Mountain lion spotted in backyard of Burbank home

Homeowners are on high alert in one Burbank neighborhood after a mountain lion was caught lurking on a home's surveillance camera over the weekend. 

Cindy Naveira says that the camera in her backyard saw the big cat as it lingered around her home for more than 20 minutes on Friday, leading her and many of her neighbors looking over their shoulders when outside. 

"There's so much wildlife around here, we never know what it is," Naveira said. "Just didn't expect it to be that big."

She was alerted of the mountain lion's presence when her four-year-old dog Cooper started barking and jumping around in the backyard of the home. When she saw a tail, she didn't think much of it, guessing it was one of their more common wildlife visitors like a raccoon. 

But when she checked the security camera later, she realized that it was in fact something much bigger and dangerous. 

The video, albeit grainy, shows the large animal as it leaps over the fence into her yard and then again leaving the yard in the same manner. 

"I really got nervous, and I was questioning bobcats versus mountain lions," Naveira said. "Kinda like, 'Bobcats, short tails, right? Mountain lions have long tails, like, I'm a little worried."

She contacted animal control who quickly confirmed that it was in fact a mountain lion she saw in her yard, but told her that it was unlikely to return to her home. 

In the case that it does though, they recommended that she make herself appear larger and make loud noises to scare it off. They also recommended that people in the area refrain from hiking, biking, jogging alone in the area. 

Naveira alerted neighbors, warning them to keep a close eye on children and smaller pets, still marveling that her own dog was more than ready when face-to-face with the big cat. 

"Couldn't believe that our dog was ready to fight, he was defending the territory. He was ready to fight!"