Stephanie Higgins, of Rowlett, and her boyfriend, Logan Aduddell, had recorded the Nov. 22 sighting of the mountain lion that had been walking behind their home.
The first sighting of a mountain lion in Dallas County, Texas was captured on camera. It was the first time an appearance of a big cat was documented, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Stephanie Higgins, of Rowlett, and her boyfriend, Logan Aduddell, had recorded the Nov. 22 sighting of the mountain lion that had been walking behind their home.
The couple told The Dallas Morning News that they had set up the trail camera on the edge of the property, where they typically see bobcats and coyotes. During the early hours, a mountain lion casually walked past the camera, Fox13Memphis reported.
“I thought it was a bobcat at first but then I was like, ‘Man, that is way too big to be a bobcat,’” Higgins told KXAS-TV.
A few hours earlier, Jovon Humphrey appeared to have encountered the same big cat.
The mother of five told WFAA that she was sitting in her vehicle in her carport, speaking with a friend on her cellphone, when she noticed some movement. She thought it was one of her children that may have gotten out of bed but then realized it wasn’t one of her kids roaming around her yard, but a mountain lion, she said. The top part of the animal, she said, stood as tall as the bottom of the passenger’s side window, she told the television station.
Humphrey, who said she was in disbelief, told the news outlet she was scared and immediately called the police. "I'm sitting in my car and there is a mountain lion in my backyard," Humphrey said she told the 911 dispatcher. "She says 'huh?' I said 'there's a mountain lion in my backyard.'"
State wildlife workers later inspected the area and found tracks confirming it was indeed a mountain lion. They analyzed the video and ruled out other possible types of wildlife such as a bobcat because its tail was long enough to drag on the ground, CBS News reported.
Biologists said they suspected this mountain lion was most likely a transient juvenile seeking a home range, KXAS reported.
“One key thing to keep in mind is mountain lions are a component of the natural landscape in many parts of Texas, and unless they are in what we would consider a no-tolerance zone such as near a school, or if the lion exhibited threatening behavior, then there’s really no action they would consider taking,” Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokesperson Megan Radke said in a statement.
Radke added: “A mountain lion attack on people or pets is highly unlikely, however TPWD biologists suggest that residents keep their pets indoors at night, don’t leave out pet food and secure their trash.”
Higgins told the Dallas Morning News she did not want to share the property address because she did not want curiosity seekers or hunters trying to track down the mountain lion.
“I think they should just leave him alone,” Higgins told the newspaper. “There’s no point in trying to capture him and relocate him given the fact that they travel 40-80 miles,” she said. “It’d be one thing if we saw them frequently but we see them rarely.”
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