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CNN Live Saturday

Mountain Lion Finds Resting Spot in Yard of L.A. Home

Aired May 25, 2002 - 22:27   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: And people in a Los Angeles suburb are still shaking off a shock of wayward mountain lion that invaded their neighborhood yesterday.

Stacy Tobin with CNN affiliate CBS News 2 explains just what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STACY TOBIN, KCBS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're looking at home video of a female mountain lion who made her way into the Grimard family's backyard just before dawn.

CELESTE GRIMARD, HOMEOWNER: We both woke up to it and we thought, you know, what's the noise?

TOBIN: That noise was this big cat, who decided to park it in the middle of a bamboo shrouded fence that separates her yard from her neighbor's.

GRIMARD: It was growling at my dog. I mean you could hear it. When I was calling the police you heard their grrrrr.

TOBIN: Grrrrr because of the precarious position she got herself into after pawing her way next to the family home.

(on camera): The lion first jumped over this wrought iron gate and then prowled around the backyard a bit. Then he hopped this six foot wooden fence, fell through the thick bamboo and got his head stuck right in that hole. (voice-over): Wildlife experts were summoned and with tranquilizer guns drawn, they headed in.

(on camera): Were you afraid?

JOANNE MONTGOMERY, NEIGHBOR: No, I wasn't frightened.

TOBIN: A big mountain lion back there?

MONTGOMERY: Well, I was inside.

TOBIN (voice-over): Neighbors watched and waited until they heard a shot. With children in the area, animal control officers felt it necessary to kill the cat. LT. ANGEL RATON, DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME: We were not able to take a shot with a tranquilizer shot because all we got was a head shot and the drug did not work on the head. It has to be muscle.

TOBIN: An unfortunate ending for an animal who just wandered off.

In Monrovia, Stacy Tobin, CBS-2 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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