It’s so very sad Paul has yet to be found. I was at the park yesterday - Spirit Rock - enjoying a nice walk through nature’s relics. There’s something spectacular and alluring about the landscape there - it makes you feel like you are a part of it and in that you feel invincible, wanting to climb boulders that normally you would have the sense to steer clear from.
But we aren’t the land. The land is it’s own beast with its own strange rules based not on playfulness, but survival. This past year a Mountain Lion was shot in a chicken coop in Yucca Valley, Another one witnessed at the preserve where I live that is right next to Joshua Tree Park. There’s also been a family of bears seen recently. Another huge mountain lion hit by a motorist and killed on the highway right outside the park. You can see videos of the mountain lions, who often like to stalk mountain goats, caught on the game cams at Joshua Tree.
Imagine you are the lion in the heat of the summer. You need to stalk places that look like they might have water and life feeding from the water. You are going to stalk in the morning or evening when it is cooler (and bc that’s when mountain lions stalk). The few mountain lion attacks in California were almost a direct result of the lion being interested in someone who was moving quickly, and eventually running quickly from the lion like prey.
I’m not meaning to be cruel, but instead offer the opinion of a local who knows this land. I believe he possibly wandered off bc he thought he saw a herd of mountain goats which he had wanted to photograph. He met with a predator, specifically a mountain lion, while he was on his morning hike looking for mountain goats. Unfortunately the lion killed him and dragged him somewhere in the expansive bouldered area only for the coyotes to take the scraps. Whatever was left likely slipped between the cracks of those rocks and carried off. Add to that the arid dry heat, wind that can knock a tree over, and monsoons... you get the picture. Not much left can withstand that. Also there’s a huge canyon with multiple washes near the oasis. That isn’t so good either.
The mountain lions here are a big reason why I don’t let my dogs sleep outside at night any time of the year. They are a very real threat to livestock and people and no one expects them to be out here. The park tells you to avoid hiking alone so that mountain lions can’t attack you (among other important reasons to never hike alone). Since another hiker saw Paul I assume now that Paul did not disappear of his own will and likely was a victim of the elements/nature. Mountain lion attacks are increasing as their habitats are becoming limited to smaller areas due to roads/developments, making them hunt for prey they typically wouldn’t seek out. It’s also causing inbreeding in the mountain lion population, which also could account for them becoming more aggressive and choosing to seek out prey they typically wouldn’t.