Second Mountain Lion Captured in Foothills

A 2-year-old male mountain lion was captured Monday morning in an unincorporated foothill area east of Tustin. It was the second to be captured in Orange County in two weeks.

The 115-pound cat was first spotted in a high eucalyptus tree in Cowan Heights by a resident who thought it was a bobcat, according to Joe Oliver, chief of field service for the Orange County Animal Control Shelter.

After being spotted, the cat, described as “shy and retiring” by Oliver, moved to a tree on a street a quarter-mile away.

As a crowd gathered around the tree, an animal control officer managed to shoot the cat in the shoulder with an immobilizing drug. The cat then sprang from the tree, moved “a few properties away,” and collapsed, Oliver said.

The cat was moved to a cage inside a waiting truck. Oliver said most of the crowd remained unafraid. “They were just surprised at seeing something that big and beautiful close up,” he said.

In the previous incident May 25, a young adult male mountain lion was captured after wandering into Mission Viejo from nearby foothills. He was released in the mountains several days later.

Authorities believe both visitors are among several dozen mountain lions living in the Santa Ana Mountains. Oliver said the cats, which have a hunting range of 15 to 20 miles, tend to move to lower mountain elevations during the dry season because deer and other prey have usually moved lower to find better forage.

He said the cats may also come in search of water, which is scarce at this time of year.

Orange County residents should not necessarily expect more visits from the cats, although more may come “tomorrow . . . or 50 years from now. It’s impossible to tell,” Oliver said.

Anyone spotting a mountain lion should report it to local police or the Orange County Animal Control Shelter and then just leave it, Oliver said. He said there is no record of a cat selecting a human as a target of attack, although one may strike if threatened.

Fish and Game officers were preparing to return the cat to the wild Monday, possibly to Orange County’s Black Star Canyon, where there is plenty of isolation and --reportedly--plenty of deer.