Mountain lion spotted in Sacramento Valley, quickly fled after being located in tree

A mountain lion was spotted early Thursday morning near Yolo, according to the Yolo County Sheriff’s Office.

About 2:30 a.m., deputies responded to reports of a mountain lion near the unincorporated community at County Roads 98 and 17, not far from Jackson Street.

Lt. Juan Ceja said some dogs were chasing the large cat off of someone’s property. The dogs stopped their chase after the cougar climbed into a tree.

When deputies arrived and confirmed the sighting, the sheriff’s animal services division and state Fish and Wildlife officials were notified. But soon after being spotted, the mountain lion fled westbound.

“The mountain lion jumped out of the tree and ran away,” Ceja said.

This isn’t the only reported sighting of a mountain lion in Northern California this week. A cougar was spotted attacking a woman’s dog Monday afternoon in the Big Bar area of Trinity County — which is located approximately three and a half hours northwest of Yolo and four hours from Sacramento.

For areas in which the mountain lion is spotted, wildlife officials recommend people not hike alone, to not approach or run from the mountain lion and not to bend or crouch when the cougar is in view.