Boulder police who encountered a single-minded mountain lion dining on raccoon in a resident’s yard shot the animal three times with bean-bag rounds.
Instead of taking the hint, the hungry cat returned to the area — possibly twice — spooking neighbors and searching for its kill.
A caller first reported seeing the lion in the 900 block of Ninth Street at 8:53 p.m. Monday, said Boulder police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley.
“We arrived, and the lion was indeed there and busily eating a raccoon,” she said. The animal showed no fear of the officers and others and their flashlights.
Division of Wildlife officers were on another call and asked the officers to frighten the animal away by shooting it with nonlethal rounds, Huntley said.
The lion was shot twice but refused to leave its meal. After it was struck by a third round, the lion fled through a nearby alley.
The officers took the raccoon carcass with them when they left. “We wanted to remove it so there would be less incentive for (the lion) to come back,” Huntley said.
A few hours later, residents again called police saying the cat was back. Police returned to the neighborhood but didn’t find the lion.
Early this morning, another caller reported a lion not far from the first sighting. Huntley didn’t know whether it was the same cat or another.
“When a lion has a kill in an area, if there is a carcass, that is its food — so it will return to get the food,” said Jennifer Churchill, spokeswoman for the DOW’s northeastern division.
Wild animals who have lost their fear of humans can pose a danger and sometimes have to be put down.
“When we have lions in neighborhoods, we evaluate what is happening there. We keep an eye out for lions that are getting too comfortable, and officers decide whether to haze them away with rubber buckshot, beanbags, loud noises; trap and relocate them; or the officer could decide that the animal needs to be put down,” Churchill said.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com
