'Mountain lion' turned out to be a house cat
By D. Anthony Botkin - abotkin@civitasmedia.com
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said the large suspicious cat spotted lurking in the backyard of a home in Powell Saturday evening has had no aggressive behavior and his name is Leo.
"It's a very large house cat that weights 20 pounds," said Maurice Irish, an officer with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. "We had some calls earlier in the day about the cat and a lady had called saying it was her cat Leo."
About 7 p.m. Saturday Powell Police received a call about a large cat roaming the backyard of a home on Valley Run Drive. By the time officers arrived and investigated the cat had left the area.
In the official police report it states, "The animal appeared to be a female mountain lion."
However, they were showed a video of the cat wandering past an electrical box.
The video was sent to the Columbus Zoo, which confirmed all its mountain lions were accounted for. It also was also sent to Ohio Department of Natural Resources for review.
"I went out and measured the the electrical box," Irish said. "It was 3-foot by 3-foot."
Irish said the cat and a mountain lion looked similar in color, but a mountain lion wouldn't wonder in an open space. "It would move into the deep forest," he said. "We would expect it to be closer to 5-foot-long and a mountain lion it would have broader shoulders."
By D. Anthony Botkin
abotkin@civitasmedia.com
D. Anthony Botkin may be reached at 740-413-0902 or on Twitter @dabotkin.
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