4S RANCH (CNS) - A reported sighting of a mountain lion in a North County gorge prompted brief lockdowns at two nearby schools Monday while authorities searched in vain for the big cat.
Someone in a neighborhood on 4S Ranch Parkway reported seeing the large cougar shortly before 12:30 p.m. on the other side of an adjacent canyon, close to a boys and girls club building, sheriff's Lt. David Gilmore said.
Administrators at nearby Stone Ranch Elementary and Oak Valley Middle School kept all pupils secured inside their classrooms for about 45 minutes while deputies and state Fish and Game officers searched the area with airborne help from a sheriff's helicopter crew.
The personnel spotted no puma, according to Gilmore.
