Local News in Brief : East Tustin : Coyote Seen During Search for Cougar

A coyote was spotted Friday while county and state officials continued to search for a mountain lion that was spotted in a residential area the day before.

Later, the remains of a cat were found and a state biologist determined that it had been killed by a coyote, according to Lt. Kevin Whelan, Orange County animal control supervisor.

State Department of Fish and Game officials were in the neighborhood and saw the coyote but were unable to capture it, Whelan said.

Residents sighted a mountain lion Thursday and called county animal control officers, who spotted a 40- to 50-pound animal sitting on a block wall at the end of a cul-de-sac of Ana Tree Lane. Officers lost sight of the animal Thursday when it jumped from the wall into an open area between the neighborhood and an industrial complex.

Whelan said state officials did not see the mountain lion Friday. The search will continue during the weekend, he said.

Whelan said coyotes have been sighted in the area before. In the nearby residential tract of Laurelwood, residents have posted a “Beware of Coyote” sign, he said.