Mountain lion hid in ‘heart of the city’ under family’s deck, Colorado officials say

Wesley the cat was the first to catch wind of a mountain lion lurking beneath the deck of a Colorado home, his family says.

“We were walking with him and he went under the deck and came jumping out with a really bushy tail,” Englewood resident Lily Rutledge-Ellison told KDVR.

Her boyfriend investigated and found a mountain lion staring back at him — but Rutledge-Ellison at first thought it was a mistake. “I thought maybe a bobcat,” she said.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers tranquilized the 60-pound female mountain lion Thursday night and relocated her to a more suitable habitat, the agency reported.

“The reason we chose to go hands on with this mountain lion was because it was so deep in the heart of the city,” said Matt Martinez, area wildlife manager, in a statement.

Estimated to be 2 years old, the mountain lion was in good health, the agency said.

A mountain lion spotted earlier in the week in Centennial, about 10 miles away, may have been the same animal, which could have used creek beds to travel to the Englewood home, officials said.

Mountain lions sometimes enter cities in search of prey, including deer, skunks, raccoons, pets and livestock, the agency said.

This story was originally published July 12, 2021 at 1:18 PM with the headline "Mountain lion hid in ‘heart of the city’ under family’s deck, Colorado officials say."