Morgan Hill
– County resident Nicky Austin and her family are worried about
mountain lions, concerned about the safety of their goats, their
own safety and the safety of those that may use Anderson County
Park. And they have good reason.
Morgan Hill – County resident Nicky Austin and her family are worried about mountain lions, concerned about the safety of their goats, their own safety and the safety of those that may use Anderson County Park. And they have good reason.
Four of their goats were killed by at least one mountain lion. Three were killed early Saturday morning, and another was killed Monday night. One of the goats killed Saturday was dragged away from the house and partially eaten, and the lion came back Sunday night to eat more.
“It was just horrible,” Austin said of hearing the lion’s Monday night attack. “Laying in bed, listening to the screams, all the sounds.”
The home is located in a rural area east of Sobrato High School on Burnett Avenue in north Morgan Hill. The property has wooded areas and a large back pasture abutting the county park. Austin’s neighbors, including her grandparents’ home down the road, are similar; most with animals, including horses, goats, chickens, cats and dogs.
Austin said the family has guns in the home, but she didn’t want her husband to risk getting attacked himself if he went out to shoot the lion. Instead, they shined bright lights from inside the house, hoping to scare it away. It may have worked, she said, because a second goat had obviously been attacked Monday night, but was not killed.
“We could tell there must have been a struggle,” she said. “You could see the saliva marks on it, and there was some hair missing on its back.”
Saturday night, she said, she and her husband didn’t hear a thing, even though the goats were about 100 feet from their bedroom, and the windows were open. They may have heard the dogs barking, but didn’t pay any attention, she said, because they bark at the deer and pigs that come onto the property.
Two of the goats were killed near the house; the third was killed and then dragged away from the house and partially eaten.
“It was silent, quiet and fast,” said Austin. “Half (of the goats) must have bolted one way, half the other, and the two that were killed were killed within 20 feet of each other. It’s coming really close to the house.”
Calls to county officials for information about mountain lions were not returned by press time.
Austin said she was advised by sheriff’s office deputies to “remove the food source,” she said, so she moved her goats to relatives’ and neighbors’ properties and will lock the rest of them up in her small barn at night.
Austin said she and her family have goats to control the growth of star thistle, a poisonous weed, on their property. She did have a dozen goats, which she describes as “pets, weed eaters and lawn mowers.”
Austin, who works for Gilroy High School, said she often buys goats raised by Gilroy High FFA students who don’t want to sell the goats for their meat.
The family has chickens on the property, but they are completely enclosed in a coop; there are also dogs and cats on the property.
Austin’s three children – a 9-year-old, 6-year-old and 2-year-old – have never been allowed to play in the back pasture – closest to the park – by themselves, but now when they are outside even closer to the house, she wants to be out with them or for them to be within sight, she said.
“I know people aren’t lion food, but people aren’t shark food either,” she said. “You just don’t know how bold they might get.”
She said she is also worried about people using Anderson Park, like joggers entering the park alone at dusk, which she has seen. Even cross-country teams from Live Oak High and Sobrato High using the park for training concerns her, she said, because “who knows how it might behave if one of the kids stumbled over it.” She would like to see a more effective warning system, she added.
“The park has a sign that warns you that you are entering mountain lion territory, but how much more effective would an bright neon sign be, one that says, ‘Four goats killed in three days,’ something like that,” Austin said.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at [email protected].
