A North County family is warning neighbors to stay alert after two mountain lions were caught on surveillance video early Tuesday morning right outside their home near Camp Pendleton.
Rosalie Richards said her front door camera in Oceanside was triggered around 2 a.m. by what she initially thought was one large cat. But when she reviewed the footage, she saw a second, larger mountain lion approach.
“I saw the first one and I was like, OK,” Richards said. “Then when I heard her, I thought they were eating an animal on my patio. Then the male came up and I’m like, ‘Oh, she’s probably in heat.’”
In the minute-long video, a female mountain lion can be seen lying on Richards’ patio as a larger male approaches. The two appear to interact briefly before walking off together into the night.
“They were beautiful,” Richards said. “They didn’t bother anything. They had their time on my driveway and walked away. I’ve never seen two before.”
Her daughter, Kylie Richards, who lives nearby, said the sighting was a shock.
“Pure shock — we’ve never seen something that big come through on our camera,” she said. “We see raccoons all the time, birds, but never a cat that big.”
Kylie, who has a 2-year-old son, shared the footage on social media to warn neighbors along Douglas Drive in North Oceanside.
“It’s a little scary because we have neighbors, everyone is 55 and over, walking around with their walkers and canes,” she said.
She also reported the sighting to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“Mountain lions typically don’t pose a big threat to humans,” said department spokesperson Cort Klopping. “In fact, you’re a thousand times more likely to be struck by lightning than attacked by a mountain lion.”
Klopping said if you do encounter a mountain lion, don’t run. Instead, face the animal, slowly back away, make yourself appear larger and make noise to scare it off.
“They really don’t want to be around you,” he said.
Richards said the experience was a reminder that humans are sharing the space with wildlife.
“Let them have their space because they deserve to live,” she said. “If this is where they have to do it, then this is where they have to do it. I’m not going to interrupt them.”
Wildlife officials encourage residents to report any sightings so they can monitor mountain lion activity in the area.
