Second mountain lion spotted this week after cat attack on boy
SAN CARLOS, Calif. (KGO) -- Another mountain lion was spotted in the Bay Area this week, this time San Mateo County.
The mountain lion was seen on Devonshire Boulevard, about 24 miles from the Picchetti Winery where a 6-year-old boy was attacked by a mountain lion on Sunday.
A driver snapped a picture of the mountain lion standing over a deer on the side of the road near San Carlos around 10:30 p.m. last night.
Devon Maldonado said he saw the mountain lion in the middle of the street.
"It was kind of scary," Maldonado said.
Maldonado's cousin took the picture. He said wild animals have been spotted in the area before, but he never thought he'd see a lion up close.
"I clearly saw two eyes and after the lights hit the eyes it ran off," Maldonado said.
This comes just days after a mountain lion attacked a 6-year-old boy on a hiking trail in Cupertino's Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve.
After an intense search with trackers dog and traps, Department of Fish and Wildlife officials shot and killed the animal Wednesday.
Workers tested the lion's DNA with saliva found on the boy's shirt and they determined it's the same lion that attacked.
"And we were also able to determine through the necropsy that the cat did not have rabies," said Capt. Don Kelly, of the Department of Fish And Wildlife. "And that was a huge concern for all of us at the beginning."
Kelly said they get calls about mountain lion sightings all the time. He isn't surprised to hear about the one near in San Carlos. He even responded to a sighting in Santa Cruz last night. "We get incident reports almost daily about somebody seeing a lion," Kelly said. "What I think we have right now as a result of this particular attack is a heightened awareness almost to the point of being frenzied in some cases."
Even though the lion is dead, hiking trails in the Picchetti Ranch Open Space Preserve are still closed while officials collect their equipment. The trails should be back open next week.
