Video footage captured the surprising moment a woman came face to face with a cougar that was literally “hanging out” in a tree in her backyard.
Owner Corinna Bubenheim, of Woodland Hills in Los Angeles, first spotted the striking animal when her German shepherds began running around her avocado tree in her yard on Thursday.
Expecting to encounter the common squirrel or perhaps an opossum, Bubenheim was surprised to find a pair of large furry paws.
Bubenheim said KTLA5 that he thought his dogs were “just making a big fuss over a squirrel.”
“I looked up and thought, maybe it’s a possum,” he added. “Then I saw the big claws and his fur and I thought, well, he looks like a German shepherd. But it’s probably not a German Shepherd because they don’t climb. Turns out it’s a cougar.
A video captured the surprising moment a woman came face to face with a mountain lion that was literally “hanging out” in a tree in her backyard.
Owner Corinna Bubenheim, of Woodland Hills in Los Angeles, first spotted the striking animal when her German shepherds began running around her avocado tree in her yard on Thursday.
Bubenheim’s surprise turned to amazement as he saw the majestic puma watching them from his elevated vantage point.
Bubenheim’s surprise turned to amazement as he saw the majestic puma watching them from his elevated vantage point.
The cougar can be seen on video resting peacefully in its avocado tree near Woodlake Avenue and Mariano Street around 2 p.m., before the animal finally descended the tree and walked toward a nearby laundry room behind the property.
Bubenheim told the outlet that mountain lions are not a common sighting in the neighborhood.
Los Angeles Animal Services officers were dispatched to warn neighbors and maintain a presence in the area as a precaution.
Scientists have estimated that California’s mountain lion population is much smaller than they expected.
The cougar can be seen on video resting peacefully in its avocado tree near Woodlake Avenue and Mariano Street around 2 p.m.
The animal eventually climbed down from the tree and walked to a nearby laundry room behind the property.
Bubenheim told KTLA5 he thought his dogs were “just making a big fuss over a squirrel.”
Expecting to encounter the common squirrel or perhaps an opossum, Bubenheim was surprised to find a pair of large furry paws.
Los Angeles Animal Services officers were dispatched to warn neighbors and maintain a presence in the area as a precaution.
Authorities concluded earlier this year that there are between 3,200 and 4,500 mountain lions in total, thousands fewer than expected.
State and university scientists estimated the total number using data from GPS collars and genetic information from coastal samples.
Scientists used this data to compare populations in the Sierra Nevada mountains, the Mojave Desert, and the wildfire-ravaged wilderness of Southern California.
“There has never been a study of this scale and over such a large and diverse geographic area with such a variety of habitats,” said Winston Vickers, a veterinarian at the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center and one of the officials who conducted the study.
Scientists have estimated that California’s mountain lion population is much smaller than they expected. Authorities concluded that there are between 3,200 and 4,500 pumas in total, thousands fewer than expected.
The projected California mountain lion population number was around 6,000 according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).
Large carnivore biologist and California Mountain Lion Project leader Justin Dellinger told the Los Angeles Times that the most significant population density is found in “the coastal forests of Humboldt and Mendocino counties in northwestern California.”
The lowest is located in the high desert east of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range in Inyo County, California.
“The Central Valley and parts of the Mojave Desert don’t have cougars,” Dellinger said.
The projected California mountain lion population number was around 6,000 according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW).
The first attack by a puma in twenty years occurred a few months ago, in March 2024.
The first cougar attack in twenty years occurred a few months ago, in March 2024. A 21-year-old man was killed and an 18-year-old man was seriously injured after a cougar attack in a remote area of California (animal not in the photo)
One man died and another suffered “traumatic injuries” to his face after a mountain lion attack in rural California, the first in two decades.
The men, two brothers ages 21 and 18, were searching for detached antlers in a remote area of Georgetown, a small community 50 miles from Sacramento.
Around 1:13 p.m., the 18-year-old called 911 to say he and his brother were attacked, leaving him with “traumatic facial injuries,” according to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office. The teenager added that he had been separated from his brother.