Santa Paula Police responded to the area but were unable to locate the mountain lion.“I was shook that the cat felt comfortable enough,” to be sitting under the truck.Harrison believes the lion was “either curious or stalking the grandkids” playing right across the street.She was so concerned she contacted State Fish and Game but the communication several days later did not comfort her.The representative Harrison spoke to “Was very polite and trying his darnest to accommodate me” including imparting information that he believed the sighting was of a juvenile “domesticated and not getting fearful” as it grows older.Neighborhood residents have noticed in recent months that small wildlife - such as raccoons and opossums - have “Been disappearing and they were prolific. And coyotes were a fact of life in the riverbed and we haven’t heard them in months so they’re staying away,” probably to elude mountain lions.The Fish and Game representative told Harrison that the agency must make three determinations before they take action or issue a time-limited license to kill the animal: “I would have to locate something on my property” such as the remains of an animal, report a lion having a close brush with a human with no signs that the animal is afraid or “circumstances that would be deemed dangerous enough” to warrant destroying the cat.An example offered to Harrison occurred in a Northern California schoolyard where the animal was reported to be in a tree.The report was considered highly unusual due to the large presence and activity of students: when Fish and Game arrived on scene “The warden shot the cat right then and there ... “Harrison said she hoped “Fish and Game would step up” and try to trap the animal seen in the Oaks but the sighting “did not meet the criteria ...I’m trying to be vigilant and I’ve determined my grandchildren are not safe even in the front yard” of my home.A favorite animated film of the grandchildren is “Madagascar” and Harrison said it’s ironic that at one point the lion hero’s instincts kick in when his best friend, a zebra, is transformed in the lion’s mind into a juicy steak.No harm comes to the zebra, but Harrison knows the film is not applicable to real life: “These cats are not like that and that mountain lion under the pickup truck might think it’s a neat place to live, but he’s never going to see us as friends ... they see us as steak.”
Oaks mountain lion sighting breaks rules of animals’ inherent behavior
April 15, 2009
Santa Paula News
A mountain lion sighting in the Oaks area of Santa Paula seems to have broken several rules of the wildcats’ inherent behavior ... and residents are worried.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesA mountain lion sighting in the Oaks area of Santa Paula seems to have broken several rules of the wildcats’ inherent behavior ... and residents are worried.According to mountain lion experts the animals are most active from dusk to dawn and tend to avoid areas where more than one human is present, but the recent afternoon sighting that occurred on Cliff Drive near the intersection of Forest Drive seems to have mimicked other troubling Santa Paula reports that have occurred regularly since Feb. 12.According to Police Chief Steve MacKinnon, as of April 11 there have been 22 reported sightings of mountain lions throughout the city’s residential areas ... and, he noted, as many as a third more might not have been reported at all.On April 3 Patty Harrison’s three grandchildren were playing outside and residents were walking their dogs through the neighborhood, which backs up the Santa Paula Creek area, a known wildlife crossing area.Harrison said her daughter-in-law was jogging and the children - 1, 4 and 6 year olds - were playing in the front yard.“Tuesday we got the 9-1-1 reverse call that the cat was seen two doors down from us to the north” so Harrison decided not to let the children out back where the property is closest to the creek area.From 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. the neighborhood was busy: “There must have been 10 groups that walked by,” including two neighbors that had up to six dogs they were going to walk by the creek.Within minutes of her daughter-in-law’s return a cry went up from a neighbor that a cat was across the street from Harrison’s property under a vehicle parked in a driveway.“It was about 30 to 40 pounds and had been laying under the pickup truck watching” neighborhood activity. “We didn’t know how long it had been there ... “The cat, noted Harrison, did not cross the street to return to the creek area but rather ran deeper into the Oaks’ neighborhood.Harrison believes that the mountain lion “Came out from behind the homes, it’s an assumption I’m making,” especially since the cat had not been spotted by creek area walkers.
