Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Big cat has been seen on residents’ decks near Castle Creek drainage
A mountain lion has been spotted in the urban interface of Aspen, lurking around and on the decks of condominium owners near Eighth Street.
Charlie Martin, a community safety officer for the Aspen Police Department, said on Tuesday he has received two reports from people who live at the Villas of Aspen this week, saying that they spotted the lion on their decks.
“It is probably working the Castle Creek drainage,” Martin said. “It’s out cruising, doing what it does. ... [But] it’s serious and you need to know about it.”
Chet Feldman, who lives in the area, said his son spotted the animal on their deck last Monday evening right around dusk.
“It was slinking down the hillside between the decks,” he said of his son’s sighting.
He said the area is usually a habitat for bear, fox and coyotes, but the mountain lion is a concern, noting that even his house cat is reluctant to go outside these days.
“Big cats in a residential area are a different deal,” Feldman said.
The condos sit on the hillside above Castle Creek and are near the Marolt Open Space, a popular destination for dogs and their owners.
Condo owner Neil Siegel wrote an email to his neighbors this past Sunday saying that a “mature mountain lion was sighted on our property this week, on the deck of unit #27 and in the area between units 23 and 27.
“A mountain lion is serious stuff, they are stealthy dawn and twilight hunters, loose pets are snacks ...”
Siegel asked his neighbors to be vigilant in reporting any sightings of the animal, including large cat tracks, to the homeowners association board.
Siegel said property owners along the creek spotted mountain lion tracks about six weeks ago.
“This one obviously got our attention,” he said of Feldman’s sighting.
Kevin Wright, district wildlife manager for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said it wouldn’t be unusual for a mountain lion to be where deer roam, including the Castle Creek drainage.
“I wouldn’t doubt it if there’s deer,” he said, adding that as the valley becomes more urbanized, expect to have more interactions between humans and wildlife.
He said it’s rare that a mountain lion would attack a human being, since “we aren’t part of their diet.” He noted that there has been maybe two or three fatalities from a mountain lion attack in Colorado in the last 100 years.
“People are really starting to freak out about lions,” he said. “It’s really rare to be attacked.”
But pets off leash are susceptible to being snatched up, Wright added.
Brian Long, the city’s open space ranger, said he had not received any reports regarding the lion near Eighth Street but said there have been a number of sightings near Stein Park and the Rio Grande Trail over the last few years. He said a mountain lion’s territory can range up to 25 miles.
If a person does run into a mountain lion, he or she should back away slowly, do not make eye contact and make themselves look big. Long said one trick is to unzip your jacket and put it over your head to make yourself look bigger. It is never a good idea to turn your back and run away from a mountain lion, officials said.
Martin recommended always carrying a cell phone, and hiking with a ski pole.
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