PORTOLA VALLEY, Calif. (KCBS)  -- Six mountain lion sightings around Woodside and Portola Valley in the past few weeks have left some who call the area home feeling on edge.

Residents need to realize the beautiful wooded hills and open space are mountain lion country, said Lt. John Courtney with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department.

  KCBS' Margie Shafer reports

Courtney and other deputies spent Tuesday night trying to calm rattled nerves at a community meeting at Portola Valley Town Hall.

They urged residents to report any sightings.

An official with the Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space district said anyone who encounter a cougar should resist the urge to run, and try to make themselves look bigger.

Mountain lion attacks are extremely rare. Since 1890, there have been 15 attacks in all of California.

(jro)