Two mountain lion cubs made their second appearance in less than 24 hours in Half Moon Bay on Saturday afternoon, San Mateo county emergency officials said.
The pair of cubs were seen at 12:31 p.m. near San Benito and Miramontes
streets, emergency officials said.
The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office and state Department of Fish
There was a previous sighting of the two cubs Friday evening about a block away, in the 800 block of Correas Street around 5:45 p.m., emergency officials said.
Officials warn, if you see a mountain lion, do not approach it - especially one that is feeding or with offspring. Most mountain lions will try to avoid confrontation.
Officials offer these tips:
- Avoid hiking or jogging when mountain lions are most active—dawn, dusk, and at night.
- Keep a close watch on small children.
- If you encounter a mountain lion, do not run; instead, face the animal, make noise, try to look bigger by waving your arms, and throw rocks or other objects.
- Pick up small children.
For more information about mountain lions, visit www.keepmewild.org.
How do I know? Have seen both on my property in Portola Valley mountains.
You definitively determine the species Based on what? You are making a definitive statement attempting to get anyone that will swallow that you say they are bobcats because: * you saw 2 bobcat cubs on your property in Portola Valley, for goodness sakes. * that would mean that those cubs got from Portola Valley to HMB ... somehow. How do you support that claim? That, Jo, would be a very neat trick. Might want to reconsider your position, huh Jo? Let's get real. Further, and I don't know what members of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office and state Department of Fish and Game responded, but you can clearly see a gloved hand holding the cub for its movie pose. Call me crazy, but I would have to believe that representatives from either department would know the difference between a cougar cub and a bobcat cub. And you are so demonstrative in your claim. C'mon Jo, be real.
Wish you weren't so angry. It turns out that I wanted to retract my statement after submitting it, but didn't know how. The parenthesis around the cub's mouth made me rethink that it could be a mountain lion cub. The important thing is that the wild felines are both in danger and potentially dangerous to humans being in the residential area of town.
To Jo: angry? that's interesting. So are you really saying that because your 'observation' is yours, that it must be right and further, that anyone that argues your point is angry? Nice. Perhaps you would be so kind as to explain how two alleged bobcat cubs got from Portola Valley, where you claim to have seem them - these same cubs mind you - to HMB. Bobcats are very interesting and busy critters and I have seen them pull off some incredible feats, but I can honestly say that in my 35 years of dealing with bobcats, sometimes on a regular basis and other times not, I have never even heard of a claim that 2 cubs can travel the distance - forget about the terrain - from Portola Valley to HMB (or visa-versa). About the only logical explanation that I can think of that Might make that remotely possible would be if you, or some other human snatched the cubs, put them in a vehicle, drove to HMB and placed those miracle cubs somewhere in the vicinity of the recent sightings...and that's not including getting Mom in that trip, too. Yeah, good luck with that without trapping or severely sedating them all. I do look forward to this answer.
If we cannot learn to co-exist with the 4 legged and the winged creatures, how can we respect the 2 legged who cause so much damage. Please, let them just 'be'.
WHERE did I ever say the cubs went from Portola Valley to HMB? That would be totally absurd!! Also, WHERE did I say I only saw 2 bobcats or mountain lions? (I see them all the time up here in the Santa Cruz Mountains.) Please re-read my initial statement, as well as my second statement? Thanks!
WHERE did I ever say the cubs went from Portola Valley to HMB? That would be totally absurd!!" Jo Owen 5:00 pm on Saturday, December 1, 2012 - "These are NOT mountain lion cubs! They are BOB CAT CUBS! How do I know? Have seen both on my property in Portola Valley mountains. Well Jo, that might be where I got the "totally absurd" idea. And you yelled it no less, apparently making it all the more true! That's why I commented. I was hopeful that you might see, then realize how ridiculous your comments were, fess up or alter your comments and be done with it. We all make mistakes. Speaking for myself, I have stupid attacks all the time. It's called part of life. But to yell that you saw those two cubs on your place in Portola Valley and expect anyone to swallow that...well, as I started out - "with all due respect, look at what you claim." I saw and read your 2nd post, but after starting it accusing me of being angry, it just begged for a reasoned response. Maybe it's just the way I read it. Perhaps, and this is only a suggestion, you might want to be more selective with your language in an effort to remove ambiguity &/or add clarity. Just a thought. Hey Jo, nobody died, the sun will still rise tomorrow and with a little luck, the 2 cubs, whatever they are, will have had some nice warm milk (thanks Mom), maybe a rodent or two and be a little larger than they were today.
I also agree with Sandra and Deborah.
I hope the cubs in HMB and the cubs in Portola Valley survived the rain storm and that cubs everywhere are safe and sound... "whatever they are, will have had some nice warm milk (thanks Mom), maybe a rodent or two and be a little larger than they were today."
I will add one point here; I hope they are bobcat cubs because I have livestock and a cougar could easily put a stop to that. I have been and am being very diligent in my monitoring them for their safety and I don't mind telling you that when I hear something late at night I go out to check immediately, and I am more than a little nervous now with this latest 'sighting'. We do have at least one young male cougar here that has been sighted multiple times and positively identified as such by experts; and it was not far from me. It is not uncommon for an adult male to have a 100 mile 'territory'. He was spotted within 2 miles of my place multiple times. Yes, that makes me nervous for our critters, which would be no match for a cougar. The horses might get in a lucky kick, but that's about the best I could hope for - which is why I keep a close tab on any unusual activity out there. We also get coyotes yipping and yapping, in large numbers, right across the street South Wavecrest area. Happens all the time and has increased in frequency and volume over the years. With any luck, that cougar will introduce himself to those coyotes making for a happier cougar and a reduction in coyotes. One of the things that is potentially troubling about this particular story is that if true, we also now have a female here. When one does the math, I think we can see the potential.
I ask because with what you say that means that we now have 4 cougars on the coast; the male I mentioned above, the 2 cubs were talking about here, and Mom, who has so far been shy - but I doubt that will last; particularly if she thinks someone is messing with her babies..and those 2 may not be all of her current cubs. If both sighted cubs are male, they may move on; but if there is a female in the bunch we're likely to see more in the future. I doubt that anyone has any problem understanding and believing that with the 'introduction of' and the expansion of cougars here on the coast that it's simply a matter of time before their paths cross our paths in a not so cute manner. They are cute though - if they'd just stay that way..... Thanks for your input Corri and good luck over there.
As you can see, this story and the Patch story don't match. How could this happen and we not know? With this piece, I now have questions I didn't have before. Seeing the "stock" photo here, I was under the impression the cubs were quite young. Reading the piece I linked, however, makes it seem the cubs weren't as young as thought. From the piece; "The lions looked to be perhaps 9 months old and thin for their age, around 25-30 pounds, Mackey said." Those are good sized cubs and are big enough to hunt on their own, but that is also a reasonable size to trap and relocate. Also according to the linked piece; "The animals had been prowling near downtown Half Moon Bay for some time, Mackey said, possibly feeding on pets in the area." All the more curious as to why they weren't trapped and relocated. A large part of trapping an animal is knowing their habits, their trails, their likes and dislikes. Seems to me that if it had been known for some time that they were there, that would increase the likelihood for a successful trapping. Seems authorities could have at least tried trapping. The only thing it would have required that apparently wasn't used is time. This is disappointing news.
I read her comment and no where did I get that she kidnapped the cubs and relocated them? Well now their dead. Killed by State murders under the guise of Fish & Wildlife. RIP little cubs.
Jo and I seem to have worked out any misunderstanding there may have been, yet it appears that isn't good enough for you. The old saying of leave sleeping dogs lie might fit here. It appears that your sole intention with this post was to rant. Feel better now? Have a nice day, wolfone.