Mountain lion sighting has San Jose neighbors vigilant

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Springtime is the season when newborn mountain lion cubs are growing quickly and developing good appetites. And their hunger appears to be the reason why mountain lion sightings appear to be on the rise. One was spotted this week in San Jose and there was a possible sighting in San Mateo Thursday morning.

This is why residents of one San Jose neighborhood are spending more time indoors.

VIDEO: Mountain lion spotted outside Salesforce CEO's SF home

Video of a mountain lion captured on a home security system in the eastern foothills of San Jose's Alum Rock area has residents on the alert.

"We definitely are not walking, I'll tell you that much," said resident Patricia Darquea. "We love to walk in the evening because we do have beautiful views, but right now, we're steadfast, and we just stay more or less around the grounds."

Neighbors have been alerting each other on social media. The concern for some residents could be their pets -- their dogs and cats and other animals -- who could become food of opportunity for the mountain lions. Besides her dog Lucci, Darquea has a second dog and a coop filled with chickens. Wildlife experts believe mountain lions may be leaving their habitat in the undeveloped hills in search of food.

VIDEO: Mountain lion caught on camera on Hillsborough porch

Nature met the suburbs in Hillsborough when a mountain lion dragged a deer off a porch after the owners said it was eating their potted flowers.

Two San Mateo schools were briefly put on shelter-in-place status for about 40 minutes when a parent driving a child to school believes he saw a mountain lion in the vicinity of Fernwood St. and 36th Avenue. Fifteen hundred students at Hillsdale High School and 850 at Abbott Middle School were impacted while police and state wildlife officers searched the area. No mountain lion was found.

A resident who lives across from one of the schools is out in her yard every morning to tend to her garden. She is hoping not to encounter a mountain lion.

"If it happens," said Alena Yermakova, "I'm going to be in my back yard immediately. Maybe I will call the police, of course."

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