A family out for a stroll came face to face with a
”
huge
”
mountain lion Tuesday afternoon.
A family out for a stroll came face to face with a “huge” mountain lion Tuesday afternoon.
Forging ahead of her husband – who has a broken leg – Toni Manning and her 65-pound German shepherd puppy froze when they spotted a mountain lion just west of the park side of Christmas Hill Park. Manning estimated the lion was about 90 pounds.
“It put my dog to shame,” she said.
Manning said the cat locked eyes with her at about 75 feet away and she yelled at her husband to stay back. Her yell startled the animal and it ran into the park. The Mannings ran back to their truck and reported the cat to police.
“I just wanted to warn joggers and kids,” she said. “This is scary to me. I know we’re invading on its territory but the public needs to know.”
The police department dispatched two officers to the area but they could not locate the cat, Sgt. Jim Gillio said.
In some cases, if a mountain lion is found in a highly populated neighborhood and is posing a threat to human life, “we might have to take the animal’s life,” Gillio said. “But we try to take advantage of every other possibility first. Obviously human life takes priority but that’s the way it goes. Some people don’t agree with that.”
Though he did not discount Manning’s sighting, he did say that police have received several calls reporting a mountain lion in the area that turned out to be a house cat.
“There’s a large house cat roaming around over there too,” he said. “I’ve seen it.”
