A resident in the Winterwood subdivision at the north end of Bart Road on Peak 7 in Breckenridge encountered a mountain lion Saturday night.
Returning home shortly after 7 p.m. their headlights illuminated an animal standing in the driveway. They knew it was too large to be a dog, but thought it might be a lynx. Then they saw its tail.
"It kind of straightened up and turned around to face me, and it was a mountain lion with a big fat tail like they have," the residend said. "I sat and watched it for a couple seconds then it took a look at me and charged down the driveway and it was gone in about five big bounds. I got a pretty good look at it."
Sightings like this are rare, said Randy Hampton of the Colorado Division of Wildlife.
Mountain lions are populous locally, but are typically elusive creatures. They don't spend time around people and are commonly only seen when passing through an area.
This summer a hunter eventually shot a lion after throwing things at the animal didn't scare it away. Given that there are 300,000 hunters in the woods every year to have only one encounter through 10 months of the year speaks to the elusive nature of the predators. The animals can cover 50 miles in a day, Hampton said.
Still, caution is the best policy, Hampton said. A Durango woman was scratched across the shoulders in August when a lion jumped at her as she sat on her deck.
"It's part of living in Colorado," Hampton said. "People live here because they love the wildlife and like to see what's out there, but with the deer and the elk that everybody likes to watch come the predators."
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