US News
Published
April 3, 2024, 2:34 a.m. ET
Just a false alarm!
California residents have been on edge after police warned them a few mountain lion sighting caught on a neighbor’s safety digicam — although, it turned out simply to be a big home cat.
South San Francisco Police Department put out an announcement notifying residents of the false alarm after realizing what they thought was a mountain lion had simply been “a big cat.”
“We were able to confirm the Big Cat was not a mountain lion,” police introduced on social media. “We are happy to report there is no potential threat for the neighborhood. That’s a BIG cat!” the police division made clear.
During the early morning of March 26 round 7 a.m., a South San Francisco resident briefed police about seeing a mountain lion on a Ring digicam roaming on their fence line.
Officers arrived to the situation to completely test the realm, however they reported no findings of what the resident feared was a mountain lion.
Located simply 10 miles outdoors of San Francisco, South San Francisco is not any stranger to mountain lions who’re native to California’s San Francisco Bay space.
Area residents are consistently on excessive alert for mountain lions, with roughly 4,500 of the large cats situated statewide, in accordance with the UC Davis California Mountain Lion Project, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Mountain lion encounters with people are uncommon in California, however assaults can occur.
The final recorded attack was in September 2022 when a 7-year-old was bitten by a mountain lion at Pico Canyon Park, situated in Los Angeles County, in accordance with California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“We’d like to remind our residents to avoid mountain lions, even at a distance a brief glimpse should be cause for alarm,” South San Francisco Police nonetheless warned residents regardless of the recent panic.
“If confronted with a mountain lion, make your presence known; make noise, try to make yourself appear bigger & back away slowly,” they added.
Social media customers had just a little snigger in regards to the scare, with some California residents conversant in mountain lion sightings joking in regards to the Ring digicam footage.
“I have seen plenty of mountain lions, but that is just a hefty house cat,” one remark learn below the police division’s posting of the home cat on Facebook.
“If that is what she considered a mountain lion, I hate to see what she would consider my house cats!” one other person joked.
