Raccoon carcasses turning up in Colorado yards. Wildlife experts think they know why

Something is killing raccoons in a Colorado community, and wildlife officials have figured out the culprit: mountain lions.

Officers from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife have been working to remove raccoon carcasses from yards in Golden, a tweet from the department said.

“Wildlife officers have been monitoring mountain lion activity in Golden in an area with plenty of raccoons,” the tweet said.

Typically, mountain lions’ primary food source is deer, Joey Livingston with CPW told KDRV TV News.

“They will eat other food sources as well. They’re opportunistic eaters,” Livingston added.

Mountain lion activity is common in Golden, the department said, with the animal’s population ranging anywhere between 3,000 to 7,000 in the state of Colorado.

The animal is typically elusive and quiet and lives in remote areas, CPW says. Nonetheless, the number of human interactions with mountain lions has increased.

Still, “[l]ion attacks on people are rare, with fewer than a dozen fatalities in North America in more than 100 years,” CPW says.

If you walk or hike in mountain lion country you should do so in groups and never approach a lion, CPW advises. If you happen upon the animal, you should move slowly and “talk calmly and firmly.”

“Stop or back away slowly, if you can do it safely. Running may stimulate a lion’s instinct to chase and attack,” CPW says.

Try to appear large such as by raising your arms or opening your jacket.

If the mountain lion attacks, fight back, CPW says.

“Lions have been driven away by prey that fights back. People have fought back with rocks, sticks, caps or jackets, garden tools and their bare hands successfully,” the department said.

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