Large mountain lion caught on camera strolling through yard in California
Jackie Winston of Cambria had a surprise guest at her front door soon after midnight early Monday morning — a large mountain lion.
Her Ring security system’s camera captured a 12-second video of the cat, she told The Tribune by phone later that morning.
It’s the first time she’s seen one of the big mammals in her Happy Hill neighborhood, she said, although they’ve seen wild turkeys and deer frequently in their area. “The turkeys are smart. They disappear a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving.”
Seeing the mountain lion “didn’t bother me at all. I found it fascinating,” Winston said with a laugh. “I’m kind of a day person, so I’ll take the day, and they can have the night.”
She said a neighbor told her they’ve seen a lion farther up on Happy Hill, in the northeastern portion of Cambria. There have been reports of a mountain lion strolling the streets of the town’s Marine Terrace area near the shore, too.
Winston jokingly added, “I guess this makes me a different kind of cat lady without kids.”
Other mountain lion sightings in Cambria
Mountain lions are spotted often in rural Cambria, especially during the summer and fall months.
It’s not known if the cat that Winston’s camera captured is the same one that’s been seen before in other areas, including on Marine Terrace, Park Hill, in the Leimert neighborhood and in other sections of town, usually the ones that border rural open lands.
Each mountain lion can have a very big hunting area.
“Mountain lions have the largest home ranges’ of any land mammal in the Americas, spanning anywhere from 30 to 125 square miles in habitats from mountains to swamps,” the U.S. Humane Society’s website says.
Residents, hikers and others are advised by wildlife officials to keep household pets indoors from before dusk to after dawn, and to not leave out food, water or anything else that might attract the wild animals.
If you should find yourself facing down a mountain lion, bobcat or other wildlife, don’t turn and run, they say. Instead, wave your arms, make yourself look big and make lots of noise as you slowly back away to safety.
