A Stray Cat That Nobody Wanted to Pour Milk For

Like a lost kitty, a 115-pound mountain lion sought temporary refuge Saturday in the backyard tree of a Mission Viejo home.

But the big cat did not make 24958 Tree Ave. his home for long. A call to the Sheriff’s Department brought out a helicopter, animal control officers and sheriff’s deputies. The cat managed to elude them all for about two hours before Paul Henisey, who lives several houses down the street, saw in a bush what at first looked like “the hindquarters of a big German shepherd.”

“Then I saw him look up at me and I realized it was a mountain lion,” Henisey said.

The mountain lion, a young adult male, was tranquilized with a dart from a rifle and taken to the County Animal Shelter in Orange. But not before stirring a bit of agitation in the neighborhood, where a handful of residents had been calling in for several days to report the presence of a wild animal, said Jack Edwards, the shelter’s kennel services chief.

“It was the most excitement this place has ever seen,” said Richard Panneck, who lives at 24992 Tree Ave.

Henisey said he didn’t pay attention to dogs barking at first, but the helicopter buzzing overhead and the deputies armed with shotguns caught his attention.

“Our kids were playing outside by the corner of the fence. . . . I walked over to the corner and looked over the fence and saw what looked to me like the hind quarters of a big German shepherd,” said Henisey. Holding a make-believe picnic only a few feet away from the fence were Henisey’s 2-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter and their 5-year-old cousin.

“It didn’t really strike us until afterwards that our children were playing right there with the animal on the other side of the fence,” Henisey said.

Health to Be Checked

Henisey signaled to a deputy searching on the other side of Los Alisos Creek, which borders the backyards of the homes on Tree Avenue.

According to accounts by several neighbors, the animal was tranquilized and then half-carried and half-dragged by its four-foot tail across Henisey’s yard to a truck.

The cat will be checked by the California Fish and Game Department today and returned to the wild if found healthy, Edwards said.

A small population of perhaps one or two dozen mountain lions, also known as cougars, inhabit the rugged hills and canyons of the Santa Ana Mountains. They normally are very wary of humans, and sightings are uncommon.

It is illegal to shoot them without a special permit that is granted only on proof that a lion is attacking livestock. They prey primarily on deer, and there have been very few documented attacks on humans by mountain lions anywhere.

Definitely Not a Pet

Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Connors said Saturday that it was unusual for the cat to be near people in the daylight.

At the animal shelter, Edwards said the mountain lion probably came down from the hills looking for food. “It’s definitely not somebody’s pet,” he said.

While dozens of neighbors converged in the area, and as children pedaled up on bicycles to see what all the hoopla was about, a few residents were unaware of the commotion.

“I’m glad I didn’t know. If I knew there was a cougar in the neighborhood, I don’t know what I would do,” said Janice King. “We do have quite a few possums--but that’s not quite the same.”