Orange County Park Closed After Cougar Frightens Woman

Campgrounds in Orange County’s O’Neill Regional Park will remain closed for several days after three reported cougar sightings, the latest when a woman encountered one of big cats in a restroom stall, rangers said Saturday.

County parks officials evacuated 15 campers and closed 100 of the 155 campsites at the park on Friday afternoon. The restrictions were expected to remain in force until at least next week.

Linda King, 23, of Anaheim, climbed atop a partition between stalls and hung from a ceiling pipe after a 100- to 150-pound cougar stuck its nose under the door of her stall in a women’s restroom at the park, which is about six miles east of El Toro, shortly after midnight Thursday. The animal left after a few minutes, and King was unharmed.

“I was petrified,” King said. “I just stayed there and held my breath, didn’t move, didn’t blink. I acted like I was dead.”

Two other unconfirmed sightings were reported on Tuesday.

“King’s encounter was the most direct contact between a camper and a mountain lion, at least in O’Neill Park,” said park Ranger Nancy Bruland.

Attacks on Children

The closure is the latest response to cougar sightings since two attacks on small children in the Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park, and cougar tracks found at O’Neill led to the closing of both parks last year.

Campers have been given warnings, and camping restrictions and temporary closures of facilities have been enforced after Caspers Park reopened in January and O’Neill Park in March.

“I don’t have any answers on why the cougars are in the park. I guess it’s because of the development around the park. Natural land is turned into homes and stores so all wildlife movement corridors are blocked off. Animals don’t think, they just survive and act on instinct,” Bruland said.

Officials are presently scanning the park area to determine the movement of the mountain lions and to decide which parts of the park to close down.

She ‘Played Dead’

“She (King) was fortunate, she was able to climb fairly high,” Bruland said. “A mountain lion can jump as high as 18 feet. There is no set rule on how to react to mountain lions but in this incident, King played dead and it worked this time.”

“The best way is not to act like prey,” Bruland said. “A mountain lion will attack anything that sounds injured. They normally prey on deer or any four-legged animal, so the best thing to do is stand up and appear large to a mountain lion. Don’t scream, act hysterical and run.”