THE DISCOVERY of a mountain lion-ravaged deer carcass on a paved street in a well populated Carmel Valley neighborhood has some residents on edge knowing a predatory cat is hunting just steps away from their front doors.

The deer, found Sept. 8 on Buena Vista Del Rio, had obviously been the victim of a mountain lion, said resident Jim Smith, who lives on the street and took photos of the gruesome carcass.

“It looks like it had been killed, and the cat drug it uphill about 50 feet,” said Smith, who’s lived in the neighborhood since 1982 and until now has never seen evidence of an animal killed by a mountain lion. The kill, across the street from his house, has many of his neighbors concerned.

“People are definitely worried,” said Smith, who has grown children and no pets. “They are more aware of keeping their pets in at night. Mothers are concerned.”

Killing what it’s ‘supposed to’

Smith said the lion probably killed the deer sometime during the early morning hours. He heard some dogs barking that night and a neighbor also reported hearing noise, but it’s not clear if what they heard was the attack.

Smith said he recently went to a party in the neighborhood and people were talking about seeing a mountain lion. Apparently, a lion has been spotted on Esquiline and Southbank roads at least twice in three weeks, he said.

Smith reported the deer carcass to the California Department of Fish and Game warden assigned to Carmel Valley. “They were happy the mountain lion was going after what it is supposed to,” Smith said.

A day or two after the carcass was found, someone placed a sign on nearby Esquiline Road warning people of a lion in the area. “Warning Aggressive Mountain Lion,” the sign reads. It goes on to say there have been “day and night sightings” and advises to “protect your animals and children.”

California Department of Fish and Game spokesman Kyle Orr said in late summer when vegetation dries out, more deer than usual move into residential neighborhoods, seeking food and water.

And mountain lions go wherever deer go. “Lions are likely to track deer while they are foraging,” he said.

Though Carmel Valley is good mountain lion habitat because deer are plentiful, Orr said his agency has not had an increase in reports of mountain lion sightings or attacks on wild animals or pets in Carmel Valley.

In fact, local wildlife experts said there have been fewer lion sightings this year than in previous years.

“We haven’t seen anything unusual,” said Mark Stromberg, director of Hastings Reserve in Carmel Valley.

Field researchers who work at the 2,500-acre reserve regularly work in mountain lion territory, but Stromberg said there have been only two sightings this summer, which he said is a relatively small number.

“We usually have about six to eight” sightings, he said.

Reserve steward and Cachagua Fire Battalion Chief Jaime del Valle said he’s also not had any reports of mountain lion interaction with people.

“The field assistants are in the woods all the time,” del Valle said. “I think it’s been an extremely average year” for sightings.

Though Orr said it’s good for people to stay cautious if they live in mountain lion territory, it’s rare for people to see mountain lions, let alone be attacked by one.

“Since 1890, in California, there have been only 14 verified attacks, with six fatalities,” Orr said. “It’s very rare they attack humans.”

None of the attacks were in Monterey County.

Nevertheless, fish and game urges people who encounter a mountain lion not to run, but to “face the animal, make noise and appear as large as possible.”

If attacked, the agency says you should “fight back.”