2 mountain lion sightings confirmed within same week in Dallas-Fort Worth area

Brent Blackwell has seen his share of coyotes, rabbits and skunks near his neighborhood by Lewisville Lake. So when he saw a large feline with a long tail in his security camera footage, he knew something wasn’t right. “That’s when I got the chills,” Blackwell said.

Earlier this week, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department confirmed Blackwell’s November footage of the mountain lion, the first documented sighting in Denton County.

On Friday, the department said it had confirmed another video of a mountain lion on the west side of Lewisville Lake in late October. The two sightings, which happened less than a week apart, are the first for the county, according to the state wildlife department.

Because of the rarity of mountain lions in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Texas wildlife officials said they believe both sightings are of the same animal. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has asked residents to contact the agency’s biologists to report any additional sightings.

”It is likely that this mountain lion is just passing through and will not stay in the area for an extended period,” the department said in a Friday news release.

On Thursday, an urban wildlife biologist for the department said state officials are monitoring the situation.

“The animal has only been observed walking through the area, and no interactions with people or pets have been reported,” the department said.

Blackwell, who provided measurements to biologists from the state parks and wildlife department, said the mountain lion looked to be nearly 3 feet tall.

He wondered what led the mountain lion into his backyard and noticed a rabbit hiding behind the swimming pool equipment while reviewing footage with the state wildlife department.

“Funny enough, another motion went off like 10 minutes later at like 4:45 a.m. in the morning,” he said. “I didn’t see anything in the picture, but I zoomed back in where the rabbit was, and it was still sitting there.”

Blackwell said his neighbors have had mixed reactions to the mountain lion — some people think it’s cool, others are scared about their animals and young children. He plans to be more careful when letting his dogs out when it’s dark outside.

“I don’t think a mountain lion has a predator in this area,” Blackwell said.

Brady Smith, who submitted the October footage to Texas wildlife officials, shared the video with The News. Smith said he opened the Lake Dallas RV Park on the west side of Lewisville Lake about three years ago.

About two years ago, he said one of his employees and a guest reported seeing a mountain lion. They, however, didn’t have video evidence. “One of my guys, we were moving a mobile home, and he was like, ‘There are giant eyes under there. I’m not going under there,’” Smith recalled.

A short time later, a resident reported seeing a mountain lion, Smith said.

There were no more reports of mountain lions on the property until the Wednesday before Halloween, Smith said. One of his park guests told Smith they had a video of a mountain lion. Smith said he warned guests at the park about the sighting.

After he saw a WFAA-TV (Channel 8) news report about the mountain lion sighting in Frisco, he reported it to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. He started going through his own security camera footage from around the property and found more videos of the feline.

“I hope it’s not living behind my park,” Smith said. “There are deer there and other food sources.”

Although it is true that Lewisville Lake has animals that mountain lions prey upon, Sam Kieschnick, an urban wildlife biologist for the state parks and wildlife department, said he thinks it is unlikely that the animal lives in the area.

“If he or she — it’s probably a he — sticks around, it’s going to be a lonely bachelor that would have no chance of reproducing,” Kieschnick said. “One of the reasons mountain lions roam is they roam around to find a mate. In Dallas-Fort Worth, we don’t have any evidence to show there’s a population here.”