21-04-2025
Mountain lion spotted on San Marcos trail after several reports of dead deer
After multiple reports of dead deer along a suburban trailway in Central Texas, a mountain lion was spotted climbing down from a tree before quickly fleeing the area.
According to a release from the City of San Marcos, a city worker from the trail crew saw the big cat near Dante Trail in the Purgatory Creek Natural Area, specifically in a section known as Middle Purgatory.
This marks the first reported sighting of a cougar in Hays County.
'As always, please use caution when exploring our natural areas. These greenspaces are home to many types of wildlife,' San Marcos officials said on Facebook.
'If you encounter a mountain lion: do not approach it. Give it space and a way to escape — most will avoid confrontation.'
Mountain lion sightings often see a seasonal uptick, but the timing can depend on both environmental conditions and regional behavior patterns. In many areas, spring brings an increase in sightings — not necessarily because the lions are more active, but because warmer temperatures draw more people outdoors, leading to a spike in reported encounters.
However, wildlife experts do note that late winter through early spring is a period of increased movement, as young lions begin to leave their mothers and establish new territories. This dispersal, paired with a rise in prey activity such as deer, tends to draw mountain lions closer to areas where people might spot them.
In colder regions, winter may actually be the prime season for observing these elusive predators. According to the website mountain lions rely on their keen tracking skills, particularly in snowy environments where they can follow fresh tracks left by prey like deer and small mammals. With a relatively weak sense of smell, mountain lions depend heavily on visual cues, and snow-covered landscapes offer clear advantages when stalking food.
In places like Texas, where snow is rare and the climate is more humid and subtropical, mountain lions adapt by using other environmental signs — such as disturbed leaves, broken twigs, and faint trails through vegetation — to track their prey.
Mountain lions are native to Texas, but they are not commonly seen in most areas. They are primarily found in the Trans-Pecos region, the brushlands of South Texas and the western Hill Country. Sightings in public neighborhoods are rare, and North Texas is generally not considered part of their native range.
While an exact estimate of the mountain lion population in Texas is unavailable, it is believed to range from a few hundred to as many as 7,000.
In an effort to get a better understanding of the population, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission recently updated hunting and trapping regulations for mountain lions for the first time in 50 years, a step toward more modern wildlife management practices.
In a May 23 meeting, the commission unanimously voted to ban canned hunting of mountain lions and introduced new rules for trapping the large wild cat species. The decision followed a period of public comment, with more than 91% of the 7,531 comments supporting the ban on canned hunting and the implementation of a 36-hour trap or snare check.
The next step involves mandatory lion harvest reporting. This standard will provide valuable data on the species' abundance, causes of mortality and population trends, helping wildlife officials better understand the state's mountain lion population.
According to the Parks and Wildlife Department, there has never been a recorded death caused by a mountain lion in the state. However, an archived New York Times article reports that in 1911, before the wildlife department began tracking the species, a 3-year-old boy was mauled by a mountain lion inside his home.
Mountain lions are described by the parks department as "relatively uncommon, secretive animals." Over the past 70 years, only eight mountain lion attacks have been documented in Big Bend National Park. Six occurred on hiking trails, one at a visitor campsite and one near the Chisos Mountains Lodge.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Mountain lion spotted on San Marcos trail. See map of Texas sightings
