As Johnny Carson used to say as he opened THE TONIGHT SHOW, "Good evening from wonderful downtown Burbank",,,,,,,,,,,He was alluding to the wall to wall human sprawl and matrix of homes and industry that populate the Eastern end of the San Fernando Valley, just "up and over the hill" from Los Angeles.........Cougar sightings galore this past Summer in this urban center as the half dozen or so resident cats of the Santa Monica Mountains made themselves visible,,,,, with some losing their life on area freeways because of their need to stake out new territorites to breed and propagate

Mountain lion spotted in broad daylight in Burbank backyard

A mountain lion walked up the front driveway of a Burbank home and into the backyard Tuesday afternoon before fleeing into the foothills, police said.Police said Wednesday that a resident of the home in the 1200 block of Verdugo Spring Lane, near the Glendale border, took photographs that animal control officials used to confirm the identity of the big cat, according to the Burbank Leader.

The mountain lion apparently walked up a hillside slope and disappeared after strolling through the yard at 2:50 p.m. Tuesday, according to a notice issued by Burbank police.It is the latest reported sighting of a mountain lion in broad daylight in Burbank.

Several sightings were reported in the hillsides in August when officers saw a mountain lion walking between parked cars near Kenneth Road and Brown Drive.The cat jumped an 8-foot fence on Woodstock Lane before moving into the brush and out of sight.

While officials said mountain lions are typically skittish and avoid human contact, they repeated warnings to keep pet food indoors and to avoid hiking or jogging alone, especially at dawn or dusk.