WEST HILLS ANGERED BY RESPONSE TO COUGARS.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

A mountain lion approached two teen-agers near Chatsworth Reservoir recently and was spotted nearby six other times, but wildlife officials said Friday they won't try to capture and relocate the cat until they believe it poses a danger.

The wait-and-see approach has angered residents, including the mother of a boy who says he was stalked with his girlfriend as they walked home in the 8700 block of Moorcroft Avenue in West Hills. They escaped unharmed after scaring the cat with a stick.

``I don't think it's reasonable for me to accept a predatory animal in my back yard. And that seems to be the one thing everyone is forgetting,'' said Heather Underwood, the boy's mother.

Wildlife officers conceded the number of sightings are at an all-time high, largely because hot weather is drawing the cats out of the hills in search of food and water for their litters.

But they said they are not yet convinced the lion seen near the reservoir is dangerous, and relocating it must be done carefully to ensure the animal's safety.

``If I thought for a moment this needed to be done, I'd be out there doing it,'' said Lt. Richard Felosky of the West Valley Animal Control and Care Center. ``We're going to keep an eye on this mountain lion. If it continues to frequent her home, we'll have to do something.

``I guess the most important reason is we do not have, in my estimation, the elements to make a move,'' he said.

Fish and Game Warden Marty Wall said he will investigate the sighting. ``My concern is there is not a lot of solid truth here to go on,'' he said. ``There is a lot of imagination and speculation. There seems to be a lot of emotions attached to this incident.''

About five weeks ago, Wall investigated a report of a resident near the reservoir who lost a dog. He found lion tracks and the dead dog nearby.

But even with these reports, Wall said he is not convinced the lion needs to be relocated. ``Nobody relocates mountain lions but us, and that would be in the most extremely unusual circumstances,'' he said.

Three families along Moorcroft Avenue, south of the reservoir, have seen the cat, and they report cases of missing pets. Another mountain lion - perhaps the same one, officials say - was reported July 23 on the north side of the reservoir. In that case, the cat confronted people.

``The animal did not run away,'' said California Fish and Game spokesman Patrick Moore. ``It growled when it saw people. Generally, the animals will take off when they see people.''

But he said, ``Any animal that acts aggressive will be dealt with accordingly. We can't have mountain lions attacking people and that has happened in this state.''

Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson's spokesman Ali Sar said Felosky assured the councilman that if residents feel threatened, officers will ``respond immediately.''

Over the past 30 years, mountain lions have been captured and relocated in the San Fernando Valley only twice. But this year the number of sightings is at an all-time high, Felosky said.

In July, there were six mountain lion sightings in the West Valley area, including July 18 and July 22 near the Chatsworth Reservoir, July 11, July 14 and July 18 in Woodland Hills and July 26 in Granada Hills.

``I would say the number of sightings are at an all-time high, or very close to it,'' Felosky said, adding he instructed his officers to start keeping statistics on the sightings in July because he noticed an increase.

Close call with a cat

The latest sighting occurred about 2 a.m. July 23 in the 8700 block of Moorcroft Avenue in West Hills, south of the reservoir.

Underwood said she was reading in her family room when she heard her son yell, ``Don't run.''

She looked out and saw a mountain lion in the back yard and behind her son and his girlfriend.

``The cat came up from behind them,'' said Underwood.

The 19-year-old picked up a stick and waved it at the big cat, as his girlfriend ran toward the door of the house. Underwood turned on the outside light and the cat ran away, slipping into a culvert.

Underwood said the panther was five feet long with a long, sweeping tail, and she believes it may be living under an abandoned house near the culvert with its cub. After the encounter, she said she smelled a fetid odor in the area, which wildlife officials say is a possible indication that the animal is injured and is looking for easy prey or had remains of a prey animal nearby.

Not first encounter

The Underwood family and their neighbors have seen the lion at least six times in their back yards in recent weeks, three of those in the daytime.

``It was sitting in my back yard,'' said Sam Moutran, Underwood's neighbor. ``We opened the door and screamed at it and it would not budge. It just looked at me. I saw her in Heather's back yard with her cub.''

Underwood reported the incident to the West Valley animal shelter. Felosky believed the incident required further investigation and he called the California Fish and Game Department to look into the matter.

``I believe it jumps in a lot of yards,'' Felosky said. ``It's probably looking for cats and dogs.

In making the decision to relocate the animals, authorities follow a system of monitoring increasingly aggressive encounters with the animals.

``If it's skinny and limping, it will have to take easier prey,'' Felosky said. ``These are the elements that have historically led up to an incident. If it kills a pet, it's still a low-grade incident. If it comes in your back yard and takes a pet, that kicks it up a notch. If they frequent your yard and encounter human beings, that's when we have to act.''

Lynn Sadler, executive director of the 26,000-member Mountain Lion Foundation in Sacramento, said the wildlife preservation organization always hopes cougars that pose problems can be relocated and not killed.

``We always hope it can be sent to a rescue station and not killed,'' she said. ``It's not like we have spare (mountain) lions.''

Relocating cougars is difficult.

``Where do I take it? To another person's back yard?'' Felosky said. ``Do I take it to an area where another lion quite possibly might kill it. Or minimally drive it out and it might come back. They can travel great distances and come home if you will.

``A third reason is if the animal takes some sickness or disease it has in its system to another area, you would infect the animals inhabiting that area,'' he said.

LION FACTS

About half of California is prime mountain lion habitat, and an estimated 6,000 to 10,000 lions live in the state.

Adult males can be more than 8 feet long, weighing 130 to 200 pounds. Females can be 7 feet long, weighing 65 to 90 pounds.

The population has grown since hunting the animals was banned in 1972 and they were listed as protected in 1990.

AVOIDING ATTACKS

To lessen the likelihood of a mountain lion attack, authorities recommend:

Don't feed wild animals.

Remove vegetation animals can hide in near homes.

Install outdoor lighting.

Keep pets inside.

Keep a close watch on children playing outside.

If hiking, carry a walking stick to fend off an animal or bring a leashed dog along, which can alert its owner of a mountain lion.

If a mountain lion is encountered:

Do not run.

Do not crouch or bend over.

Raise your arms to make yourself look larger.

Fight back if attacked.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, 2 Boxes, Map

PHOTO (Color) no caption (Mountain lion)

BOX: (1) LION FACTS (see text)

(2) AVOIDING ATTACKS (see text)

MAP: MOUNTAIN LION SIGHTINGS

(1) A young girl and boy were stalked by a mountain lion in 8700 block of Moorcroft Avenue.

(2--6) 5 other sightings in the 8700 block of Moorcroft Avenue

(7) 1 sighting north of the Chatsworth Reservoir near Valley Circle Boulevard