A California homeowner woke up to see what was apparently a mountain lion walk into her bedroom, snatch her barking dog off the bed, and walk out.
At around 3:00 a.m. a San Mateo county woman was awoken by her dog's barking at the foot of her bed. In the darkness she saw the shadowy figure of a much larger animal quietly enter the bedroom through the partially open french doors, snatch the dog from her bed and just as quietly walk back out through the door.
Her dog was a fifteen pound Portuguese Podengo, no small animal itself.
She got up with a flashlight and scanned the area, searching for her dog, but only found large wet paw prints that looked like they belonged to a mountain lion.
The woman called the police who arrived and searched the area, also finding what appeared to be mountain lion prints. The deputies contacted the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who still haven't determined the precise identity of the large predator.
"They are very shaken up about what happened," said Detective Salvador Zuno, of the San Mateo County Sheriff's Office. "What's so rare and shocking about this is that the animal comes up to the property and enters the home."
Mountain lions are known to occasionally visit populated areas but the behavior exhibited by this alleged big cat is unusual in that it brazenly entered a home and took a barking dog.
While officials are searching the area for cougar sign, thus far they have not found anything else that would indicate that the lion is still in the area. Detective Zuno advised residents to shut their doors and windows and keep a loud air horn handy with which to scare a potential trespassing mountain lion.
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