Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/04/03/san-francisco-police-warns-against-mountain-lion-that-wasnt.html
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See also: Mountain lion roaming Pennsylvania town… wasn’t that… which I only remember because the same thing had recently happened in Rio de Janeiro (my hometown).
At least the reported mountain lion wasn’t a stuffed animal… as has happened in Oregon, and Michigan, and the UK. (Kinda funny how I went Googling to find the UK story and stumbled upon the other two. Apparently this happens a lot!)
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Yeah, those 100 pound mountain lions frequently just slink along the tops of fences.
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My nesting partner sometimes reads next door, for some reason. (I often think so she might get some warning before they come for us.) Last week someone reported seeing a coyote “… at least as big as [their] collie.” Which could be theoretically possible if the coyote was in the very top percentile for size for its species and the collie in the lower bounds, but a good rule of thumb for coyotes, mountain lions, and other such animals that you only glimpse or see on camera in the dark: No, it’s not anywhere near as big as you think.
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I crossed paths with a coyote last night whilst walking the dog. She was trotting down the street, stopped to check us out and moved into a yard with some big bushes where there is a rabbit warren. We went in another direction. Looked to be about 60#, maybe 24” at the shoulder. Big brush tail. Moving in that distinctive gait of walking on the toes.
We’ve had so much rain the grasses are growing like crazy and the bunnies will provide plenty of food.
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(Emphasis added.) Coyotes max at around 20kg / 44lbs and those are in areas with extraordinarily advantageous conditions. They’re beautiful critters and I always get a small thrill when I spot one, but unless you’re used to seeing them (e.g., a researcher,) we all tend to overestimate their mass. (The bunnies are also beautiful, but a coyote has to eat. I do not take sides in that matter.)
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We are amazingly bad at estimating weight. Ask most men what any woman they pass weighs and they will be wildly off.
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