said. “Give the deer and the bighorn a break.”

He didn’t necessarily mean all of the mountain lions in the Eastern Sierra, but the ones who were specifically eating the endangered Sierra bighorn.

“What I hope happens in situations like these is education,” Pratt countered. “When we focus on scientific based co-existence measures, a lot of the fear goes away.”

Co-existence entails keeping pets and food sources inside at night, minimizing the possibility of drawing a mountain lion to one’s home, Pratt explained. When you’re walking your dog at night, it’s important to keep them on a leash, she added.

“Don’t fear these cats, but respect them,” she said. “You are in way more danger from your step ladder.”

Roeser encouraged Big Pine (and other affected) residents to call the new CDFW hotline for when they encounter mountain lions. The hotline was established specifically for wildlife conflict and is only for Inyo and Mono counties. The number is 559-550-7060.

The number is new, but Roeser has faith it will prompt action from CDFW. 

“Our hope is that someone will show up,” she said.