Millbrae officials get second mountain lion sighting in week

MILLBRAE >> A resident called 911 Monday to report they thought they had seen a mountain lion in their neighborhood — the second report in a week of a mountain lion turning up in a residential area on the Peninsula in the past week.

San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department said that a resident in the 600 block of Sequoia Avenue called about 7 p.m. Monday to report the sighting. Officials said there was no photographic evidence and no additional sightings. Deputies also searched the area without locating the cat.

But a resident in San Bruno, the next town over, had a more up close and personal encounter with a mountain lion last Tuesday. At about 12:20 am. May 25, a lion broke a glass window of a home on the 200 block of Ross Way and made its way inside, San Bruno police Sgt. Joe Valiente in a news release.

Valiente said the cougar’s bold move may have been triggered by the presence of several taxidermied big game hunting trophies mounted to the interior walls of the home.

The mountain lion quickly left the residence after being scared off by the homeowner, Valiente said.

Officers searched the area for the cougar but did not find it. No injuries were reported. The Ross Way house, near Skyline College, is close to open space including Sweeney Ridge.

“While mountain lion sightings are fairly common throughout Northern California, this type of incident is out of the ordinary,” Valiente said. He encouraged people who live in cougar habitat to take precautions such as deer-proofing their property to avoid attracting a main food source and removing dense vegetation to reduce hiding places.

Mountain lions are quiet, solitary and elusive, and typically avoid people by nature, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. But the more people live in mountain lion habitat, the more they are likely to see or encounter the cats.

On May 20, a mountain lion was captured in a tree in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood after sightings on city streets. The 2-year-old male was released in a rural area.

San Mateo County Sheriff’s officials said that people should call 911 anytime they see a mountain lion.

Staff writer Jason Green contributed to this report.