LION SIGHTINGS UP AS SPRING NEARS.

Byline: Erik Nelson Staff Writer

March has come in like a lion to the hillsides of the San Fernando Valley - so much so that it looked, smelled and sounded like a big, tawny cat.

On Wednesday, a mountain lion was captured in Hidden Hills. And residents of Granada Hills, Encino, Tarzana, Woodland Hills, West Hills and Granada Hills have reported seeing the big cats this year.

Wildlife experts warned that the sightings may be a harbinger of things to come.

Coyotes also are likely to proliferate as the scavengers give birth to large litters during the area's lush season of regrowth.

``The conditions have been very good for wildlife,'' said Patrick Moore, spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Game. ``We expect that we're going to see a bumper crop of various critters, and now and then, they're going to lose their way and people are going to see them.''

In the last several months, two dozen sightings of mountain lions alone have been made, estimated Capt. Richard Felosky, manager of the city's West Valley Animal Care and Control Center in Chatsworth. The rest of the period's 50 sightings reported to the center have been of coyotes, except for two bobcat reports.

That might spell a rekindling of resident's fear of the animals and conflict with animal rights advocates who oppose trapping them. Last fall, Northridge and Woodland Hills residents sought help from the city when coyotes made themselves at home in their residential neighborhoods.

Felosky's staff set traps to relocate the animals, but the traps were quickly ordered removed by the city's Animal Services Commission after it heard protests from animal rights groups. That trapping ban remains in effect.

On Jan. 26, a Northridge resident reported one of the wild canines jumping into her fenced dog run, entering a doggie door to the garage and assaulting her Maltese. The dog was reportedly recovering.

This time mountain lions, also known as pumas, cougars or panthers, might be the source of friction, now that one has been caught in Hidden Hills.

Felosky said it could be that the lion, which state Fish and Wildlife workers caught and drove two hours back into the mountains for release, may have been the same one sighted by residents of Canoga Park and Woodland Hills.

Since a state hunting moratorium in 1972, pumas have made a slow but undeniably successful comeback from the first half of the 20th century, when hunters were paid bounties for mountain lion carcasses.

Today, however, ``the habitat is full. We're up to our armpits in mountain lions in this state,'' Moore said. ``There's not much habitat left for them.''

That is, unless you include the sidewalk on garbage pickup day. That's where a Chatsworth resident reported seeing a puma on the prowl Jan. 3, according to a city wildlife sighting report.

On Jan. 27, Tina Hanks said she and her husband, David, heard what they thought was a heavy person walking on the roof of their house in West Hills.

``He ran outside and he saw it,'' or its face, at least, with ``big, glowing eyes'' reflecting his flashlight beam.

``We were a little concerned because there are kids around the neighborhood. We called our neighbors and made sure everybody was aware that this was going on,'' Tina Hanks said.

It was no surprise, then, to Hanks and six other people who reported sightings since December when state wildlife authorities were called in by county sheriff's deputies to track down a wayward cougar in Hidden Hills.

The initial sighting at Long Valley and Clear Valley roads led to a search for the animal that had a few tense moments, Moore said.

``The sheriff's deputies saw the mountain lion and the mountain lion saw them. The deputies skedaddled out of there and so did the mountain lion,'' Moore said, adding that both species were wise to avoid a direct confrontation.

Eventually state wildlife authorities used tranquilizer darts to subdue the animal, fit it with a radio tracking device and ship it into the mountains in an air-conditioned truck.

KEEPING SAFE FROM MOUNTAIN LIONS:

-- Don't feed wildlife. Attracting deer or other animals to your home could make it a feeding ground for predators, too.

-- Keep shrubs to a minimum, especially where children play. They attract prey animals and provide cover for lions.

-- Use outdoor lighting, especially on walkways. Lions hunt at night.

-- Keep pets secure and children in sight. Dogs and house cats are easy prey. Children should stay indoors after dark.

-- Put fencing around shrubs to discourage animals from visiting.

CAPTION(S):

map, 2 boxes

Map: Lion captured here Wednesday - Hidden Hills

Traci Wooden/Staff Artist

Box:

(1) MARCH IN WITH THE LIONS

Locations of mountain lion sightings reported from December through March to the city's West Valley Animal Care and Control Center.

(2) KEEPING SAFE FROM MOUNTAIN LIONS (See text)