TUOLUMNE COUNTY, Calif. (KTXL) – A mountain lion was caught on a door security camera roaming a neighborhood in Tuolumne County, California.
Shanna Relei said she received a Ring security camera notification on her phone early Friday morning. At first, she ignored it because neighborhood cats often trigger the camera.
“I then proceeded to go outside minutes later, walk the dog, normal day,” Relei recalled.
But this was no ordinary cat.
“It wasn’t until 8 o’clock that morning when I opened my Ring notification and saw that that was a mountain lion that we had missed,” Relei said. “Very troubling to know that it was here.”
Relei posted the video to social media groups for their Sonora neighborhood off Mono Way. That prompted comments about pets that had gone missing, been injured or been killed.
“Up until this time, we thought maybe a raccoon would account for those. But now we’re thinking maybe it is the mountain lion,” Relei said.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife typically does not intervene unless a mountain lion is deemed a public safety hazard and a threat to humans.
“That’s exactly the response I got when I reported it, which is fine, I totally understand,” Relei said. “But we just wanted to make sure that this news reached our neighbors and our community.”
With a new level of awareness that a mountain lion might be in the neighborhood at any time, Relei said she’ll check the Ring videos more often and be more vigilant when out for a walk.
“Just always be prepared, you never know. This is a great example,” Relei said.
Mountain lions generally avoid human contact. If anyone does encounter a mountain lion in person, wildlife experts advise backing away slowly, making yourself look big and making loud, aggressive noises if the cat approaches.