Mountain Lion in Our Neighborhood

cougarSteve and I live in a neighborhood in Oak Hill called Granada Oaks which is adjacent to Granada Hills and South View Estates. Though we are just 15 minutes from downtown Austin, these are fairly “country” neighborhoods with lot sizes ranging from 1 to 2 acres on average. We have an abundance of trees and wildlife.

Recently the neighborhood email list has been active with fears and concerns about a Mountain Lion that has been roaming the area. It has taken down a deer, and it’s tracks have been verified next to the carcass of the deer.

Many of the wildlife rescue sites claim that most mountain lion sightings are actually other wildlife and that most people are so inexperienced at identifying cougars and their tracks that the sightings usually turns out to be a fox, coyote or even domestic animals like dogs and large cats. Also, in researching this topic, I learned that in the years between 1890 and 2007 there have “only” been 17 actual reported mountain lion attacks on humans in the North American continent. Not exactly cause for alarm.

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