Lion Grabs Thanksgiving Feast on the Run

Continuing the rash of cougar forays into the San Fernando Valley, a mountain lion ate a family’s pet turkey just before Thanksgiving. Another lion was killed by a car Tuesday and an off-road bicyclist came face-to-face with a third.

The new sightings brought to at least five and as many as eight the number of mountain lions spotted in San Fernando Valley neighborhoods the past two weeks, the most ever in memory in such a short period, wildlife officials say. The incidents also mean the cougars have been spotted in mountain neighborhoods on all four sides of the Valley.

In addition Tuesday, wildlife officials captured a bobcat suspected of eating a chicken in Lake View Terrace on Sunday. Bobcats are much smaller, less dangerous wild cousins of the mountain lions.

“It was busy all day,” said Dennis Kroeplin, the city’s chief wildlife officer.

The most recent events began late Monday when a mountain lion devoured the Arechiga family’s pet turkey, Pablo. The lion apparently jumped the 6-foot chain-link fence at the family’s home in Shadow Hills, seized the 50-pound tom, then leaped back over the barrier to consume the pet.

Left behind: a trail of feathers, a few big paw prints and 5 pounds of turkey remains.

Unlike many of his brothers, Pablo would have made it through Thanksgiving Day alive but for the lion, said Joseph Arechiga, 30.

“Pablo was not going to be eaten,” Arechiga said. “As it turned out, he was.”

On Tuesday morning, as the Arechiga family was discovering the lion’s handiwork, Vladimir Valdes was just beginning to pedal his mountain bike down a trail off the end of Mason Avenue north of Chatsworth. About an eighth of a mile from the trail head, a lion crossed his path, headed for the Santa Susana Mountains.

Valdes ended his ride immediately.

“It was pretty large,” said Valdes, 31. “I was being cautious.”

Later Tuesday, the tables turned on the predator when a motorist struck and killed a young 40-pound mountain lion about 6 p.m. on Valley Circle Boulevard near Calenda Drive in Woodland Hills, police said.

The driver, who police would identify only as an older woman, was not hurt and the car was not damaged, said Los Angeles Police Lt. Thomas Kirk.

“She thought she saw a dog. She couldn’t stop because the traffic was heavy; she didn’t see it in time,” Kirk said. “The poor lady was all shook up.”

Its size and description led some residents of West Hills to conclude that it was the same small lion that has stalked their neighborhood for two weeks, then suddenly vanished. One theory held that it was a half-grown cub of a larger cougar seen in the same general area.

Wildlife officials said they weren’t yet sure if the dead animal was indeed the cougar seen in the area earlier.

But Claire Buhn, the Neighborhood Watch co-captain in the 23500 block of Community Street, said a friend who saw the dead animal gave a description that matched the animal she last saw loping down a sidewalk near her home.

“We’re saddened that it had to be hit by a car, but we’re also relieved that it’s not in our neighborhood anymore,” Buhn said. “Now maybe we can not be as watchful.”

Meanwhile, another type of wildcat kept wildlife officers busy on the other end of the Valley on Tuesday afternoon. Animal services officers cornered a bobcat in a tree near the 11400 block of Orcas Avenue in Lake View Terrace. They managed to slip a pole-mounted noose over its head and hauled it spitting and snarling to the ground.

Officials believe the same bobcat was responsible for eating a chicken in the area Sunday.

After its capture, the bobcat appeared to be slightly injured in the leg, but was later released in Angeles National Forest.

“It was found to be perfectly healthy and normal,” said Jerry Brown, a spokesman for the Wildlife Waystation, an animal refuge in Lake View Terrace, where the bobcat was inspected.

There have been more than a dozen sightings of mountain lions throughout the San Fernando Valley during the last two weeks, ringing the Valley from Tarzana to Shadow Hills.

Wildlife experts are puzzled about the exact reason for the sightings. Explanations range from animals moving far afield in search of mates to pets loosed in the wild.

In general, though, mountain lions and humans have increasingly come in contact in California since a 1972 law outlawed hunting them. As the population of both species grew, clashes became inevitable.

Now, most wildlife experts believe the mountain lion has saturated its habitat, meaning there’s no room left for younger or weaker lions, who are forced to look for food in populated areas.