For the last 30 or so years I've lived within 4 miles of known mountain lion dens but never seen one. Bobcats occasionally get spotted and we have a huge one that looks like a boxer dog when it runs away. I frequently work out in the woods relatively close to the dens and occasionally find scat or a deer carcass but those lions are damn elusive. Every now and then the ol' dog seems to notice something and stays real close so I always assume they could be close by.