Parents were warned before school on Friday morning after a mountain lion was reported on Thursday evening in the Moose Can Gulch area of Missoula’s South Hills.

Parents were advised not to let their children walk to school or bus stops in the area of  55th street and Gharrett avenue.

"[The mountain lion] was spotted chasing a house cat on someone's property," said Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokeswoman Vivica Crowser. "That report came in, but there has not been additional sighting since then, but there was an alert from public schools to parents to let them know that this sighting had happened and just to be extra cautious in case the lion was hanging around and not just passing through."

Crowser said that the house cat survived the attack.

A similar incident occurred in the same area last fall, Crowser said that the lion could be a problem if it decides to stay in the area, but that it could also simply be making its way to a new area.

"It may have bee just an isolated incident," Crowser said. "If we do get more reports then probably the best thing that could happen is that we get those reports as soon as possible so that we can respond with hounds to track the lion so we can remove it."

Bob Weisner with Fish Wildlife and parks is on call with a team of dogs waiting for mountain lion reports. Call Weisner at 240-3296 as soon as possible if you see a mountain lion in Missoula.

 

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