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At around 3 a.m. one morning last weekend, Carolyn Hawley, who lives on Butte Avenue, was awakened by her dog and her neighbors' dogs barking profusely.
Hawley got up and looked out the window. She said she didn't have her glasses on, so at first she thought that the large, beige-colored creature she saw thirstily lapping up water from her dog's bowl was a very big dog.
However, it was a mountain lion. Hawley said she later found out from neighbors that they, too, had seen the big cat.
“It was scoping out my chicken coop,” said Hawley.
After the mountain lion emptied out the water bowl, Hawley said it sauntered out of her yard “in regal fashion.”
“He didn't cause any trouble,” she said.
Hawley said she hasn't seen a mountain lion in her neighborhood before, but she began studying up on them, and discovered that they make a sound that can sound like a peacock. She said she's heard a similar sound in the area, and so she believed the mountain lion may have been scoping out the area for a while.
Her cat wouldn't go outside after the sighting and the wild turkeys she's seen around have been gone for a while.
Hawley said she didn't think the mountain lion was out to do harm, and doubted there was danger.
Local Fish and Game Warden Loren Freeman said there are definitely mountain lions in Lake County due to its very rural nature.
“I am getting an increased activity with reports right now,” said Freeman, who believed that the growing number of sightings may be, in part, due to water drying up in area creeks and springs.
That would explain the thirsty mountain lion's fixation on the water bowl in Hawley's yard, Freeman said, since wild animals will seek other sources of water when the natural ones dry up.
He said leaving water outside for domestic animals can draw wild ones, too.
But other factors can draw mountain lions, too, Freeman explained.
Area residents who feed wildlife such as deer actually end up drawing mountain lions. Freeman said feeding deer is the No. 1 cause leading to finding mountain lions coming into neighborhoods.
Freeman said that, because mountain lions are at the top of the food chain, they eat fresh meat. “They're going to follow the deer herd.”
Even feeding pets outside can draw wildlife, said Freeman. If people stop those feeding habits, they can break the cycle and interrupt the habit of wildlife, which then will move on.
Freeman urged people who have concerns about wildlife to visit the state Fish and Game Web site at
www.dfg.ca.gov ; click on the button on the page's lefthand side for “What to do about nuisance, dangerous or injured wildlife.” That will lead to a page featuring animals from bats to bears, from coyotes to mountain lions, which then directs readers to the Fish and Game's “Keep Me Wild” Web site.
That site devotes a page to mountain lions (www.dfg.ca.gov/keepmewild/lion.html), and offers tips for living in mountain lion country, including not feeding deer – which also is illegal.
People in wild areas shouldn't hike, bike or jog alone, and should avoid outdoor activities at dawn, dusk and nighttime, when mountain lions are most active, according to the site. Those who spot a mountain lion shouldn't approach them, but should face the animal, make a noise and try to look bigger.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
Capt. Rob Howe of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said that sheriff's personnel, along with officers and agents from the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement and Bureau of Land Management (BLM), infiltrated five large marijuana cultivation operations during the Tuesday operation.
The marijuana grows were located southwest of Blue Lakes, said Howe.
One of the five grows was on private property, Howe said, while the other four were on BLM land.
Howe said law enforcement personnel seized 15,000 marijuana plants, combined, from the five grows.
He said the grows were uninhabited at the time of the operation and no arrests were made.
So far this year, law enforcement personnel in Lake County have seized 322,063 marijuana plants and 12 firearms, and have made 14 arrests in connection to these marijuana cultivation operations, according to Howe.
Last year, approximately 499,508 marijuana plants were eradicated on public and private lands in Lake County during the July through October eradication season, as Lake County News has reported.
The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office reported Wednesday that the remains, found at 19400 South Harbor Drive in Fort Bragg, on July 16, were identified as belonging to 49-year-old Michael Ray Larsen of Fort Bragg.
In December 2003 the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office was contacted by one of Larsen's family members.
The family member, who advised that Larsen was transient and last known to be living in the Fort Bragg area, was concerned because Larsen had not telephoned his family members for the holidays as was his normal routine.
Mendocino County sheriff's detectives conducted several investigations into Larsen's whereabouts and learned his ATM/debit card was last used at the Fort Bragg McDonald's on Aug. 8, 2003.
At approximately 9:15 a.m. July 16, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office was summoned to the hillside behind the Caito Fisheries business located on South Harbor Drive in Fort Bragg.
When they arrived detectives learned the business' employees had located human remains in a skeletal condition while clearing heavy bush on the hillside. Found on the ground near the remains was a wallet containing photo identification of Larsen.
While conducting a scene examination detectives noticed the remains were located below a steep drop off in the terrain. Above this drop off was the area of a transient encampment. Detectives also noticed the location of the Fort Bragg McDonald's was above this transient encampment.
On Tuesday the teeth of the remains were compared against known dental records of Larsen. Based upon this comparison the remains were identified as Larsen's.
A further examination of the remains were conducted by the Mendocino County pathologist and the remains showed no signs of physical force or violence that would suggest Larsen's death was the result of foul play.
The Sheppard Fire, located in the Spanish Canyon and the Oak Knoll area outside of Ukiah, burned 105 acres after it was sparked Monday afternoon, as Lake County News as reported.
Cal Fire reported that the fire was 100-percent contained at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
There were no injuries reported and no structure loss, according to Cal Fire spokesperson Tracy Boudreaux.
She noted that several structures had been in “potentially devastating conditions.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Boudreaux said.
Success in containing the fire quickly was credited to rapid response of aircraft, fire crews and homeowners keeping defensible space around their homes, Boudreaux said.
More than 325 firefighters were involved in the incident, including engines and overhead – or leadership – positions from out of county, Boudreaux reported.
Boudreaux said crews came from Cal Fire's Mendocino Unit, Ukiah Valley Fire, Ukiah City Fire, Redwood Valley/Calpella Fire, Hopland Fire Protection District, Potter Valley Fire, Brook Trails Fire, Little Lake Fire Protection District, Long Valley Fire Protection District, Comptche Fire, Albion Little River Fire, Mendocino Fire Protection District, Fort Bragg Fire, three office of Emergency Services engines staffed by Mendocino County local fire agencies, and the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office and the California Highway Patrol.
West winds on Monday night carried smoke from the fire into Lake County.
Lake County Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart said Tuesday that there were several hours on Monday night when there were measurable impacts from the smoke on local air quality, but those issues clear up.
Much of the initial smoke moving into Lake County on Monday remained elevated, only mixing to the ground late in the afternoon as the west winds subsided, Gearhart noted.
The smoke primarily impacted Northshore communities and the Mendocino National Forest, with residual smoke dispersing though the Lake County air basin late in the evening and overnight, he said.
On Tuesday, there were no measurable impacts on air quality from the Sheppard Fire's smoke, although in some areas minor smoke impacts might have been visible or noticeable, Gearhart said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
The majority of callers had questions about health care reform, according to Thompson's office.
The congressman also fielded questions on climate change, renewable energy, the peripheral canal and the state of our economy.
“It was great to hear from so many people and have a chance to talk about the issues facing our country,” said Thompson. “While I didn’t have a chance to get to everyone’s question, it was an important opportunity for me to hear from constituents about what’s important to them. People are understandably concerned about their access to quality, affordable health care, and I’ll continue to keep my constituent’s feedback in mind as Congress fine-tunes its reform legislation.”
Thompson will respond in writing to 565 voice mails left by participants after the call that were not able to ask their question during the hour long forum.
The Sheppard Fire was sparked Monday afternoon along Robinson Creek Road near Highway 253 in the west hills near Ukiah, as Lake County News has reported.
On Tuesday morning more than 300 firefighters on scene had kept the fire's size at 105 acres, said Cal Fire spokesperson Tracy Boudreaux.
Boudreaux said the fire was 85-percent contained, and full containment is expected Tuesday afternoon.
Additional aircraft will be dispatched on Tuesday to help bring the fire under control, Boudreaux said.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
