California

Mountain Lion Roaming Neighborhood in Gilroy, Killing Pets

A mountain lion has been terrorizing a Gilroy neighborhood killing their animals and on Wednesday evening, a woman managed to get a picture of the big cat when pets and people were still out and about.

"I realized I could see our pet goat laying out in the field so I ran out to her," said Gilroy resident Rachelle Voshel.

Pickles the goat is one of several of Voshel’s animals that have been killed over the last few days, she’s also lost some of her prized rabbits.

"It’s a pretty busy road for it to be coming out this early at night," Voshel said. "I have four children and we were just at grandma’s and we’re like okay, it’s starting to get dark, we need to leave because it’s not safe."

The cat has been prowling around New Avenue and Church Avenue in rural Gilroy where there are several small ranches in the area, concerning neighbors.

"I’ve heard that they’ve been coming down the creek, the mountain lions lately," said neighbor John Hodges. "Church has a creek over this way. That’s when I started getting concerned but, to hear that they’re right here behind my house now, that’s another level."

Since Voshel has already lost some of her animals, and now has a photo of the mountain lion, she can get a permit from the California department of fish and wildlife to hire a trapper to try and catch the predator.

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