Woman sprints after mountain lion chasing dog through Colorado backyard, video shows

A woman opened her backdoor and found a mountain lion chasing after her dog, Colorado video showed.

The small dog began to bark and ran onto the patio of the Boulder, Colorado, home. A mountain lion was chasing after it, a Feb. 4 video shared by Colorado Parks and Wildlife showed.

A woman bolted out the door and after the dog. Then she spotted the mountain lion and began to scream.

She chased after the animals across the patio and into the yard as she tried to grab the dog.

The woman screamed out and yelled at the barking dog to “get inside” as the mountain lion prowled the yard, video showed.

The mountain lion eventually ran off, and the dog was safe, according to KDVR.

“This situation could have ended much differently,” wildlife officials said Monday, Feb. 14, on Twitter. “If you have an encounter like this, report it to us in a timely fashion.”

Mountain lions can wander near homes often, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said. They tend to live in remote places, but the number of interactions between mountain lions and people has increased in recent years.

More people have moved into mountain lion habitat and are hiking and running on trails where the animals could be nearby.

Mountain lion attacks are rare, with fewer than 12 fatal attacks confirmed in North America in the past century, Parks and Wildlife said.

However, people should never approach a mountain lion. Stay calm and slowly back away if you come face-to-face with the creature.

“Fight back if a lion attacks you. Lions have been driven away by prey that fights back,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife said. “People have fought back with rocks, sticks, caps or jackets, garden tools and their bare hands successfully.”

This story was originally published February 14, 2022 at 11:44 AM with the headline "Woman sprints after mountain lion chasing dog through Colorado backyard, video shows."