Here kitty, kitty, kitty

During this afternoon's lunch hour, I paid a visit to the BIA. I had been calling around town looking for a map of the local fire trails. LaCosta had told me these trails are a nice alternative to running on the roads. The random worker I questioned in the hallway of the building was nice enough to provide me with what I was looking for.

While we were waiting for the map to print, he told me about the mountain lions. This was the first I'd heard of them in this area, although he'd only ever seen tracks. I had been wondering if there were any predators I should be worried about encountering while out running. In Juneau, it was bears. When I was down in Louisiana back in April, I was wary of alligators while running on the levies. And here, it's mountain lions.

I know what to do when surprising a bear: make a lot of noise, put my arms in the air to appear larger to the bear, play dead. But mountain lions? Sadly, but humorously, my first thought when he mentioned them was a scene in the original Parent Trap movie. You know, the classic with Hayley Mills and Hayley Mills. The twins, their father Mitch, and his fiancée Vicky go camping. The girls want to break them up so their parents have a chance of reconciling, so they conspire to make Vicky's life miserable in an attempt to drive her (and her mother) away. Anyway, to make her look foolish in front of Mitch, the twins tell Vicky the way to scare off mountain lions is to bang two sticks together. Those girls!

So, when I go check out the fire trails, I'll be sure to find a couple sticks to take with me, just in case. I feel safer already.