GILROY
– The City of Gilroy sent out mountain lion warnings Thursday
after a city employee spotted a large cat near Uvas Creek west of
Santa Teresa Boulevard Wednesday morning.
GILROY – The City of Gilroy sent out mountain lion warnings Thursday after a city employee spotted a large cat near Uvas Creek west of Santa Teresa Boulevard Wednesday morning.
The area includes several trails frequented by walkers and joggers. The city worker was checking a sewer line in the area when the mountain lion appeared.
No one was hurt in the encounter since the employee remained in his truck until the cat left.
The sighting comes on the heels of multiple mountain lion spottings at Bonfante Gardens over the past two weeks, according to Henry Coletto, a wildlife deputy with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department. Soon after employees spotted the large cat, they also found a dead fawn on the park’s grounds.
Coletto said it’s more than likely the young dear was killed by dogs, not by a mountain lion.
“I performed the necropsy and it looked to me like dogs got it, not a lion,” Coletto said.
Mountain lion attacks on prey are characterized by a single bite to the back of the neck. When dogs attack an animal, there are multiple bites over the carcass.
A series of puma sightings occurred in January in west and northwest Gilroy.
In one incident, a mountain lion died after being hit by passing motorists on Watsonville Road at Day Road. The car trauma critically injured the cat.
Sheriff’s deputies shot and killed the animal.
Several of the sightings have happened in the early morning hours, a typical hunting time for mountain lions.
Since the January sightings, the city has been running slides of mountain lion information on its Channel 17 station. As new sightings are reported, the city mentions when and where the mountain lions were seen.
The city is asking residents to be aware that hillsides and undeveloped areas west of Gilroy are mountain lion habitat. The following precautions should be taken to avoid an encounter with a mountain lion or minimize danger should one occur:
• Do not hike alone.
• Keep children close to you.
• Do not approach a lion.
• Do not run from a lion.
• Do not crouch down or bend over.
• Appear larger.
• Fight back if attacked.
