Mountain Lion on Telephone Pole a Strange Sight for California Residents

A mountain lion managed to climb a 35-foot-high wooden power pole Tuesday just south of Cougar Buttes, California, in one of those "well, that's something you don't see every day" moments.

The visual of the big cat on top of the pole caught passing motorists and residents by surprise, the Victor Valley Daily Press reported.

"It was funny," Jose Ruiz, a resident who lives across the street from the telephone pole, told the Daily Press. He said the mountain lion may have been startled by children coming home in a Lucerne Valley Unified School District school bus.

"It was like the one crow was saying, 'Hey, you're not a crow' to the mountain lion," Ruiz said.

Some residents went out and took their own photos of the mountain lion and posted them on social media.

Here is a better pic of mountain lion in Lucerne Valley. He was down the street from me. pic.twitter.com/GRYFJGADy5

— Dot Kenny (@DotKenny5) October 1, 2015

Andrew Hughan, a spokesman for California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told ABC News that there is no telling what made the mountain lion climb up the pole.

"It could have been chased up there by another animal or frightened by a car on the road it was walking on," he said on Thursday. "It really could've been anything."

The mountain lion reportedly stayed on top of the pole long enough — roughly 12 hours — for residents to take plenty of photos before getting off, somehow, early Wednesday, according to ABC News. California Fish and Wildlife officials had considered tranquilizing the animal to get it off the pole because of the height and the danger it posed to the mountain lion itself.

"We're happy we didn't have to plan that out," Hughan said. "Trying to get a mountain lion off a utility pole would have been a really interesting challenge. If we shot it, it would've fell and died."

The Hesperia Unified School District officials locked down nearby Lime Street Elementary School briefly Wednesday due to a cougar sighting a few blocks away from the school, according to the Daily Press.

"The principal wanted to be sure that all staff and students were safe and aware of the situation," district superintendent David McLaughlin said in a statement.

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