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<\/p>\nAnna Redmond was sitting in a hammock in her yard in Santa Monica just before 9 a.m. Friday when she noticed something unusual in her bushes. <\/p>\n
\u201cOut of the corner of my eye I saw something move, and it was furry and big,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Her initial thought was that the neighbor\u2019s cat must have snuck into her yard. But then she took a closer look.<\/p>\n
It was a cat, alright. Just not her neighbor\u2019s. <\/p>\n
She called her husband outside and he confirmed what she had been thinking \u2014 yep, it was a mountain lion. The couple rushed back inside for safety and called 911.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was this huge animal,\u201d she said. \u201cIt just strolled from our side yard into our front yard and plopped itself down behind the bush.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A mountain lion was tranquilized and captured Friday after it was spotted in the yard of a Santa Monica home.<\/p>\n
(Anna Redmond)<\/p>\n
Wildlife officials arrived and eventually successfully tranquilized the cougar, but only after several tense hours where residents were warned to stay indoors.<\/p>\n
The Santa Monica Police Department responded to the sighting near 14th Street and Montana Avenue just before 9:30 a.m., according to a police department social media post<\/a>. Officials encouraged community members in the area to keep their pets inside and avoid approaching or photographing the animal. <\/p>\n The California Department of Fish and Wildlife took over the incident response, sending a team of biologists and law enforcement officers to figure out how to safely tranquilize the cat in coordination with local animal control and police officers, according to a Fish and Wildlife spokesperson. <\/p>\n \u201cAt one point we had like 10 people in our house, just looking through that window and consulting one another,\u201d Redmond said. \u201cThey were really working to develop a plan where humans wouldn\u2019t be in danger for sure, because that was their first concern, but also so they could keep the mountain lion safe.\u201d<\/p>\n The standoff went on for several hours until the team made an initial attempt to tranquilize the cat, she said. It was not successful, and the animal bolted. <\/p>\n \u201cThe next thing we saw was the whole police team racing out of our house into the alley, chasing it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The team was able to tranquilize and capture the mountain lion by nightfall. Fish and Wildlife will now assess the animal and, if healthy, it will be collared and released into the nearest suitable habitat within the Santa Monica Mountains, the Fish and Wildlife spokesperson said.<\/p>\n Redmond\u2019s 12-year-old daughter Nora described the entire day as \u201csurreal.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDuring school I overheard a lot of people talking about the mountain lion that was on Montana, and it was so funny because that mountain lion was in my front yard,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s so unlikely for a mountain lion to be, like, near Montana, so it was really, really cool.\u201d<\/p>\n Although mountain lions roam within the Santa Monica Mountains it is very rare that they descend into the city below. <\/p>\n The last time one was spotted in Santa Monica was on the Promenade in 2012, according to reporting from the Santa Monica Daily Press<\/a>. That animal tried to escaped and was killed before officials could safely tranquilize it, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n Around 10 to 15 mountain lions are believed to live in the Santa Monica Mountains at any one time, according to the National Park Service<\/a>. <\/p>\n Adult males typically require 150 miles to roam and adult females require 50 miles. Human encroachment on wildlife habitat \u2014 along with other threats such as car collisions, rat poison and disease \u2014 are threatening the population across the state. <\/p>\n In the Los Angeles area alone, 32 mountain lions have been struck and killed by vehicles since 2002, according to the Park Service.<\/p>\n