WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — A frightening sight in a West Valley City neighborhood prompted a response from multiple agencies who worked Thursday night to relocate a surprising visitor.
Damon, a resident in the area, went outside in the area of 4000 South 5200 West to make a phone call when he saw something lurking in a tree that didn't quite look right.
"I kept staring at it while I was talking and saw the tail move, I'm like, that's a freaking mountain lion," he said in a video posted by the West Valley City Fire Department.
Photos of the cat show it just relaxing in the tree, swinging its tail and taking in the sights from above the residential neighborhood.
Meanwhile, Damon took action, getting his dad and brother to give their opinion on whether a cougar was indeed in the tree.
"They both said the same thing," Damon explained. "So that's when we started making calls."
Having confirmed the large cat's presence, Damon called the non-emergency line for the city. Police officers as well as the Division of Wildlife Resources headed to the neighborhood to get the mountain lion out of the tree and away from the neighborhood.
DWR officials were able to quickly tranquilize the cat, but the situation took an unexpected turn when the mountain lion didn't come out of the tree as expected.
It seemed the cougar found a cozy spot and got hung up in the branches.
That's when firefighters from West Valley City were called in to bring a ladder, climb up to the cougar and get it safely down as it was tranquilized.
Video from the department shows several people using a stretcher-type piece of equipment to gently bring the mountain lion out of the tree.
"Now seeing it down here, that thing is big," Damon remarked. "I didn't expect something that big to be around here so, pretty crazy."
Fire crews helped put the large cat in a secure area in the back of a truck and DWR officials will return the visitor back to the mountains of Utah and out of the residential neighborhood.
