October 27, 2004

Back to the table of Contents Page

Classifieds

Palo Alto Online

Living with the lions

by Jocelyn Dong

When Roberta Wheeler headed two doors down to her neighbor Stew Plock's house last week, she asked her husband to accompany her.

She'd walked to Plock's many times to carpool to their exercise class, but that was before -- before the mountain lion had been sighted a few blocks away on North California Avenue .

"I didn't want to meet the mountain lion alone," the 5-foot-3-inch woman said.

By later that evening, however, she was feeling better. Plock recalled offering to walk Wheeler home after class, but she said she'd be fine.

Since May, living with the specter of mountain lions has become a reality for Palo Alto residents. In May police shot a mountain lion found in a tree on Walter Hays Drive after a puma was spotted prowling around the neighborhood in the early morning hours. Since then, there have been dozens of lion sightings in the more rural portions of town, with a few seen traveling in residential neighborhoods. Most recently a mountain lion was sighted at 12:46 a.m. Tuesday on the roof of a house in the 900 block of North California.

Neighborhoods immediately adjacent to the street where the big cat was spotted last week have been buzzing, after police attached warning fliers to the streetlight poles.

Some residents, like Wheeler, were initially startled, but soon got over the shock. Others seem nonplussed by the possibility of meeting a puma face to face. Parents and some pet owners, meanwhile, are taking precautions.

Judith Colvin, a resident of the Triple El neighborhood, which lies a block south of North California, is walking her 10-year-old daughter to soccer practice these days. They've discussed the police's advice on how to make oneself as big as possible when facing a mountain lion, calling on pop culture to make the point less threatening.

"We love this film, 'The Gods Must Be Crazy 2.' In it, the small child in the plains of Africa was taught when confronted with a hyena to lift a board vertically to the head to appear larger," Colvin said.

Colvin said her daughter seems unafraid and is more concerned with the safety of Milo, the Colvins' 85-pound golden retriever/Rottweiler. Milo "would probably kiss the mountain lion before causing any problems," Colvin said. To stem that from happening, Milo's sleeping indoors for now.

Colvin confesses to having myriad feelings about the situation. While she believes in taking precautions with wild animals, she's not think the mountain lion is prowling around in attack mode. And, she said, she'd hate to see it killed, but she believes in children's safety is first.

Kim Graf lives in the Leland Manor neighborhood and talked to her two kids about the mountain lion last week while walking to school. The wild-cat incident in May scared her daughter to the point where she didn't want to go outside. This time, Graf said, her daughter seems to be taking things more in stride.

For safety's sake, however, Graf isn't inclined to let her kids play in the backyard for the time being. Asked how long she would keep vigilant, Graf had no guideline for the unusual situation. "Until I forget about it," she guessed.

Not all people are feeling wary. Community Center dog owner Peter Allen is trusting that man's best friend is also nature's best defense.

When he heard about the latest mountain lion sighting, he said, he thought to put his 100-pound Labrador on a longer leash.

"There's safety with creatures that know more than we do," he said, figuring Buddy would easily tree the wild cat.

Meanwhile, Triple El neighbor Stew Plock hopes that people will not get overly anxious about it.

"I'd rather keep (concern) low key," he said. "There's enough in the world on TV that's trying to make us feel paranoid about terrorism."

Chesley Douglas is also feeling secure in his neighborhood, where last week, several homes in the Eichler-populated Triple El had their garage doors open during the day.

Wild animals "don't disturb me at all. We don't fear those kinds of things. There's no need to. I'd be astounded (to see a mountain lion)," he said.

He's hoping for a good resolution -- anesthetizing rather than killing -- should a mountain lion have a run-in with the police.

"I'm pro-mountain lion," he said, adding that the situation is a result of "the encroachment of humans."

As Halloween approaches, some parents are wondering whether their kids should forego the trick-or-treating.

Kim Graf hadn't given the topic consideration as of last week, but she seemed of two minds. In a group, there should be safety, she said. But believing that adults could control the situation in which a mountain lion would appear might be unrealistic, she allowed.

"What child isn't going to run?" she asked. "As humans, we have a flight or fight mechanism."

Police are advising residents to keep children close to adults. They're also recommending residents keep pet food indoors so that raccoons and other animals that lions prey on are not attracted to yards.

Senior staff writer Jocelyn Dong can be reached at jdong@paweekly.com.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.