Screenshot via Apple

Apple's emailed announcement of the new Mountain Lion OS X this week has been met with a mix of roaring applause and sharpened claws. In the new release:

"Send iMessages. Set reminders. Get notifications. Tweet right from the app you’re in. Go up against iOS gamers in Game Center. And with iCloud, your Mac works even better with your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Available now in the Mac App Store for just $19.99."

Despite designers dissecting fonts, developers discussing data, and the peanut gallery clamping down on bad puns, CNET reports 2 millions downloads so far.

Want to see kittens demo the new features? Mew.

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Screenshot via YouTube

Department of Fish and Game officials shut down an OC wilderness park on Monday night after catching wind of a video shot on Sunday of a non-camera shy cougar sauntering across a hiking trail in front of a flustered coyote.

The OC Register reported that a 100-pound male mountain lion was trapped in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park early Tuesday and evaluated by veterinarian Scott Weldy at the Serrano Animal Hospital in Lake Forest. Weldy said the cat was calm and in good shape, but that the number of ticks on the animal "seems a little unusual." Blood tests were being conducted.

Game wardens were hoping to relocate the mountain lion which did not turn tail even after beanbag-type rounds were fired in an effort to scare it off, said OC Parks spokeswoman Marisa O'Neil. The animal did not show signs of aggression, but it was also not frightened by humans, said officials.

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Photo by Santa Monica Police Department via PatrickNBCLA/Twitter

Santa Monica police have responded to the controversial fatal shooting of a puma last month by revising the department's procedure for handling free-roaming wildlife in an urban setting.

Officers, activists and veterinarians met with Fish and Game and National Park Service reps this week to discuss a new approach to animal encounters, and "the inherent risks and the reasonableness of those methods when applicable in real-life scenarios," the police department said in a release.

Acknowledging public safety as the primary consideration, as well as the value of safe capture of wildlife, the focus group produced a plan to provide officers with additional training, and to provide the department with specialized equipment to aid in future scenarios.

The Santa Monica Police Department has committed to:

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Photo by Santa Monica Police Department via PatrickNBCLA/Twitter

The Santa Monica Police Department and the Department of Fish and Game have corralled a mountain lion in a Santa Monica office complex courtyard on Second Street, police said. The animal has not yet been tranquilized.

Police have closed Second Street for the incident. A janitor reported the sighting at about 6 a.m.

"With the Santa Monica Mountains nearby, we see all kinds of critters," said Lt. Calisse Lindsey Santa to NBC LA, of the Santa Monica Police Department. "Raccoons, deer – it’s amazing what I've seen in last few years. It happens, but never a mountain lion in a building."

UPDATE 10 a.m. NBC LA reports the mountain lion was shot and killed when it tried to escape. 

Santa Monica Police confirm mountain lion shot and killed at 9:15am.Said 75 lb female tried to escape courtyard after less lethal force

— Patrick Healy (@PatrickNBCLA) May 22, 2012

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