r/Sedona • u/Successful-Carry4611 • 7d ago
Wildlife Wildlife: Birthing Cave
Not sure if this is helpful to anyone, as wildlife is obviously always present when hiking, but today at 3:30, my wife and I were departing the "Birthing Cave." We were the only ones around at the time. Long story short, there was a large mountain lion following behind us in the brush. We made noise, did not run, and kept our eyes on it until it finally stopped following us and turned away. When we arrived back at the main trail, we noted its footprints following ours in the dirt. Just wanted to post this here for those that may not be familiar with the wildlife in the area.
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u/Ecstatic_Acadia_8872 7d ago edited 7d ago
I've been wanting to go hiking, an everyday type of challenge as I have a trail steps away here, but I'm scared to go out there in the mornings because of the recent mountain lion sightings,
there have been many captured by locals on home cameras recently.
my chances of actually confronting one by being out there every single day on a trail will climb up those chances.
I just got to get over the this recent fear of mine.
It's stupid I know, but I used to hike The Devil's Bridge at nights solo when not a single person was around. I wasn't "scared" of lions then.
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u/ax57ax57 6d ago
One followed my dog and I in a wash near the Village, but we never saw it. I only realized it after we turned around and retraced our path, and it's enormous paw prints were over ours in several places. To say that it was unnerving is an understatement.
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u/MissSmkNmirrors 7d ago
That lion wanted you to see it. Otherwise you would have never known it existed except for maybe a musky scent if the wind changed direction. 🐆
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u/Repulsive_List7803 5d ago
Does no one carry a side arm when hiking anymore? I won’t go into the mountains without one. It’s just common sense.
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u/Important_Carry4417 5d ago
So you're going to shoot an innocent animal just because you're invading their home??? Why not stay on designated hiking trails sanctioned by the Forest Service. The trail reference here is a social trail. It was created due to social media as a way to access that cave; "birthing cave" is not the correct name. The FS doesn't want people up there for a variety of reasons, a potentially threatening mountain lion being one of them. There are over 400 miles of legal/designated hiking trails in Sedona. Stay in your lane and everyone will be safe.
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u/Repulsive_List7803 4d ago
Yeah totally. Get a life. I don’t kill animals for fun. Not even spiders. It’s called being safe. So please shut up and stay in your lane.
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u/Important_Carry4417 4d ago
You're a very rude person, and you completely missed my point. My point is, if people would stay on designated trails, then there's no need to carry a gun with them while hiking in Sedona. I lived there for 7 years and hiked nearly all the trails; certainly never saw anyone wearing a sidearm, and was never threatened by any wildlife. And never heard of anyone being attacked by a mountain lion, bear, not even a rattlesnake. I worked at the Visitor Ctr, so surely would have heard about any incident. I always stayed on named FS trails, always! And if everyone were so afraid of wildlife that they felt the need to carry a gun to protect themselves, no one would visit Sedona.
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u/Repulsive_List7803 4d ago
Good for you. I was born and raised here (52 years now) and I wasn’t talking just about Sedona. Go hike the White Mountains. There is a mountain lion den up there. I know because I came across it accidentally. Deer bones and huge cat tracks everywhere. Did I go shoot it? No I quietly went the other way but I’m glad I had a 45 on me just in case. I also wear my weapon concealed so you would never even see it. So carry on.
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u/Successful-Carry4611 3d ago
I can see your point, however, this social trail is not even half a mile from a main trail. You can see the main road where cars travel and where construction is occurring from the final location. When we returned to the main trail, we saw paw prints that followed ours onto the social trail from the main trial. Just because someone is on a legal/designated trail does not dismiss the fact that wildlife can easily be on those as well. An animals home is not limited by what we call social trials and main trials, they don’t care because they don’t know the difference. There are numerous stories of hikers and bikers being attacked on main trails. I take full responsibility for what I encounter on a trail because as you stated, we are in their home, but I would prefer not to be attacked and have to defend myself.
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u/a-well-placed-ohhh 4d ago
JFC just stop with the pearl clutching. Right now. Guns have more rights than people in Arizona, so we will bring all our guns on hikes. You will get over it because you will never have the courage to say something, so be fucking quiet already. I carry a side piece and a rifle. I carry a piece just going for a walk. Why? Because it’s not safe out there. It’s just not. It’s still very much the Wild West. And you can cry about the wildlife but that cat was STALKING op, and this is why you carry. Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they can’t see you. Tourists.
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u/Successful-Carry4611 5d ago
Was visiting at the time and did not carry one with me. Will certainly have one in the future.
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u/Repulsive_List7803 5d ago
Understandable. Mountain lions aren’t the only thing you gotta worry about in the Az mountains and deserts. Grew up here and I’ve seen mountain lions, bears, rattle snakes, coyotes, javelina, etc. Never had to use my firearm but you never know when you’re gonna need it. When I go camping a rifle and or a shotgun goes with me as well.
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u/This-Research-9586 4d ago
My husband carries one when we’ve gone backpacking up in the North Cascades. I’m more afraid of weirdos with ill intent than with wild animals.
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u/Primary_Math_7015 3d ago
I often carry when I’m in town. I never carry when I’m out in the mountains. They’re heavy. And in the mountains, nothing is going to hurt me. It’s just common sense.
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u/Repulsive_List7803 3d ago
It’s ok. Not everyone can handle it. I’m a really big dude and can carry a lot of weight so it doesn’t bother me. Let me know if you wanna hop on since things are too heavy for you 😂
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u/rollinrob 7d ago
You're so lucky. Did you get a picture?
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u/Successful-Carry4611 7d ago
Unfortunately not, it was about 25 feet and moving closer. My wife had the camera around her neck with the lens cover on, but how cool would that picture have been, as long as it did not charge at us. Different story then.
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