Imagine this, you wake up to meowing. But this isn't just any kind of meow, it's more of like a meow mixed with some screaming and growling. You look out of your window to see, there's a mountain lion in a tree in your backyard.

That's basically what happened on Sunday in Fruita. A big kitty was hanging out in someone's tree in their backyard in Fruita. I'm sure the mountain lion just wanted some love and affection -- including some tasty treats.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife came out to help out the big cat out of the tree. They tranquilized the cat while it was in the tree, caught him as came down, and safely transported him away. I was curious to know where they took the mountain lion and wanted to make sure it was okay. So I started making some phone calls.

According to the Public Information Officer for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Mike Porras, mountain lions usually don't get stuck trees. The big cat might have been it might have been threatened. or just doing its cat thing and climbing.

After they were contacted, Colorado Parks and Wildlife felt like the lion needed to be moved to a suitable habitat.

Obviously a residential neighborhood isn't suitable.

Although Mike Porras couldn't tell me where they relocated the mountain lion, he told me that it was about a year old.

To which I responded 'awww it's just a baby.' (I can't help it, I have a cat.) Mike said even at that age it's still substantial size. He went to stress how important it is to know what to do in a situation like this.

What's really important about lion and bears occasionally finding  themselves in neighborhoods, is it's part of living in Colorado. It's not unusual, but what's important is that people get the education about what to do. to avoid attracting wildlife. and what to do if one shows up.

Mike Porras said there's a whole section on their website devoted to close encounters, avoiding attracting wildlife, etc. He said it not highly unusual to encounter wildlife, and it's critical to know what to do.

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