SALT LAKE CITY — A cougar broke through a window of a Millcreek home on Monday, leaving after a confrontation with a family member in the house.
“So, we were contacted by a person that found a mountain lion that had broken a sliding door window” Scott Root, Conservation Outreach Manager for the Utah division of wildlife resources said, “He gets on the phone and next thing you know he sees a mountain lion dart through the basement out that hole in the window.”
No one was hurt, and the cougar left on its own through the broken window on a sliding glass door at the home on Parkview Drive in Olympus Cove near Millcreek Canyon.
Pictures taken of the home show the damages including several plants eaten as well as tracks leading away from the home.
Utah's Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) was contacted by the family to report the incident. The officer who arrived at the home believes the cougar may have been reacting to its own reflection.
“To have one actually end up in the home… that’s a head scratcher…” Root says, “We believe that it probably saw its reflection in that glass and may have lunged at that glass and broke it.”
Neighbors in the area have been notified to be on the lookout for the animal.
As for neighbors they say that the longer you live in the area the more you’ll hear about sightings of the cougars.
“Well, I’ve lived up here for about 50 years” Stephen Taylor says, “and several times I’ve hear of mountain lions breaking into people's back yards.”
Another Couple was Dora and Michael Owens say that they also found tracks in their back yard right down the street as well.
“You know the tracks they look like a big cat so you know I think it might have been.” Dora said and Michael chimed in saying “I don’t know whether I should be worried or not.”
Multiple cougars have been moved out of the area in the past, but not much can be done until there is another sighting, according to Rusty Robinson, the Wildlife Manager for the Central Region of the DWR.
Ultimately this serves as a big reminder for those in the area that they are living in cougar country.
