Some people were surprised to see a video of a mountain lion passing through an area of south Reno that’s usually pretty busy in the daytime.<\/p>\n
The animal was spotted passing through the Whole Foods parking lot along South Virginia Street just before 3 a.m. on Friday.<\/p>\n
The Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) says they don’t find this type of sighting shocking at all, especially in the middle of the night when there are no people around.<\/p>\n
They say it’s normal to see mountain lions travel along the outskirts of town, and sometimes a little further in, like where this shopping center is.<\/p>\n
NDOW’s Public Information Officer, Ashley Zemi, says mountain lions are very solitary animals, and we don’t need to worry about seeing one in the same area any time soon.<\/p>\n
“They have a large home range,” she said. “So, female mountain lions, theirs is about 90 square miles, males’ is about 175 square miles, so they travel a lot in a day, and the key thing to know in these situations is that they are not looking to stick around.”<\/p>\n
Zemi says in the rare case you may come across a mountain lion, keep your distance, maintain eye contact, look as big as possible, and never turn your back on it.<\/p>\n
However, NDOW’s main concern is actually bears and coyotes.<\/p>\n
Zemi tells us they’re expecting to see activity pick up since it’s that time of year when bears are looking anywhere for food to fatten up before hibernation. So, keep your trash locked up and out of reach.<\/p>\n
Zemi says coyotes are starting to disperse from their mothers and establish new territory. So, you may also see them and hear them more often.<\/p>\n
She also warns people to keep a close eye on their pets.<\/p>\n
“When letting your pets out, don’t leave them out unattended before dawn and after dusk, that’s when wildlife is going to be most active,” she said.<\/p>\n