A mountain lion that prowled eastern Nevada City in recent days was killed by police Monday night, when it returned to devour a deer it had previously killed.

The 70-pound lion was shot behind the cabin of Tom Hines at 347 Nile St. around 9:50 p.m., said Nevada City Police Sgt. Lorin Gage. The lion had killed the deer Sunday night just 20 feet away from Hines' kitchen window.

"It was a bad situation where it appeared it wasn't going to leave," Gage said. The lion had been spotted in recent days along a heavily traveled trail that links Pioneer Park to downtown Nevada City behind the Pioneer Court cabins. The cabins are at the corner of Nile and Nimrod streets, directly across from the park tennis courts.

Gage said several more domestic cat carcasses were found Monday by an officer and representatives of the California Department of Fish and Game after the first house cat was reported killed Sunday. Those killings and the close proximity of children in the cabins led the city to get a permit to kill the lion, Gage said.

Lorna Bernard of Fish and Game in Sacramento said lions deemed a danger to humans or who have damaged property are shot instead of tranquilized for various reasons. "It would just relocate the problem to someone else's back yard," Bernard said.

Residents of the cabins did not delight in the lion's death Tuesday, but said the animal was definitely a threat. Julia Strach said her white Siamese cat is missing and feared killed by the lion.

"I have a 4-year-old son," Strach said. "He wanted to go outside, but I didn't want him to go outside at all."

Hines said three cat carcasses have been found in the area and two more neighborhood felines are missing. "I haven't seen any raccoons or skunks in our complex this year and they've been here every year," since Hines moved in five years ago.

Hines heard a commotion outside his window Sunday night about 10:30 and pointed his flashlight on the lion with a deer in its mouth 20 feet away. The animals rolled down the hill and Hines heard the lion burying the deer.

"It came back up and was rolling in the dirt like a big kitty cat, real happy," Hines said. "I never expected to see a mountain lion that close to people."

Monday at 9:30 p.m. the crickets that create a din behind Hines' cabin and the path every night went silent. When Hines pointed a flashlight out his kitchen window, he saw the lion about 30 feet away, "just laying there licking himself."

Hines called the police, who arrived quickly. Hines stayed in the window and yelled to a Nevada City policeman and two Fish and Game representatives when the lion moved down the hill toward them.

The three each shot simultaneously at the lion with shotguns, "and he jumped up a bit, it was hit," Hines said. The men then followed the cat into the thick brush with flashlights and shot it several more times, Hines said. "About nine rounds were fired."

Although Hines would have liked to see the cat tranquilized rather than killed, "it was absolutely necessary because he was so close to people and he had claimed this area."

Bernard said when it comes to problem mountain lions, "relocation is not an option; we stress prevention in the first place. It's always upsetting for residents when a mountain lion or deer is killed but when it's killing dogs or cats, it's a whole other situation."

Bernard said on rare occasions a mountain lion that follows a stream into an urban area will get up in a tree and not initially be a threat. Those "no harm, no foul" mountain lions are tranquilized but even that can cause a problem because they initially run off when hit by a dart.

Bernard said there are several things people can do to avoid having mountain lions killed in their area.

"Don't feed the deer because they're the mountain lions primary food," Bernard said. "Clear the brush, don't provide cover," around your home.

Karen Cotton at The Mountain Lion Foundation in Sacramento agrees.

"If deer are coming in, mountain lions will follow," she said. "Then they may find a quick and easy meal (like a goat, cat or dog)." Don't leave pet food or your pets outside, she said.

"People have to decide what kind of wildlife they can tolerate," Cotton said. "The best thing to do is for people to adjust their behavior to keep the lions away."

For more on mountain lions, visit mountainlion.org or www.dfg.ca.gov on the Web.

<I>To contact senior staff writer Dave Moller, e-mail davem@theunion.com or call 477-4237.</I>