Art director and animator Scott Bartholomew was glad he had awakened early Thursday morning. He checked his phone at 5:30 a.m. and saw that he had an alert from his driveway Google Nest Cam.
“I would have missed it if I’d woken up later,” he said. “The alert shows up on my phone, but if you don’t save it, it self-deletes after a few hours.”
This has never been an issue, as Bartholomew uses the camera to check on package deliveries.
The motion-activated camera has caught more than deliveries during the three years Bartholomew has had the system.
Bartholomew’s five-year-old son Tommy piped up at this point. “The raccoon went under the truck!”
But this was no raccoon. Instead, the camera had recorded a large mountain lion crossing the Bartholomews’ driveway, about a mile walk up Little Lake Road from the town of Mendocino.
Both father and son described seeing the big cat as “pretty cool,” though Tommy said his favorite cat is a cheetah, “because we’re both really fast.”
“Seeing those paws, just massive,” Bartholomew marveled.
According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Mountain lions have large ranges, so this one may not visit the Bartholomews’ driveway again for months. Males can range for 500 square miles, females for 300, always on the lookout for unwary deer, their favorite food, or, in a pinch, rabbits and squirrels.
Mountain lions are second only to jaguars as the largest cats in North America, according to the CDFW. They often venture close to built-up areas but are shy and avoid humans whenever possible.
Those lucky enough to sight a mountain lion in the wild should look big and back away, the CDFW said.
The public is reminded to never corner or tease a lion or bear or get between a mother and kittens or cubs as both animals are as eager as people to emerge unscathed from an unwanted encounter.