Mountain lions roam within a range of approximately 350 miles, wildlife experts say, so it’s not often one is around long enough to be caught or photographed. In this case, though, Jamie says, the lions have apparently moved into the neighborhood. Mountain lions are said to go after easy prey, like pets or small children.

“We have had this pair around for almost a month,” Jamie said. “It’s been pretty intense. We have a little pooch (13 years old and about 10 pounds) and are very protective. We go outside at night with him carrying a rake or something like that just in case!”

Then he emailed me another video, this one from a Boulder local news station, showing a courageous woman chasing a mountain lion out of her back yard. The cat was attacking her 25-pound poodle mix. The news anchor said that two mountain lions had been in the Boulder neighborhood since January, during which time they had killed two dogs. I suspect these are the same cats Jamie described before.

Some wildlife biologists have suggested reintroducing cougars to kill deer that cause thousands of highway accidents every year, but I don’t think that is a very good idea. I have read reports of cougars in Colorado, Oregon and Washington state entering homes through pet doors and killing dogs, in some cases when the owners were home. Mountain lions have also attacked hikers.

As more land is built up, more wildlife is seen in residential areas. This seems reasonable, but wouldn’t you think that after a month state wildlife employees would have removed those two from Jamie’s residential neighborhood to a more suitable environment?

It is also true that the mountain lion population has increased during recent decades, as bounties on the big cats have been eliminated and hunting has been managed. They have extended their territory and are now seen more frequently in Idaho, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and California.

Bears are old news at this point. Here in Keene Valley we all know bears are in the backyard, and I wouldn’t be surprised if a mountain lion showed up.

Many people in the Adirondacks will tell you that they have seen mountain lions, or cougars, although the experts deny that the big cats have a presence here. Over the years, there have been black panther sightings–black panthers are just cougars of a different color–as well as many sightings of the usual light brown kind.

A few years ago, my friend Darla looked out her kitchen window and saw a young cougar eating some chicken meat she had set out for a fox who regularly visited her backyard.

Darla called to her husband, and they watched the cougar for about 15 minutes until it walked back into the woods and disappeared. They could tell it was young because it still had traces of spotting on its coat, like a cub.

“I know what I saw,” she said, “but when I reported it, people questioned me so much I’ve started to doubt myself.”

Some are skeptical, but I’m a believer, since I too have seen a cougar. I was picking raspberries in St. Huberts when I looked up and saw the lion eyeing me, in exactly the same way my cat watches a mouse. My stomach muscles instantaneously tensed as adrenaline surged through my brain and body. That’s what visceral means, I realized.

Early this morning, when my friend Jenny and I were out for a walk, I told her that, in one Oregon town, mountain lions had been sighted at school bus stops in the mornings.

“Maybe they smelled the food in the children’s backpacks,” Jenny surmised.

“Maybe they smelled the children,” I said darkly. I doubt whether cougars care much about peanut butter and jelly. They’re not like bears. Cats like meat.

That is why Darla is no longer putting food out for the fox. Much as she loves animals, I’m happy to say she does not want a mountain lion in her yard.

Have a good week.

(Martha Allen lives in Keene Valley. She has been writing for the News for more than 20 years.)