Momma Mountain Lion, Cubs: Santa Cruz Co. Lets Nature Takeover

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — Getting ready for work Wednesday morning, it was just another day for a family in Santa Cruz County — until they spotted two mountain lion cubs under their car and momma nearby.

But this big cat story unfurls more naturally than so many others that make news headlines, because residents let Mother Nature take over.

For officials, it began around 6:45 a.m. Wednesday when the call came into the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office about the puma and her litter on Montclair Drive in the Rolling Woods neighborhood, south of Scotts Valley, confirmed Ashley Keehn, public information officer for the sheriff's office.

Deputies responded, and officials with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, along with the Santa Cruz Puma Project, were contacted.

To keep residents safe, deputies alerted the community. As a precaution, parents of nearby Brook Knoll Elementary were asked to drop off their children on the school's campus rather than on sidewalks.

The school was on lockdown until approximately 10:45 a.m., which is when Fish and Wildlife gave campus officials word that the momma lion was tracked back to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, said Cathie Simonovich, administrative assistant to the superintendent for the Scotts Valley Unified School District.

The park is very close by and, during the human hullabaloo, momma decided to scram. The Puma Project, which is a partnership between UC Santa Cruz and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, was able to locate the big girl thanks to a GPS tracker.

"She did have a collar," Keehn said.

Rather than intervene any further in the felines' lives, the community decided to let nature take its course. Puma Project officials believed the mother would likely come back for her cubs during nightfall, when she felt safer, Keehn said.

"The family [who made the initial call to the sheriff's office] is ok with that," Keehn said.

"CDFW and the Santa Cruz Puma Project learned that the mountain lion was collared and was able to pull data confirming that the area is part of the mountain lion’s normal territory. The data showed that the mountain lion had regularly used the area to move her cubs," said California Department of Fish and Wildlife Biologist Terris Kasteen. "CDFW’s stance was that the residents and neighbors should be careful and exercise caution, but that the mountain lion wasn’t an immediate threat."

Local law enforcement went by the area Thursday morning and the cubs were gone. "Presumably the mom came and got them last night. Collar data confirmed that the mom mountain lion had left the neighborhood. Mountain lions often stash their cubs while they go out hunting or to find a new den site," Kasteen said.

UCSC Professor Chris Wilmers, who runs the Santa Cruz Puma Project, told KQED in 2017 that his best guess on the number of mountain lions in the Santa Cruz Mountains is somewhere between 50-60.

Here’s some information from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife website about what residents can do if they spot a mountain lion.

If you live in the area, let us know what you saw. You can email toni.mcallister@patch.com. Here's a link to one Patch reader's comments and adorable photo: https://patch.com/california/santacruz/ep/178587?reply=179637