A California man found himself just feet away from a mountain lion after the wildcat strolled into his house in the middle of the afternoon.
Jeff Tenney was standing in the kitchen of his La Verne home when he noticed unexpected movement in his dining room out of the corner of his eye on Saturday.
‘Right away, I knew it was a mountain lion,’ Jeff recalled to KTLA.
The animal was caught on camera as it trotted through the home’s open front door without any hesitation at 1pm.
When Jeff realized he had an unexpected visitor, he was instantly worried about his dog, which was sleeping on his lawn when the cougar came inside.
Jeff started walking to the front door to check on his pet – causing a feline freak out.
‘As I headed toward the front door, the cat spotted me, panicked and bolted out the back screen and splashed right into the pool,’ he told KTLA.
Fortunately, the heart-pounding ordeal was brief and the only casualty of the incident was an inflatable pool float.
The animal was caught on camera as it trotted through the home’s open front door without any hesitation at 1pm (pictured)
Jeff Tenney (pictured) was standing in the kitchen of his La Verne home when he noticed unexpected movement in his dining room out of the corner of his eye on Saturday
‘Sadly, the pool floaty didn’t make it,’ Jeff said to the outlet, sharing a photo of the deflating ‘floaty’ still in the pool.
Jeff’s mother, Cindi Tenney, said the mountain lion was a ‘friendly cat,’ but wants her community to stay vigilant about the potential danger.
She also said the police department told her to contact the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, but they did not pick up when she called.
Cindi’s fear stemmed from a troubling incident in Malibu last week, when a mountain lion bit an 11-year-old girl several times outside of her family’s home.
The child was believed to have been feeding chickens on the property when the animal attacked on August 10.
After the harrowing attack, she was taken to the hospital with bite marks on their arm. The extent of the injuries is unclear, but she was expected to be alright.
In the meantime, authorities tracked down the mountain lion that sank its teeth into the young victim and shot it dead.
A woman hiking through Gridley Trail in Ojai in July also found herself face-to-face with a cougar, but knew exactly what to do to keep it at bay.
When Jeff realized he had an unexpected visitor, he was instantly worried about his dog (pictured), which was sleeping on his lawn when the cougar came inside
Courtney Rasura found herself just feet away from the wild animal while roaming through secluded wilderness.
She said she had looked down at her phone quickly to play a podcast, and when she returned her gaze to the path ahead she realized she was no longer alone.
The experienced hiker started recording, but made sure not to make any sudden moves that might make the lion attack.
Instead of running away – any many would think to do when confronted with a potentially aggressive creature – Rasura maintained eye contact with the lion.
After shouting at it repeatedly and avoiding sudden movements, the wild animal ran off into the mountains.
If someone finds themselves near a lion, the National Park Service (NPS) advises them to remain calm. They should not run away, bend down or go up to it.
The NPS said mountain lions ‘are an important part of the park ecosystem’ because they help keep the deer population in check.
‘Although lion attacks are rare, they are possible, as is injury from any wild animal,’ the agency wrote.
A California man found himself just feet away from a mountain lion after the wildcat strolled into his house in the middle of the afternoon (pictured: the La Verne neighborhood that saw a Mountain Lion on Saturday)
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates there are anywhere between 4,000 to 6,000 mountain lions in the Golden State (file photo)
‘Even so, the potential for being killed or injured by a mountain lion is quite low compared to many other natural hazards.’
Although there is not much recent research on the likelihood of a fatal mountain lion attack, the Mountain Lion Foundation reported in 2016 that the chances of being killed by one in the US are one in a billion.
Last year, the organization said there have been about 29 cases of fatal mountain lion-human encounters in North America since 1868.
‘For context, each year in the US on average 777 people die from mosquito-borne illnesses, 28 people are struck by lightning, at least 20 people die from firearm-related hunting accidents, 86 people die from animal venom, and about 35,000 to 45,000 people die from motor vehicle accidents,’ the group wrote.
‘By contrast, in California alone, two mountain lions die of car strikes every week, on average.’
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates there are anywhere between 4,000 to 6,000 mountain lions in the Golden State.
