California Family Startled By Mountain Lion Staring Into Home From Avocado Tree

Holy guacamole. There's really not an ideal way to come face to face with a mountain lion. Maybe going to the zoo and seeing a big cat in its exhibit? That's the only exception that comes to mind. Otherwise, you don't ever want to get near a mountain lion, and you certainly don't want to get surprised by one. A family that lives in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles didn't have much warning when they were unknowingly in the presence of a hidden big cat on their property. The only way the family found out that a mountain lion was up in an avocado tree in their yard was thanks to their German shepherds barking up towards the tree top. When the California homeowner went out to investigate, she soon locked eyes with a menacing mountain lion. Obviously, that's a startling experience, and when she calmed down enough and got her pets back in the house, she called officials to come and handle the scary situation. Animal control promptly arrived at the home and began to warn neighbors in the surrounding area. They decided to go with the "wait it out" method, staying posted by the property and keeping a close eye on the avocado tree, which must be so nice to have in your yard... unless it attracts big cats. If so, I take that back. After a couple of hours or so, the mountain lion climbed back down on its own and ran back into the wilderness on its own terms. That's the ideal way to handle situations like this, but it doesn't always work out that way. Hence why we have videos of bears getting tranquilized and falling out of trees onto trampolines. Just to be safe, animal control officers remained in the area for quite some time after the mountain lion skedaddled (love that word), and have since made frequent patrols of the neighborhood. Luckily, no one was harmed with the mountain lion in the area. But the homeowner did get some good video of the big cat up in the tree. You can view the breathtaking shots she got in the news feature about the incident below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JRwXi-ZyYk