Watch a pack of five mountain lions casually stroll through a Colorado neighborhood

Brooke Baitinger
·2 min read
21

A family of mountain lions casually prowled through a neighborhood in Colorado and strolled right past a homeowner’s doorbell camera.

Carolyn Andrews was overseas in England on April 1 when she got a notification from her Ring camera around 10 or 11 p.m., she told McClatchy News. She opened the notification and was stunned to see five mountain lions walking right past her home in Silverthorne, CBS News reported.

“My reaction was luckily no one was outside at that (time),” she told McClatchy News in an email.

Mountain lions are pretty common in Colorado, but they’re so elusive it’s rare for someone to spot them, especially this close up.

The video shows one mountain lion looking right into the camera as its eyes glow, and two more are seen walking out from the bushes behind it. Another two mountain lions pop out from behind the first three, and they scamper just under the camera on their way around the house.

Another Ring camera shows them traipsing into barren trees on the side of Andrews’ yard. One of them lags behind and scurries back toward the pack to catch up.

“I have seen mountain lions before but never 5 of them like this,” Andrews told McClatchy News. “There were 2 babies last year so this may be the whole family.”

Mountain lion sightings in Colorado have become a contentious issue after the predators have preyed on pets — mostly dogs — in the state, McClatchy News previously reported.

On March 18, a mountain lion clawed a man’s head while he relaxed in a hot tub at a home near Nathrop in Chaffee County, McClatchy News previously reported.

What to do if you see a mountain lion

Mountain lions are typically “calm, quiet and elusive,” according to the National Park Service. While attacks involving mountain lions are rare, they are possible.

“Even so, the potential for being killed or injured by a mountain lion is quite low compared to many other natural hazards,” the National Park Service said on its website. “There is a far greater risk, for example, of being killed in an automobile accident with a deer than of being attacked by a mountain lion.”

Officials said there are some things you do take to prevent a mountain lion encounter from becoming an attack.

  • Stay calm and back away slowly.

  • Face the lion and stand up straight.

  • Don’t approach a mountain lion, especially if it’s with kittens.

  • Don’t run. It could stimulate a mountain lion’s chase instincts.

  • Pick up small children so they don’t panic or run away.

  • Don’t bend over or crouch down.

  • Throw things at the mountain lion if it continues to move toward you.

  • If the mountain lion attacks, fight back using anything around you.

  • Report all sightings, encounters or attacks to local park rangers or law enforcement.

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