Anyone have contact info to report mountain lion sightings on Mount Hamilton?
I biked up to Shane Observatory (the open part of Lick) from Alum Rock yesterday.
While I was refueling before the descent, puttering around I read the posted info sheet about how to act during mountain lion encounters while hiking (be big, make yourself big, be noisy, fight back if necessary). At bottom of it was a request to notify someone -- observatory staff? someone else? -- if you see a mountain lion.
Then to my surprise while descending at pace I did see a mountain lion. It was crossing the road from left to right in front of me, right by the final hairpin turn on the first Hamilton descent from summit down to the Smith Creek bridge. (It was far enough ahead of me that the braking I already had to do was enough to evade it.) Unfortunately I don't run a camera, so I don't have hard evidence, only memories.
I'm guessing the instruction to "tell us" if you see a mountain lion is more about inculcating additional excitement in the lucky observer. But just in case they use the counts of sightings for anything serious, I figure I should actually do what they ask. 🙂 Anyone know precisely who I should contact to report the sighting? The Lick Observatory contacts page doesn't list anything that looks suitably wildlife-focused.