The large male cougar that rattled nerves when it spent much of a day behind a hedge in a Mountain View neighborhood earlier this year was struck and killed by a car on a San Francisco Bay Area freeway.
Wildlife officials say the mountain lion was hit Oct. 3 on Interstate 280 near Redwood City as it tried to cross the highway just north of Edgewood Road. Experts say the cougar was young and was likely still trying to establish his own territory when he was hit.
The car's driver was not hurt.
Paul Houghtaling, field project manager for the Santa Cruz Puma Project, identified the animal as the same big cat that spent about nine hours on a busy street in Mountain View in May.
After that incident the cougar was tranquilized and released into nearby hills.
Houghtaling says the accident occurred within a mile of the spot where a young female mountain lion was hit and killed a few months ago.
