Mountain Lion Stalks Mother, Two Children on Trail

A young mountain lion stalked a woman and her two children on an Orange County park trail and came close enough to pounce but was later shot to death by a game warden, authorities said in remarks reported today.

Another hiker threw rocks and shouted at the mountain lion while the woman and two children made their escape and called 911, the Orange County Register reported.

The incident occurred Sunday afternoon on Borrego Trail in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said.

Mission Viejo resident Madison Smith, who was walking her children on the trail, later described the mountain lion being near enough to be heard making hissing sounds and then closing to within six feet of her 5-year-old son, according to a CDFW spokesman.

Orange County Sheriff's Department deputies and a CDFW game warden found the mountain lion in a grove of bushes near the trail around 5 p.m. Sunday, the Register reported. Attempts to scare the mountain lion away were unsuccessful, so the game warden shot and killed it, according to the newspaper.

The mountain lion was 12 months old and weighed 60 pounds, the CDFW reported.

The section of trail where the woman and her kids were confronted by the mountain lion was close to Foothill Ranch Elementary School.

--City News Service