Mountain lion visits Utah County neighborhood

EAGLE MOUNTAIN — A long-tailed, furry creature paid a visit to northwest Utah County neighborhood Saturday.

Some residents near 8900 Torrey Pines Loop noticed a mountain lion, which ran through the neighborhood and jumped into the basement window well of a home.

Officers responded and found the animal in the window well, hunkered down like it was hiding, said Utah County Sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Cornell.

Officials from the Division of Natural Resources were called in while deputies kept a crowd of residents away from the home, Cornell said. When a DNR official approached the animal with a tranquilizer gun, the mountain lion bounded from the window and took off running through the neighborhood.

Another resident offered his hound dog, Cornell said, which tracked and cornered the mountain lion in another window well. While the dog kept the animal at bay, a DNR official tranquilized the animal.

The mountain lion was then released back into the wild.

— James Davis