Editor:

There were some remarks that are common and were repeated in "Lion Stories" (June 26) that are simply no longer true since the hunting ban was implemented.

One was that mountain lions avoid people. In fact the Wildlife spokesman Hughan "suspects" mountain lions avoid areas where people live. Well they don't of course — why they are rarely seen is because they avoid being seen. I think people would be creeped out by the number of times they are being watched by lions when they have no idea the lion is there. As was Ms. Way when the lion revealed itself by snatching a cat.

And then there is that old chestnut about most attacks being carried out by sick, old or inexperienced lions as if that is a comfort to someone whose skull is being crunched — "at least he really didn't mean it personally."

I agree that mountain lions don't seem to travel up roads but they certainly cross them. That was the way I saw my first mountain lion up close. He crossed the road in front of my car. But they do use deer trails routinely. If you see a tunnel in the brush that deer have used, then a mountain lion probably has that marked in its mind as a place to ambush dinner.

I do agree with Ms. Crandell that dogs do more damage to livestock but that is a fact changing gradually with the increase in mountain lion population causing much more contact with livestock.

Priscilla Neher, Eureka