By Timothy D. Naegele[1]

Mountain Lions (or Cougars) are not sweet little household pets. They are brutal and savage killers. Yet, California's woke eco-Nazis—many of whom have never hiked a day in their lives—are wasting more than $87 million to build the "Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing" in Southern California, which is totally irresponsible.[2]

For almost no cost at all, such wild and deadly animals can be caught and released into wilderness areas far from civilization, where they will do no harm.  One example suffices to illustrate the madness of the woke "do-gooders."

Orange County officials confirmed Friday that a male mountain lion killed and partially ate a lone bicyclist in a wilderness park around noon Thursday.  Four hours later, a female rider was savagely attacked by a mountain lion that was driven off by some other cyclists.

Officials said they were all but certain the same animal committed both attacks, and they were performing tests to determine whether that was the case.

The first victim, Mark Jeffrey Reynolds, 35, a competition cyclist who worked for a sports marketing company, was found dead and partially buried under sand along a quiet stretch of rocky, hilly trail in the Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in Foothill Ranch.

The second rider, Anne Hjelle, 30, a retired Marine who works at a health club, survived after being rescued by four or five other cyclists who pummeled the lion with rocks and even a bicycle, forcing it to flee.  She was airlifted to Mission Hospital in Orange County and was listed in serious condition Friday with wounds that were not life-threatening, the Sheriff's Department said.

Dr. John Shaver, the trauma physician who treated Hjelle, said at a news conference Friday that she was talking and conscious and that her condition was improving after suffering lacerations on her head, neck, arms and back.

Officials described it as an exceptionally unusual attack by a type of animal that, while savage when provoked, rarely comes near humans and even less frequently attacks humans for food.  But the people who rescued Hjelle and witnessed the encounter said the lion had locked its powerful jaws around her head and was dragging her steadily into the brush before their shouts and battering forced it to release her.

"This was a predatory attack," said Jim Amormino, the spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department. "It's just so out of the ordinary."

The lion suspected of being responsible for both attacks, a 2-year-old, 110-pound male—which is not large for an adult—was shot and killed around 8 p.m.  Thursday by two sheriff's deputies just 40 yards from where the first cyclist's body had been discovered.  The lion had been spotted by deputies in helicopters using infrared scopes and then was pursued by officers on the ground.

"He was definitely stalking the deputies when he was shot," said Amormino.  "There's no doubt that lion was threatening."

Amormino said that an autopsy had been completed on the first victim, Reynolds, with gruesome conclusions.

"The autopsy concluded that he died from the removal of organs in the chest and abdomen," said Amormino. "It seems he was partially eaten."

The lion's strength also stunned some officials, since it attacked two strong and fit adults and apparently had no problem overpowering them. The lion would have easily killed Hjelle, an Orange County resident, had it not been for several other riders who pulled her away and smashed the lion with rocks.

Debbi Nicholls, a friend of Hjelle who helped in the rescue, burst into tears at a news conference Friday as she described a terrifying encounter.  She said she rounded a curve on the trail after hearing Hjelle's screams.  She said the lion was already on top of Hjelle and had almost her entire head in its mouth. Hjelle's biking helmet, Nicholls said, might have helped save her.

Nicholls added that Hjelle was conscious throughout the attack, even as other cyclists began to batter the animal to drive it away.

"This guy would not let go," Nicholls said of the lion. "He had ahold of her face."

The encroachment of suburbs into wilderness areas has pushed the lions into closer contact with people, making hunting more difficult. The park in which the attacks occurred, in the southern end of the county, is a mere 1,600 acres. The attacks occurred only about half a mile from the closest homes.

Steve Eppley, a resident of the area and a frequent bike rider in the park, said it is a popular spot among mountain bikers and trail runners because of its easy access and challenging terrain.

He said Hjelle was part of a loose-knit group called the Trail Angels that regularly rode in the park.  Signs warning about mountain lions are posted in the park.

In what officials said was an apparent coincidence, an 80-pound female mountain lion was hit by a car and killed late Thursday night about three miles away from the attacks.  Amormino said that lion also was undergoing testing to determine whether it might have been involved in the attacks. He said that was unlikely, since the lions tend to hunt and live far apart from each other.

He said forensic tests on the male lion were under way to make certain it was the animal that attacked the two cyclists.[3]

At the very least, cameras should record every animal that uses the Wildlife Crossing.  And every potential "killer" should be tagged so that if a human being is harmed in any way, one or more multi-million-dollar lawsuits can be brought against everyone and every entity that contributed to this madness.

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© 2022, Timothy D. Naegele

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[1]  Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass).  See, e.g., Timothy D. Naegele Resume-21-8-6  and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/   He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University.  He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service).  Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, and Who's Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/ and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/articles/), and studied photography with Ansel Adams.  He can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com

[2]  See, e.g., https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallis_Annenberg_Wildlife_Crossing ("Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing") and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar ("Cougar")

[3]  See https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Mountain-lion-attacks-kill-1-injure-1-Orange-2814215.php ("Mountain lion attacks kill 1, injure 1 / Orange County bicyclists rescue woman victim")