(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)
MILLCREEK, Utah — A cougar found its way into a family home through an open sliding glass door Saturday evening. The man who discovered the wild animal walked away unharmed.
Scott Root, outreach manager for the Division of Wildlife Resources, told KSL TV the incident happened around 11 A.M. when the man noticed the house was cold.
The man went downstairs to check on his family and saw a large hole in the glass door, accompanied by several potted plants scattered around; some plants had bite marks taken out of them.
Shortly after, the man saw the large cougar dart out of the corner and run back through the glass door. Root said there was no blood at the scene, so they don’t believe the animal was injured.
Wildlife officials believe the mountain lion saw itself in the reflection of the glass and pounced inside. They don’t know how long the cougar was inside the family home.
No mountain lion sightings have been reported in the area since the encounter, Root said.
It’s not unusual for mountain lions to be in Utah’s foothills at this time of year, since their main food source, deer, are found at lower altitudes.
“That’s probably why it was down in the foothills and worked its way down into the residential area,” Root reported.
However, that doesn’t mean people should be worried about a mountain lion breaking into their home.
“It’s very unusual,” Root said. In his 30 years with the wildlife division, he can’t recall another time a mountain lion has broken into someone’s home like this.
“We don’t want people to be totally afraid of mountain lions, just respect them,” Root said. “We want people to feel like they can go outdoors, but there are some wise things to do … to minimize any chance that there could be a problem with a mountain lion.”
Related: VIDEO: Cougar follows man running near Provo for 6 minutes