Mountain lion spotted climbing into SLO County woman’s backyard: ‘Quite a surprise’
Dawn Ellner has been living in Cambria for four years.
On early Thursday morning, she saw her first mountain lion.
Around midnight, Ellner received an alert from her Ring security camera that there was movement outside. The camera had captured footage of a cougar climbing into her backyard.
Typically, her camera “picks up various types of wildlife nightly, including raccoons, skunks, deer, opossums and foxes,” Ellner told The Tribune via email. “This was the first time my camera has captured a mountain lion and it was quite a surprise!”
Both Ellner and her husband were awake at the time the mountain lion stopped by, she said, but they didn’t open the window since it was dark outside.
By the time she noticed the Ring notification, the big cat had already moved on, Ellner said.
“I’ve never seen a wild mountain lion before, but my husband and I like to hike on local trails after work at dusk, so I think it’s likely that a mountain lion has seen me,” Ellner said.
“The local wildlife is one of the best parts of Cambria, and I feel fortunate that we were on this beautiful cat’s route that night,” she added.
This story was originally published July 16, 2023 at 9:56 AM.
