on top of the food chain. I was camping in Big Bend in the Summer of 2012 and the day before I arrived a mt lion had stalked a child on a bike in the campground and refused to be chased away until rangers came out with rubber bullets. It was a little nerve racking to sleep in my tent but there were armed rangers patrolling the camp ground. they said the cat was an almost grown one and looked emaciated. They got their first rains the week I was there and he did not reappear after being hit with rubber bullets. A memorable trip with beautiful dessert hikes, immigration check points and mountain lions.

Apparently a milliionaire neighbor fed the lion raw chicken so it would hang around and let him photograph it. Then Mr. Millions went on vacation. The lion began to show himself, follow people home, pace on people's decks. He was obviously saying, You're people. Feed me. This went on for several days until the night he attacked and killed a man who lived across the ridge.

The lion, who turned out to be male, was killed, and so, unfortunately, was a female. Just for good measure. I'm guessing another lion replaced him almost immediately. Our coyotes occasionally yipped but never howled, which I've been told is a sign that a lion lives nearby.