Two mountain lions were spotted close to the western end of Arapahoe Avenue in downtown Boulder early Thursday morning.
When reviewing his security footage from his home, Bob Dornan, who lives across from Eben G. Fine Park on Arapahoe, spotted the mountain lions in his backyard at approximately 12:16 a.m.
He said that it is not unusual to see wildlife when checking the security video. In fact, he said that just a few nights ago, he also saw a mountain lion in his security video. But he said that it was unusual to see two mountain lions together.
Dornan said living where he does has provided more than just exotic wildlife surfacing in camera footage; there have been some close encounters, too.
“We’ve had bears trying to tear our screen door off and get in our condo. So you know, a little wildlife goes a long way around here,” Dornan said Thursday.
He said that he has heard many other stories of encounters with wildlife, like neighbors being greeted by a mountain lion on their porch. He has no problem with wildlife near his home. He just stays aware — and careful.
“We moved into their territory. We just have to accept it, time to time,” Dornan said.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Northeast Region Public Information Officer Kara Van Hoose said that mountain lions tend to be more active in the winter. Van Hoose said there is a low threshold when it comes to reporting a mountain life sighting, and that CPW uses civilian reporting to track mountain life movement.
She added that a great way to avoid unwanted wildlife encounters is to remove any food sources, which can range from avoiding using bird feeders to protecting cattle. Van Hoose noted that CPW wants to make sure that both wildlife and people stay safe, which means minimizing interactions.
“Living with wildlife is part of living in Colorado,” Van Hoose said.
Van Hoose said that if people do have a mountain lion encounter, they should back away slowly, while appearing as large as possible and speak loudly and firmly. More information on how to handle a mountain lion encounter can be found at cpw.state.co.us/lions.
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