The large male cougar that sent Mountain View into conniptions
last month before he was tranquilized and taken into the woods
was hiding behind a small hedge on a busy street for nine hours
as pedestrians and bicyclists passed by only a few feet away,
experts say.  The confused cat became trapped amid the hustle
and bustle of downtown and laid low until late in the afternoon
when he emerged from the hedge and slunk around apartment
courtyards, dodging cars and people for another 3 1/2 hours,
according to Chris Wilmers, the lead researcher for the Santa
Cruz Puma Project.  When the animal was finally spotted, the
news set off the kind of frenzy that usually ends in death for
mountain lions. This time, it had a different outcome.  "These
young animals, they are exploring, trying to find a vacant
territory, and they are constantly going through novel areas,"
said Wilmers, an environmental studies associate professor at UC
Santa Cruz and one of the Bay Area's foremost experts on
mountain lion behavior. "When they