Imagine this — you're taking a casual Sunday stroll around your neighborhood, and you see this:

The video above, via Denver7, shows multiple mountain lions taking their morning stroll through a neighborhood in Boulder.

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Generally speaking, mountain lions are calm and elusive animals. People rarely get more than a brief glimpse of them in the wild — so this particular instance of mountain lions casually taking a walk through a residential neighborhood is also pretty rare.

However, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) says the amount of mountain lion/human interactions has increased, most likely due to:

  • More people moving into lion habitat
  • An increase in deer populations and density
  • A presumed increase in lion numbers and expanded range
  • More people using hiking and running trails in lion habitat
  • A greater awareness of the presence of lions.

Should you ever encounter a mountain lion in this fashion, or while in mountain lion country, here are a few things to keep in mind:

  • Do not approach a lion, especially one that is feeding or with kittens. Most mountain lions will try to avoid a confrontation - give them a way to escape
  • Stay calm if you come across a lion
  • Stop or back away slowly, if you can do it safely. Running may stimulate a lion's instinct to chase and attack
  • Do all you can to appear larger. Raise your arms. Open your jacket if you're wearing one. If you have small children with you, protect them by picking them up so they won't panic and run
  • If the lion behaves aggressively, throw stones, branches or whatever you can get your hands on without crouching down or turning your back
  • Fight back if a lion attacks you. Lions have been driven away by prey that fights back
You can also watch a video explaining what to do if you ever encounter a mountain lion, via Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) here.

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