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always for the community VOL 25 NO 3
March 2020
www.valleysentinel.com
SPOTLIGHT
Scout Receives Gold Award
ECRWSS
Postmaster: Dated Material
PRESORTED STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID DANVILLE, CA PERMIT NO. 70
Girl Scout Sophia Nunes received her Gold Award last month at Crow Canyon Country Club. The Gold Award is the highest honor in Girl Scouting. Sophia graduated from Monte Vista High School In May 2019 and is currently studying Photography and History at Las Positas College. Her Gold Award project was called “Recess at the Memorial” which is located in front of the San Ramon Valley School District Office. Her work involved building a bench from refurbished redwood, pouring a cement slab as a base, planting a native oak tree, and setting a plaque in a large fossil-filled stone from the area. The project is a tribute to all those who have served the students of the San Ramon Valley Unified School District.
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It’s time again to get out and drink in the fabulous displays of wildflowers in our parks and open spaces. This photo is actually from the Magee Ranch Preserve, and was taken by Scott Hein for Save Mt. Diablo. Don’t forget to cast your votes on March 3!
The Truth About Mountain Lions By James M. Hale
Mountain lion ancestors originated in North America around 10 million years ago from the ancestral stock of Saber-toothed Cats (Smilodon fatalis) and Scimitar Cat (Homotherium serum) which originated around 25 million years ago. The Sabertoothed cats lived between 2.5 million years ago to 10,000 years ago.The mountain lion lineage branched off around 1 million years ago. The two species of saber tooth cats, as well as the North American Cheetah (Miracinonyx trumani)and the North American Lion (Panthera atrox) were extirpated in North America around 10,000 years ago, starting with the Younger Dryas Cold Spell or Big Freeze (12,800 - 11,500 Before Present) during the end of the Pleistocene Epoch (2,588,000 - 11,700 million years ago). Climate change at the end of the Pleistocene and perhaps overexploitation by the PaleoIndians led to the extinction of the Megafauna.
Mountain lion populations flourished thereafter. Mountain lions (Puma concolor) are presently the only large, obligate carnivore thriving in self-sustaining populations across western North America. The species has existed here along with its major prey - Mule Deer ( Odocoileus hemionus), White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Elk (Cervus elaphus), Moose (Alces alces), and Bighorn Sheep (Ovis canadensis) - for at least 13,000 years. Ecologically, mountain lions strongly influence energy flow in ecosystems, are a potent selective force on prey animals, modulate prey population dynamics, indirectly affect herbivory in plant communities, influence competitive interactions b e t we e n h e r b i vo re s, a n d compete with other carnivores
for prey. Moreover, because self-sustaining mountain l i o n p o p u l a t i o n s re q u i re expansive, interconnected wild land, conservation strategies designed to benefit mountain lions also benefit an array of other wildlife. Unregulated mountain lion hunting and habitat alterations that affected prey numbers, caused the near extinction of the mountain lion in eastern North America. By 1900, mountain
lions had largely been extirpated east of the Rocky Mountains, with the exception of Florida. Through the first half of the 20th century, management emphasized preemptive eradication. Bounties were paid as an incentive to remove mountain lions for protection of wild ungulates and domestic livestock. The payments were
This Month’s Special Section:
Spring Home & Garden
pages 10-11
See LIONS page 4