Mountain Lion Slinks Into Home, Takes Barking Dog

Mountain lions aren't an especially rare sight in the hills of California's San Mateo County, authorities say—but it's a lot rarer for them to walk into homes and snatch pets, as appeared to have happened early Monday morning. Vickie Fought, a homeowner in Pescadero, says she and her 12-year-old daughter were sleeping in her bedroom with the back door open a crack when they were awoken by the barking of their small dog. "That's when I saw what I thought was our bigger dog walking in," Fought tells NBC Bay Area. She says she only realized the animal was a mountain lion after it picked up Lenore, her 15-pound Portuguese Podengo, and stalked back out.

Fought says she took a flashlight and searched for her dog outside, but found only "wet, very clear, large paw prints walking in," along with drops of blood, the Los Angeles Times reports. "What's so rare and shocking about this is that the animal comes up to the property and enters the home," says San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Salvador Zuno. He says detectives notified the California Department of Fish and Wildlife after finding what appeared to be mountain lion footprints around the home. He says homeowners should keep their doors and windows locked and have an air horn handy. (Last year, a mountain lion apparently killed a koala at a Los Angeles zoo.)