mountain lions and bears, oh my!

Just got this e-mail. I ran in this area on today's morning run. As I was running along Ruxton there was a guy coming down the hill and he says to me, "dude, be careful, there's a bear right around the corner!" I'm not afraid of anything, so I continue on, but all I find are two dumped trash cans. Bears are smart and know not to mess with me!

A Manitou Springs Elementary School parent who lives near the west water tower, on Duncan Ave., on the plateau above and between Ruxton (aboveMiramont Castle) and Manitou Ave (uphill on Minnehaha), reported signfiicant Mountain Lion activity in that area this weekend. Their neighbors had a large dog killed on Friday afternoon 4:30 or so, and three other neighbors have been stalked. The cougar stalked another neighbor on Pine Terrance that night at 9:30pm. The other two incidents were 5:30 Friday afternoon, near the original incident, and the day before in the same area. Some of those stalked just "felt something was not right in the woods" and turned around, others heard "something" following them, very quietly, definitely not the resident bear. Another found, on turning around and retracing steps, cougar tracks over hers and her dogs tracks. All those stalked were either an adult and a large dog (Golden Retriever, Rhodesian Ridgeback...) or adult and large child(age 11). There may have been additional incidents, these are the only ones they have documented. They called the Department of Wildlife, who were closed for the weekend. They then spoke with the operator at the Colorado State Patrol, in Pueblo, the emergency number for the DOW, on Saturday night, who took down information. They have warned all neighbors on the East of the UteTrail (they are on the east side of the ridge, Ute Trail is on the westside of the same ridge at the water treatment plant) which many Manitou residents hike or run. They also have tried to think of (and contact) any residents with elementary age children on Minnehaha, Pine Terrace, Illinois, Pilot Knob, etc, but as the elementary student phone book has not published yet, we may have missed some. They have also tried to warn those with dogs to keep them close, and indoors as much as possible, until they have more information from DOW. As they understand it, a cougar takes dogs when the cougar either is very young ande stablishing territory, or old, and unable pull down deer, or starving(as in a drought year), and will have a range of 5-10 square miles. Families, let's all work together and be vigilent to protect one another and our children! Christine L, Secretary, Manitou Springs Elementary School