Woman spots large cat

A mountain lion spotted in the backyard of a Corona del Mar home Friday afternoon might not be a mountain lion after all; after reviewing video footage, police said Saturday that it looks more like a large bobcat.

The cat, estimated to weigh 65 pounds, was seen walking through the backyard of home in the 1000 block of Sandcastle Drive at 5 p.m. Friday. The resident, who’s name is being withheld, called police, who searched the area with a police helicopter.

The cat was last spotted by a police officer and a resident in Buck Gulley, near the corner of Fifth Avenue and Poppy Avenue, police said.

The search was called off after the sun set Friday.

“It was just kind of cruising in the grass,” said the Corona del Mar woman who first spotted the cat from her balcony. The woman said the cat was bigger than a golden retriever and definitely “wasn’t a bobcat.”

After reviewing videotape of the cat, taken during the helicopter pursuit, a Newport Beach animal control officer determined that the cat was a bobcat, said Sgt. Bill Hartford.

Mountain lions or bobcats aren’t a rarity in the open spaces of Orange County, said animal control officer Valerie Schomburg.

As for the cat spotted Friday, it could be up to six miles away by now, said Schomburg, who was patrolling the area Saturday.

“We just kind of wait to see if someone sees it again,” Schomburg said.

Although police say the animal was likely a bobcat, residents should call animal control if they see a large animal that could pose a threat, Schomburg said.

“If they’re not sure, then it’s something that we need to look into,” Schomburg said.

Corona del Mar resident Jack McSunas was walking his dog Saturday near where the animal was spotted and said he wasn’t too concerned.

“Whatever was here is probably five miles away now,” McSunas said.

A resident of Poppy Avenue for 17 years, McSunas said he’s seen more than few coyotes and mountain lions over the years.