Received an email this week from a friend who owns a cabin on Sierra Parkway in Unit 9. She gave me permission to post her email:
"I saw a mountain lion today just after 6:00 p.m. I was reading in the air chair on our lower deck and happened to glance up to see it about 60 feet away on the logging road, apparently having come from your property. S/he was sniffing the rear end of our deer statue, and raised its front left paw to touch the deer's haunch. I compared the cougar's body length with that of the deer; it was 1.5 X as long (not counting the long tail, which had a black tip; the tail was about half the length of the main body). The shoulder height was about the back of the deer statue. It turned its head towards me, so I saw it full face. It did not hurry or seem alarmed, just observed me. I was murmuring under my breath, "Oh, my gosh!" It was breathtakingly beautiful, standing there in full sunlight. It investigated the base of the statue, then proceeded up to the head, where it rubbed its face up against the antlers (scent marking). It then proceeded up the road a little way and went down hill between the metal bench and the dogwood tree. I saw it for three or four minutes. I noted the time on my watch when it left, 6:08 p.m.
I wished I had had a camera, since it was in full sunlight and completely unobstructed from my line of sight. It left an indelible imprint in my mind; I kept telling myself to observe carefully and compare sizes accurately.
I have never seen a mountain lion before. What a gift!
We actually measured our deer statue and decided that the cougar's body was about four and a half feet long (add another two feet + for the tail) and it stood about two feet high at the shoulder."