By Cat Buckles

FRAZIER PARK (September 24, 2010, 4:20 p.m.)— Frazier Park resident Jeff Peritore called The Mountain Enterprise to report that a large mountain lion had been seen in the small canyon between Elm and Summit Trails (on the north side of Mt. Pinos Way) by a nearby neighbor.

Peritore had just arrived at his home on Willow Trail about 4 p.m. September 21 when Tom Farrar stopped to notify him of the lion that he had seen earlier in the day.

“He lives up on Summit,” Peritore said of Farrar, “with a back yard that goes down into the canyon between Summit and Elm.” Farrar is reported “to have seen the lion down in the canyon” sometime before 8 a.m., when the last school bus departs the area.

Peritore expressed concern that the mountain lion was active at the same time children were walking to bus stops in the morning. Farrar estimated the cat weighed around 250 pounds. A dog reportedly frightened it away.

Mountain lions are not uncommon in the Mountain Communities and are generally most active at dusk and dawn. Last May, El Tejon Unified School District relocated a bus stop in Lebec as a precaution due to the recurring presence of lions nearby.

While there have been no reports of lion attacks on humans in this area, there have been incidents involving young lions and domestic dogs and cats in recent years, mainly in Lebec. Bobcats are also active in Pine Mountain. Residents of the Mountain Communities should be cautious of a large predator in the area and make sure that small children and pets are never left unattended outside.
 

This is part of the September 24, 2010 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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