Mountain Lions Dine On Deer In Boulder Woman's Backyard
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4)- A woman says mountain lions dined on a deer carcass in the backyard of her Boulder home, which she thought was a little too close for comfort.
"He's got two eyes and he started at me and then he started to move up the hill a little bit," said Boulder resident Mali Gordon.
She described what she called a "way too close encounter" with a family of mountain lions.
"Scary because it's way to close, like 20 feet from my house," said Mali.
Tuesday night, Mali heard dogs barking in the backyard of her suburban Boulder home located near Broadway and Dartmouth. She looked out and saw a large mountain lion staring right at her.
"We saw him walk up that hill slowly and then he disappeared."
Fearing for her children, Mali called 911.
Police in Boulder arrived and shined a flashlight into the darkness.
The lions had been eating a fresh deer carcass. Wildlife officers removed the deer but fur and some remains still mark the site where the deer was decomposing.
"Pretty common behavior for a mountain lion," said Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill.
Churchill said mountain lions usually avoid humans at all costs.
In this case, Churchill believed the cats accidentally killed the deer in a busy, populated area of Boulder.
"They took the deer down, maybe at night, and all of a sudden in the morning they wake up and realize, 'Uh-oh. Now our prey is in the middle of this neighborhood,'" said Churchill.
She said lions usually return to feed on their prey for a few days. When the cats return looking for their meal at Mali's house, her family will be safe inside their home.
"Just best to be cautious," said Mali.
