SoCal man, dog have close encounter with mountain lion believed to be P-22
By Tony Cabrera
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LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A man and his dog had a close encounter with a mountain lion, believed to be P-22, in the Hollywood Hills, and it was caught on camera.
In the video, the homeowner is seen getting home from work and parking in the garage. Another resident walks down the street and not far behind is the mountain lion in the darkness.
The homeowner, who did not wish to be publicly identified, says he let his dog out of the car and she ran into the street barking. When he turned, the dog was face to face with the animal.
That’s when he started trying to intimate the big cat, lifting his arms up to make himself look as big as possible and making noise to scare it away.
He says the cat wasn’t fazed – it just looked at him and didn’t move.
He yelled for the dog to get back into the garage. She ran in and he shut the door and they waited for the animal to leave.
Wildlife experts have confirmed that LA’s most well-known mountain lion, P-22, was the big cat that attacked and killed a dog on a leash near the Hollywood Reservoir earlier this month.
“I don’t know what P-22 weighs, but my dog’s about 70 pounds, so at least she came out like a guard dog,” he said. “She’s a pit mix so she was protecting me, but then also listened and came and did what I told her to in the face of danger. Thank God, because had it been a small little lap dog, I think it might’ve been a very different story.”
P-22 is estimated to be 12 years old, weighing in at 123 pounds when last captured.
He added another scary part was waiting in the garage for it to leave, since there is no other door, and they had to go out to the driveway in order to get inside the home.
So, they watched the surveillance video until they saw the feline go towards a wooded area down the street.
Just two weeks ago, wildlife experts confirmed that P-22 attacked and killed a chihuahua on a leash near the Hollywood reservoir.
But they say these types of attacks are rare. P-22 typically hunts deer and coyotes, and recently killed a large buck in Griffith Park.
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