WOMAN REPORTS COUGAR SIGHTING.

Byline: Lisa Van Proyen Daily News Staff Writer

A woman taking her dog on a morning walk Tuesday in Valencia's Summit Park reported spotting a mountain lion roaming the neighborhood, but officials who responded searched the area and found no cougar.

California Department of Fish and Game officials, alongside Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's deputies, searched the trails through the park on foot and by helicopter for two hours after the 10:05 a.m. report, said Lt. Steve Dolan of the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's station.

Nothing turned up, said Patrick Moore, a spokesman for the state Department of Fish and Game.

Several mountain lion sightings have occurred in this area within the past six weeks. On Feb. 25, a game warden gunned down one cougar that ventured into a family's back yard in Valencia.

Officials speculate that the cougars are wandering into neighborhoods lately because their habitat, which includes the bordering Santa Susana Mountains west of the Golden State Freeway, is dwindling.

The area of Tuesday's reported sighting is filled with natural parkland, oak trees, tall grass and brush.

``It's perfect mountain lion habitat,'' Moore said.

There were no signs of cougars found in the area because the tall grass hid any paw prints, the spokesman said.

``Each year that goes by, we get more and more mountain lion reports. It's pretty much reached capacity,'' he said.

The big cats are territorial, fighting among themselves for living space, Moore said. Typically, it is the younger, older or weaker mountain lions that are pushed out of their habitat by the more fit.

``Most often, they're the younger ones. They just can't stay and fight older cats,'' Moore said.