Mountain lion spotted on home camera in Lehi overnight; caution advised
Aug 26, 2024, 7:43 AM | Updated: Aug 30, 2024, 9:57 am
UPDATE: On Tuesday evening, the Lehi Police Department said the mountain lion was still loose and was seen near 300 N. 300 East. It was captured Thursday evening and euthanized, according to police.
LEHI — A mountain lion was spotted on a home camera in Lehi prowling in a front yard in the middle of the night early Monday.
The home that captured the footage is located on Woods Drive, near 660 North.
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The Lehi Police Department said officers were conducting extra patrols in the neighborhood Monday and advised parents not to let their children walk to school until the animal was located. The city also advised residents to bring pets inside.
“It was pretty crazy,” said Loni Shepherd, who lives on the same street where the mountain lion was spotted. “It makes me nervous.”
Shepherd was surprised to see the mountain lion in her neighborhood. She has four children, two of whom go to school.
“We got a phone call saying that they’re going to do indoor recess, at least in the morning time,” Shepherd said.
Utah Division of Wildlife Services outreach manager Scott Root said a mountain lion in the middle of town is unusual – although the Lehi community where the animal was spotted is between two mountain ranges.
“It could be walking through. It could be going to water,” Root said. “It could be a younger mountain lion just trying to find a territory, a place to hang out and live.”
Root said mountain lions can cover a lot of distance, and it’s possible the one seen in the video could be far away by now.
“We won’t worry about it too much unless it keeps being seen over and over again or it kills something like a deer in somebody’s yard,” Root said. “Then we’ll be all over that.”
Shepherd said she thought the mountain lion was “huge” and was definitely something her neighborhood hadn’t seen before.
“We’ve had some pretty big snakes spotted before,” Shepherd said. “But this takes the cake.”
If you come in contact with a mountain lion, DWR officials said it’s important not to run away but instead make noise and try to appear bigger. Also, they said to avoid jogging alone between dusk and dawn since mountain lions are most active then.
As of Monday 10 p.m., Lehi police said efforts to capture the mountain lion have been unsuccessful. However, traps have been set. Police are urging residents to remain vigilant and to report any further sightings.
For more safety tips, visit the Wild Aware Utah website.
