NEED TO KNOW
\nA California man is sharing security footage of a mountain lion entering his mother’s home \u2014 through the front doorJames Tenney said the big cat strutted into the home, darted out a screen door in the back and took a tumble in a pool before popping a floatHis family dog “slept through the entire thing” on the front lawn<\/p>\n
A California family is reflecting on their close encounter with a big cat, before the wild animal took an accidental dip in their backyard pool.\n<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Aug. 16, a mountain lion entered the La Verne home of the Tenney family, darted out the back through a screen door, and popped a pool float before fleeing the scene, James Tenney told both CBS News<\/a> and ABC affiliate KABC<\/a>, sharing Ring camera footage of the ordeal with both outlets.\n<\/p>\n According to Tenney, the feline temporarily entered his mother’s residence around 1 p.m. local time, walking through an open front door while Tenney was in the kitchen. He told WABC that he didn’t initially see the mountain lion walk through the door.\n<\/p>\n “Then out of the corner of my eye, I hear and see and feel the large presence,” he said, adding that he was standing just feet away. “Peaked around the corner of the dining room, and we locked eyes for a moment, and I knew it was a lion.”\n<\/p>\n Tenney was right in his assumption, but didn’t have much time to make friends with the big cat, as it darted out the back door, flopped into the home’s pool, popped a pool float, and exited the premises.\n<\/p>\n “As soon as it saw me, it went straight through the screen here, out the back. It was a loud, loud noise, boom! And into the pool and over the fence,” Tenney told WABC. “I wasn’t scared. I was generally just, ultimately thinking about my dog, who was in the front yard.”\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The family had left their door open at the time of the big-cat break-in, for their 13-year-old dog Bandit, who was sunbathing on the porch, Tenney told both WABC and CBS News.\n<\/p>\n Bandit snoozed through the whole encounter and never noticed the wild animal.\n<\/p>\n “By the time I came out here, he was up and kind of walking around, like he caught a scent or something, but never saw the mountain lion,” the dog owner said.\n<\/p>\n Tenney shared footage of the encounter in an effort to “notify the community” about the presence of mountain lions in the area. His family contacted the La Verne police, who could not assist with the wildlife concern. It is unclear if the California Department of Fish & Wildlife was made aware of the encounter.\n<\/p>\n