Family Is Alarmed by Lion Attacks on Barnyard Pets : Wildlife: ‘We feel like we’re under siege,’ says Rita Reese after the deaths of three deer. Officials issue a permit to shoot a cougar that leaped an 8-foot fence.

Weekend attacks by a large mountain lion, which scaled an 8-foot-tall chain-link fence and killed three pet deer, have an Ojai Valley couple fearful for the safety of their family and pets.

Based on paw prints and numerous bites on the deer carcasses, the state Department of Fish and Game confirmed Monday that “quite a large adult cat” had killed two of the deer as close as 30 yards from the house, said John Castro, a Ventura County Fish and Game warden.

Property owners Rita and Duey Reese were issued a permit to kill the mountain lion if it again comes onto their Casitas Vista Road property or attacks their animals, Castro said.

“We feel like we’re under siege here,” said Rita Reese, who has lived near Lake Casitas for more than eight years. “I don’t know what to do. That mountain lion is so big that it literally threw a 300-pound [deer] carcass around. I’m worried about my other two deer.”

The Reeses plan to bury their dead pets, which were named Sunday, Lady and Payday, as early as today. The animals were Axis deer, a breed originally from India, which are brown with a black stripe down the back and white spots all over.

“They’re our pets and I like them,” said Rita Reese, who has raised the exotic deer since they were young and even bottle-fed two of them. “They’re spotted--like Bambi--forever.”

Castro said it is not uncommon for mountain lions to be in the Lake Casitas area, although there had not been any attacks or confrontations reported this year.

The mountain lion that killed the deer was not exhibiting unusual behavior, Castro said.

“Deer is the mountain lion’s main staple,” he said. “It showed the normal feeding process for a cat. Those deer were an easy opportunity food source and mountain lions can’t distinguish between a pet and other deer. When someone came out of the house, the cat ran off. Those are good signs. It was not exhibiting behavior that was out of the ordinary for a cat.”

The Reeses’ 1 1/2-acre parcel is home to the Axis deer, a German shepherd dog, several geese, Java green peacocks, silky chickens, roosters, rabbits, pheasants and other birds and animals. Separating the house and a pond is a white picket fence; to the right of the house and beyond the picket fence are pens for the birds and a living area for the deer. An 8-foot-tall chain-link fence marks the rear boundary of the property.

Near the chain-link fence--which is about 60 yards from the house--were mountain lion footprints Tuesday and evidence of the cougar’s attempts to drag Sunday, a large buck, about 50 feet along the fence line. The Reeses had covered the buck carcass with a blanket.

“We spread the word that there’s a critter out there, so the neighbors are all aware,” Duey Reese said. “Next door, our neighbor is terrified to let his grandchildren outside. I’m pretty scared. I don’t want to be down here [where the deer were killed] without protection or after dark. It just scares me because you don’t know what could happen if you surprised it.”

On Monday night, the Reeses left lights on and a radio blaring near the dirt area where the first two deer were killed, but the mountain lion still came back to feed off the dead buck, Duey Reese said.

The mountain lion killed two does late Saturday or early Sunday. One of the does, Lady, was pregnant and due to give birth this week. The buck was killed on Sunday night, the Reeses said.

The couple’s adult niece, who also lives on the property, told the Reeses she saw the mountain lion jump the chain-link fence Sunday night.

Two younger Axis deer--named Dancer and Mayday--were not attacked, and the Reeses have moved them to the other side of the picket fence and closer to their house.

To ward off mountain lions, state Fish and Game officials recommend property owners keep pets inside at night and livestock in enclosed sheds or barns, install outdoor lighting or electrify their fences.

If you see a mountain lion, it is suggested that you do not run, crouch, bend over or turn your back to the animal. Raise your arms and do what you can to appear larger and, if attacked, fight back with rocks, sticks, jackets, garden tools or whatever you have.

Report all face-to-face encounters with mountain lions or attacks on humans, pets or livestock to the Department of Fish and Game at 310-590-5132.