Dead Mountain Lion Gives Trail Runner A Scare

POINT MUGU STATE PARK (CBSLA.com) — Thousand Oaks resident Wesley Roelke was running in Pt. Mugu State Park recently when he came across what he thought was a log in the middle of the trail.

But when Roelke got closer, he realized the object was actually a dead mountain lion.

Although the large cat was lying motionless on the trail, it still gave Roelke quite the scare. He said he ran as fast as he could towards the ranger station.

"I took off down that trail ... like that thing was chasing me," he said.

The incident took place on Sept. 30.

Authorities later determined that the mountain lion -- identified at P-34 -- died from ingesting rodent poison.

It was just one of several recent mountain lion deaths in the area that has been attributed to ingesting rodent poison.