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Silicon Valley Neighbors, Mountain Lions

By
Real Estate Agent with Silicon Valley Real Estate

Image of Mountain LionResponding to reports about mountain lions sunbathing at the Fremont BART station, California Department of Fish and Game officials flew over the area with a helicopter and heat-sensing equipment but didn't find the offending felines.

When I first moved to Silicon Valley almost a decade ago... I spent a lot of time inside because of El Niño.  But when it finally dried out, I dismantled the ark I'd been building, and took to hiking around beautiful Northern California.

At the time I was an East Coast transplant from Cambridge so I didn't take the warnings about mountain lions too seriously, and to this day (knock on wood) I've never seen one personally.  But you do hear stories and the City of San Jose even publishes mountain lion and coyote safety tips.

There are noted attacks in Northern California, and though only 16 people have been injured by mountain lions since 1890, encounters have become more common as Silicon Valley's real estate stretches more into territory formerly claimed by big cats.  The San Francisco Chronicle notes that animals typically try to avoid people but also provides tips in case you run into one!

Related Reading:

Silicon Valley Neighbors, Mountain Lions

Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog 

Carole Cohen
Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office - Cleveland, OH
Realtor, ePRO
The moral is don't invade their territory! Beautiful animals and I love your graphic.
Feb 21, 2007 10:27 AM
Steve Leung
Silicon Valley Real Estate - Cupertino, CA
Thanks for visiting, Carole.  I wanted to choose a picture that showed that they're not out to eat folks, just make a life for themselves.  There are so many homes in the area built on the hillside that there's a large overlap between what used to be animal habitat and what's now home to a lot of people.
Feb 21, 2007 10:34 AM