Neighbors living in a foothill community of Los Angeles are on edge as mountain lions prowl their neighborhood.
Residents of La Crescenta, Calif. say they are worried about their dogs being eaten and about the protection of their families. One family is convinced that a mountain lion ate its Jack Russell terrier, Bridgette.
“I saw a crimson-red color of something about that size and I thought, ‘Oh, God, no,’” Kim Mattersteig, who found traces of Bridgette in her La Crescenta yard, said to CBS. “This is where we found her paw, her collar and some tissue matter…. She was the light of our life and she was part of the family.”
And Mattersteigs are not alone. Other residents have reported mountain lion sightings and, in August, a mountain lion was spotted on an elementary school campus in La Crescenta. In response, fearful residents of the area gathered in a public meeting this week to air their concerns about wild animals, KTLA reports in the video above.
"It will come back. It will attack. It will be hungry," Mattersteig said at the meeting. "It may not find its deer. It may find a child."
Neighbors who have lived in the community for decades say the problem is the worst it's ever been. On Tuesday, a mountain lion was tranquilized in a resident's backyard in the LA neighborhood of La Verne, which, like La Crescenta, is in the foothills of the Angeles National Forest
"Because they're predatory, they're so sneaky and you don’t know they're there," Mattersteig said.
Fish and Wildlife officials advised residents to raise and trim their bushes off the ground in order to eliminate areas where wild animals can hide during a hunt. They also advised residents to install motion-activated lights to deter wild animals.
Three people have been attacked by mountain lions this year, according to KTLA. The last time someone was killed by a mountain lion was in 2004.
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