Maybe it’s a game of wack-a-mole in Gillette, except it’s wack-a-mountain lion instead.
Just as one mountain lion was captured on Wednesday in downtown Gillette, two more appear.
The Gillette Police Department is warning residents that a couple more mountain lions might be on the prowl on the southwest part of town.
That’s after photos were captured on someone’s security camera near the Bell Nob Golf Course.
Officers went out to investigate and discovered mountain lion tracks. They, then, issued a warning along with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
“The photos are grainy and it is hard to distinguish clearly, but there might be two mountain lions in the photos,” said Gillette wildlife biologist Erika Peckham. “If there are two, this would suggest it is an adult female traveling with her sub-adult offspring.”
That’s the problem with the security camera photos. They look like they were taken with a potato.
Wednesday’s Mountain Lion
Potato or not, the presence of mountain lions is a concern because of the one captured in Gillette two days ago, although they don’t usually travel in packs.
Teri Anderson, a neighbor in the area, told Cowboy State Daily she spotted tracks in her yard before spotting the lion.
“We were busy checking that (track) out when I happened to look over and thought, ‘Oooohhh, shoot, there’s that mountain lion right there,” she said.
The mountain lion was hiding under some construction material in their neighbor’s yard just a few yards away.
“He was just curled up and not making any noise,” Teri said.
Game wardens tranquilized the animal and was taking it back out to the wild to be released.
Encore?
No word if this is the same animal coming back for an encourage performance.
But officials say they will continue to monitor the situation and ask Gillette residents to be cautious.
