California wildlife officials are urging residents of the Pescadero area to lock up their homes and their pets after a mountain lion entered a home, and took a dog from a woman's bed in the middle of the night earlier this month.
A woman who lives in Pescadero, which is south of San Francisco, reported that an animal entered her bedroom and took the 15-pound dog from her bed early in the morning on April 17, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office investigated and call the DFW, which took a blood sample from the scene. The blood was analyzed and found it contained mostly the dog's blood, but also traces of mountain lion blood.
The property owner could have obtained a permit allowing them to kill the cougar, but they opted not to get the permit, DFW officials said.
"CDFW stresses that this lion's behavior is extremely rare," DFW Capt. Patrick Foy said Monday. "Most mountain lions are elusive in nature and rarely seen. CDFW urges residents in the area to take all reasonable actions to secure their properties and domestic pets to better coexist with not only mountain lions, but all wildlife."
Foy said since the mountain lion incident was reported in the Bay Area media last week, the number of calls to the DFW about mountain lions sightings has increased.
He said more people are getting outdoors to enjoy the weather this spring, which has also caused an uptick in mountain lion sightings, he said.