Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

Mountain lion sighting in our neighborhood

We thought it important to inform everyone in the Gum Tree area that we have had a mountain lion coming to our property for the last month. On October 15 it attacked and killed one of our cats right next to our house at 2 a.m. Our dog scared it and I watched as it ran away. It came again on Wednesday, October 25, at 5:10 a.m. and killed, and got away with, our second cat. Finally, last night, October 30, between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. we lost our third cat.

When this first started happening, we couldn’t believe that we could actually be having problems with a mountain lion. We are fairly residential; we have a completely fenced-in yard and have a large outdoor dog. If I had not seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed it. We have also noticed that we do not have the wild rabbit population in our yard that we once had. They used to positively litter our yard early in the morning — but not anymore.

We had the game warden from the Department of Fish & Game (DFG) out to our house on Sunday, October 28. He said we live in prime mountain lion territory. DFG has assured us that by eliminating a food source (small children and animals out at dawn, dusk and nighttime) the lion will eventually begin to search elsewhere for a meal.

We have gotten to the point where we are truly frightened to go outdoors since the lion has been coming at all hours. We are not allowing our children outdoors unsupervised at any time of day and we are still bringing our remaining pets in at night. Having a large dog and a fenced-in yard has been a false sense of security.

We are greatly distressed by the recent events that have taken place in our yard and urge you to take the necessary precautions with your pets and loved ones.

Christian and Christa Noetzel

 

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