He looks like this.
I tol’ you an’ I tol’ you- there’a a mountain lion in them thar hills. Except when I called the city, what, four… six months ago, nobody listened. If you recall it’s not that I wanted the lion hunted down, I called because my daughter convinced me that a little kid might get ‘et. And she said I would feel awful if a little kid got ‘et.
But the city said, “Uh-huh. That’s nice. Thanks.”
And I said, “Aren’t you even going to put up a notice?”
And the city said, “Thanks for calling.”
And I said, “Not even a sign on the bulletin board near the parking lot?”
And the city said, “Thanks for calling!” All chipper-like this time, just so I’d know for certain I’d been dismissed.
So I said to myself, “What the hey, if they can ignore a mountain lion in close proximity to the preschool (and the preschool kids who hike up there with just a couple of adults) then by god, so can I. And I’ve seen him several times since. On one occasion I did stop a runner… a woman running on the backside of the park wearing a hoodie and earbuds. She was looking at the ground as I stood looking at the mountain lion chase a doe and two fawns. I actually had to block her path and explain to her, in my eclectic mix of Hebrew and Spanish, (because the two languages are jumbled together in my brain) that there was a mountain lion just up the hillside so she should wait and hike the rest of the way to the top with me.
She kind of responded like the city… ignored me. She waited a few minutes then ran off ahead.
So yesterday the city shut down the park and began a major police/animal control action because, OMG! A park maintenance man spotted a mountain lion while he was driving up the main trail in his four-wheel drive truck at 6:30 a.m. to empty trash cans.
The entire area had a collective panic attack. Police sirens blared. Orange barricades went up, email blasts went out… it was crraaaaazy, I tells ya. Crraaaazy.
Fortunately cooler head prevailed and hikers simply moved the barricades aside and went off on their hikes. Besides, according to the local newspaper, Fish and Game never returned the city’s calls. Which makes me laugh. Turn about is fair play.
Here’s the article: Mountain Lion Sighting Briefly Closes Westwood Hills Park.
Read it — Golden retriever my ass. Hubby and I took our usual hike today (nobody was there but us) and we saw fresh mountain lion scat at the summit. He’d obviously been eating some of the gray squirrels. The reason the cat was near the road is because when the savvy city deer feel threatened they head for civilization, which means the main road.
However the preschool hiking group did not show up today. Sad. All they need to do is stick to the main trail and make sure an adult stays in the rear.
Here’s a Jake faux pas for you- He decided he needed to, pardon my French, poop in the backyard this morning, but the sprinklers were on. He found a relatively dry corner and did his business. When I headed out, bag in hand, to pick it up, he bounded outside after me, all happy and excited because he’s always happy and excited because as far as he’s concerned almost everything we do is fun. He bounded right past me and stepped right in it. Oh the horror! The look on his face was priceless, so human. He does not like to step in dog poop.
