A San Diego woman called 911 to report a mountain lion spotted in an unusual place and she said she even has the photograph to prove it.
On Tuesday morning, just before 8:30 a.m., Lemon Grove resident Kathy Kyser was running errands when she said she spotted a mountain lion near some bushes near the vacant parking lot of a Food 4 Less grocery store on Broadway.
She had just finished her shopping when she saw the big feline.
“I saw this large animal walking along the side of the bushes, across the other side of the [parking] lot,” Kyser explained to local news stations on Thursday.
Kyser said she quickly realized the animal was “way too big to be a [house] cat.” It also wasn’t a dog, she said.
“I was sure it was a mountain lion. I was surprised to see him in the daylight and in such a populous area,” added Kyser.
Kyser said she pulled over and snapped a photo of the animal with her cell phone (see above and below).
As she took the picture, Kyser said the animal glanced at her, seemingly uninterested, and then turned away.
“It was in no hurry, just meandering along,” she recalled.
Kyser said the animal then went into the bushes, curled up and laid down for a nap.
When Kyser returned home from running errands, she told her husband about the sighting and showed him the photo on her phone. She and her husband then called deputies to report the incident.
San Diego County sheriff’s deputies arrived at the parking lot near the Food 4 Less grocery store at around 9 a.m., but the animal was nowhere to be found.
Deputies notified the state Department of Fish and Game about the reported wildlife sighting. As of Thursday, officials said there have been no other reports of a mountain lion in the area.
Anyone who sees the mountain lion is asked to immediately dial 911 to report the sighting, officials said.
As for Kyser, she said she’s still in shock over the sighting near such a highly-populated residential area. She said she often sees coyotes in her yard, but never mountain lions.
She wonders where the big cat may have gone after the sighting, and warns people to keep their eyes open for the animal.
“It had to go somewhere,” she added.
