Last week at Hill Air Force Base, which has been plagued by several years worth of suicides, a stand down was ordered. Rumors ran riot of more suicides, but apparently they were denied by the base. --- However a new threat has emerged to the safety and health of HAFB employees: mountain lions.

A few days ago someone leaving one of the top secret hangers where F-16s are repaired and made battle-ready spotted a lion, which had seemingly come down from the mountains in search of food.

The base is organizing a hunt team with tranquilizer guns, according to my source, to track the animal or animals down.

Quite why the lions are descending to man-dominated land is intriguing. Earlier this year the number of deer corpses littering the sides of highways seemed higher than usual.

Anyone know what’s going on with our local critters?

The base public affairs office was not immediately available for comment.

Update 5-28-10, 1:26 p.m.: base spokesman Rich Essary says there have been two unconfirmed sighting of mountain lions on base, one last week and one that was two or three months ago. Base wildlife biologists have not confirmed either sighting--and are skeptical--Essary says, bust base residents were warned "as a precaution." Biologists are skeptical, Essary says, because this would not be a typical time of year for mountain lions to come to the valley. Essary was unsure when, if ever, mountain lions had been spotted on base before (Jesse Fruhwirth).