POLLOCK PINES, Calif. — Pete Brown is a lover of cats, even big cats. What he's not a lover of, though, is seeing big cats roaming around his neighborhood and walking up to his front door.
But Brown has had two mountain lion sightings in one week, both of which he caught on his home surveillance camera in Pollock Pines. The main question he has is why do they keep coming back?
"I don't know of anything that would attract a mountain lion to my place," Brown explained. "We don't have any outside animals. Any food of any kind. Nothing to eat."
With lots of recent mountain lion sightings, neighbors are beginning to wonder if the population is steadily increasing.
That's unlikely, according to Patrick Foy, of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife.
"There's no indication that there's a spike in mountain lion population as much as there's a spike in the number of mountain lions that are being noticed by people's home video cameras," Foy said.
Mountain lions are being spotted in more than just mountain lion country. Lodi parks officials are warning people to travel in groups if they visit the Lodi Lake nature area where a mountain lion was seen last week.
If you happen to live in an area that mountain lions may frequent, there's one thing you may want to know: Secure your pets.
"They will readily take a domestic pet, and people should be aware of that," Foy explained.
In the meantime, Brown said he is prepared in case he happens to come across a mountain lion.
"You don't turn your back, you don't run, you make yourself look as big as you can," Brown said. "That's what I've been told. I don't know if I would remember of that if I came face to face with him."
Follow the conversation on Facebook with Kevin John.
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