What do you do when a wild animal is hanging out in your backyard? Let it hang out in your backyard and share the footage with the world, because you don’t want to mess with a mountain lion. One of the animals was recorded on a home doorbell camera calmly walking through a backyard in Monrovia, California, on Tuesday morning. Homeowner Sherwin Banzuela told KTLA the big cat was captured on camera walking across their yard at 7:55 a.m. on July 28.
The timing came close to a routine that could have put the family in the yard. Banzuela said their children usually go outside to play with the dogs around that time of morning. On this day, the family had slept in, and no one was outside when the mountain lion passed through, so no one was injured.
Though surprising, this isn’t an unusual sighting for the area. Monrovia and other communities in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains are close to mountain lion habitat, which raises the chance of wildlife encounters in residential neighborhoods. The city has recorded repeated sightings over the years, including a mountain lion found hiding in the crawl space of a Monrovia home in 2020 and another captured on a homeowner’s cameras steps from a front door in 2024.
Mountain lions generally pose little danger to people. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says the animals are usually not a threat to humans and typically avoid interactions with people, tending to move through an area rather than linger. The Monrovia cat did exactly that, walking calmly across the yard and continuing on to the next property without stopping.
Why Mountain Lions Turn Up in Some Western Neighborhoods
Communities built against the San Gabriel Mountains sit at the edge of mountain lion territory, which is the main reason these sightings happen. The animals range widely in search of prey, mainly deer, and the boundary between wildland and backyard is porous, especially at dawn and dusk when mountain lions are most active. A yard with cover, water, or the deer that graze foothill neighborhoods can put a passing cat within range of a doorbell camera.
Most of these encounters end the way the Monrovia one did, with the animal moving through and leaving on its own. Wildlife officials generally do not remove a mountain lion that is simply passing through, reserving intervention for animals that are injured, trapped inside a structure, or showing unusual boldness, as happened in 2020 when a cat with a neck injury was tranquilized from under a Monrovia home.
What to Do If You Encounter a Mountain Lion
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife says not to run from a mountain lion and not to act like prey. You should stop where you are, stay calm, and face the animal while giving it a clear escape route, since running can trigger a chase instinct. The advice is to make yourself look larger by raising your arms or opening a jacket, make noise, and back away slowly rather than turn away.
Officials recommend keeping pets indoors or supervised, especially around dawn and dusk, and not leaving small animals or pet food outside, since both can attract a lion or the prey it follows. Bringing children close during an encounter and picking up small kids so they do not run or panic is also advised.
If a mountain lion behaves aggressively, the guidance is to throw objects, shout, and fight back if attacked rather than play dead. It’s all about being smart with these encounters. Doing so just might save your life.