Fish & Game: No Mountain Lion at Los Gatos Heintz Open Space Park

No signs of mountain lions have been found by Department of Fish and Game authorities looking for a cat that a bicyclist reported attacked him Wednesday while on the trail at the Heintz Open Space Park in Los Gatos.

In a press release issued this afternoon, Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police spokesman Sgt. Kerry Harris said Game officials were not able to substantiate the 18-year-old San Jose resident's account of being scratched by a mountain lion while riding his bike on a small trail at the park above the Regent Drive trailhead.

Officers said they received a call at 8:28 p.m. Wednesday evening from a hiker at the trailhead stating that the bicyclist was carrying a knife on the trail.

When officers arrived at the scene, the man with the knife who claimed to have been attacked by the cat had loaded his mountain bicycle into his vehicle and showed three superficial scratches to police, each about three inches in length, on his left upper forearm that he claimed were made by a mountain lion that attacked him on the trail.

Game officials responded to the area Wednesday evening and Thursday morning to corroborate the presence of the animal, but none were found, Harris said.

"There have been reported sightings in the surrounding area over the years and DFG has advised that there are mountain lions in the outlying rural areas that have the ability to range long distances, but none were detected during these events," the release said.

Game officials determined that the injuries suffered by the bicyclist were not consistent with a mountain lion attack, police said, adding that the public should still be aware of its surroundings when hiking on the trails of Los Gatos.

"... We do not feel anyone is at imminent risk of mountain lion attack," the release stated.