Front Page  »  

Mountain lion in SLO captured, relocated

March 25, 2023

By KAREN VELIE

A mountain lion suspected of killing several dogs and cats in San Luis Obispo was recently captured and relocated. [KSBY]

For months, residents reported sighting two mountain lions roaming through the Perfumo Creek area of SLO. It is suspected one of the lions died after it was hit by a vehicle on Los Osos Valley Road while the other stayed in the area.

Last November, Alysha Periera was walking her dog near Laguna Lake Mobile Estates, a mobile home park located on Perfumo Canyon Road. A mountain lion attacked Peiera’s pug as they walked under trees on the bank of Perfumo Creek along Thelma Drive, ripped the dog away and knocked Periera off her feet.

After the lion killed several pets, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) personnel put traps out with a goal of relocating the mountain lion.

CDFW staff trapped an adult male, fitted the lion with a GPS collar and relocated him in a rural area.


Loading...
Subjects:     
Related:


13 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

This animal should have been put down not relocated to become other people’s problem.

A predator that has no fear of humans has no place anywhere near civilization and will kill pets and livestock, and may attack humans, because they are easy prey.

Hopefully the relocation story is meant to keep the do-gooders happy.


-4

I would have taken the big shnoogie-woogie kitty guy. Of course, I’d have had to special order a giant cat condo. But I’m sure there’s one available.


-1

So thank God we got rid of the mountain lions, because they’re cranky and like to eat the little rat dogs that seem to be in fashion these days. I’m not crazy about racoons either. They like to tip the trash cans over, and make a mess that I just hate having to clean up. Can we ship the racoons off somewhere too? Of course coyotes have gotta go too, they’re known to have carried off toddlers and house cats. Sure hearing them howl at night is really cool, and hearing them at night makes life in my SLO tract housing McMansion seem more like “country life.” Thank goodness I found a CD recording of coyotes at a gift shop in Cambria, so now it’s o.k. to send them away as well. You know those darn blue jays make quite the racket in the morning, their cute, but can we maybe thin their population a little so it’s not so noisy at dawn? Can’t we just build a giant fence around California Valley and ship all of this annoying wildlife out there? We can call it a “zoo” and promise to pay $5 to go visit the wildlife on the occasional weekend when we want to convince ourselves that we left city life behind. The majority of the people living in SLO today paid good money to live here in the “country” because they wanted to escape L.A. and the Bay, So let’s get busy and ship off the wildlife, cement over Perfumo Canyon, build a few hundred more $800k McMansions, and make this place a little “less” like L.A. everyday.


16

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.


14

Capturing and relocating this cat is actually good for the cat as it was too comfortable within society. Would have been a matter of time before being struck by a vehicle on the road or get sick from feeding on “human processed foods”. Yes, we live among a lot of wild animals as SLO is so adjacent to the hills and open spaces, so we need to be aware and find the balance to live together. But this situation was different and the cat was in the neighborhoods (backyards too) since November. Happy that this worked out for the best of all involved.


9

“Happy this worked out for the best of all involved.”


You do realize of course that this cat was relocated over 80 miles away? Best for the ever encroaching humans, best for the cat, but what about the food chain? What happens when we keep killing off or relocating apex predators? More deer that will get hit by cars? Exploding rabbit populations that will only be controllable by poisoning? You know I see that mural on the side of Valley Liquor in Los Osos depicting the “evil” Spaniards killing off the grizzly bears wholesale. Not much as changed since those days. Humans from overpopulated far away lands still come to our area and justify their need to upset the natural balance of nature.


1

perfetto, sei stato enfatico fino al punto … perfect, you were emphatic exactly to the point … bravo


-2

Or in Anglo Saxon “you did not shoot the dawg” … nice


-5

This is fantastic for all. My understanding is that young (teen) male cougars are sent on their own by the mother to establish a their own territory. Hoping this guy can do so in his new location. Glad he was able to be tested and tagged for tracking. Good luck to the cat.

Also, I think the small pug dog incident occurred in February, not November.


8

Where was the lion relocated to? “Rural” areas can have people too. We sometimes think two trash can bears were relocated where we are at. Remote is better, pls.

BTW, mountain lions are everywhere, put out a game camera without a flash. The worries are the sick ones that can’t get game. Deer with a severed backbone above the hip is a mountain lion kill.


3

According to CDFW the cat was relocated out to the California Valley. Yes, good for it to have been captured and tested, plus tagged for tracking.


3

Like being sent to prison out in the desert, maybe to survive. Perfumo Creek and other coastal creeks are kitty cat country. They are not that dangerous. Carry an air horn and bear spray. Probably more useful for dealing with the aggressive homeless than more secretive and less dangerous animals.


-1

What about if the backbone is severed below the hip?


-4