Last Thursday night, a mountain lion was spotted taking a cat off off a porch on Edgewater Drive.
Resident Sid Donnell said shortly before 10 p.m. he heard a loud noise and went out of his door, where he saw the lion with the cat in his jaws going down the stairs of his porch.
“The cat, Oscar, has been around our neighborhood for years,” said Donnell. “He goes from house to house, plays with the local kids, and makes friends with everyone that comes around the area.”
Donnell said the mountain lion appeared smaller than one recently photographed at Wheeler Point.
He said he notified the sheriff's office dispatch immediately.
Several reports have been made around the summer about mountain lions in neighborhoods – with reports from Nice to Lakeport to Kelseyville. A large cat was also believed to have been roaming a Lucerne neighborhood in recent weeks.
Fish and Game Warden Loren Freeman, who couldn't be reached for comment on the situation, told Lake County News in an interview last month that he's been receiving more reports about mountain lions this summer.
He advised against leaving out food or water for pets, and reminded area residents that feeding deer – which is illegal – is the No. 1 reason mountain lions end up in neighborhoods, because they follow the prey there.
While mountain lions are known to be in Lake County, Donnell worried that the animals are actively hunting in peoples' yards and around their homes, which means they don't fear humans. He said he doesn't believe mountain lions have been frequent guests to the neighborhood until recently.
“I'm concerned that someone is going to get attacked,” he said.” We have a number of women that walk in this area in the early morning hours. Someone needs to alert the community that the cats aren't just hunting in the wildland, they are hunting in our front yards.”
California Fish & Game's “Keep Me Wild” Web site's page on mountain lions (www.dfg.ca.gov/keepmewild/lion.html) urges against hiking, biking or jogging alone in at dawn, dusk or nighttime in areas where mountain lions are active.
It's also critical to not leave small children and pets outside unattended, Fish & Game reported.
If a person does spot one of the lions, don't approach them, and don't run; instead, face them, make noise and try to look bigger by waving arms, or throwing rocks or other objects. Should an attack occur, fight back.
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