ESTES PARK, Colo. — The Mountain Tiki Bar in Estes Park was closed on Tuesday, but that didn’t stop one visitor from lingering on the patio all day anyway.
“We found it that morning,” said Paul Whyard, who has owned the business with his wife for 15 years. “[I] went down to the bar to feed the fish, and I was about to open up my door, looked to my left – we have this little area that’s enclosed, we call it the Front Porch – and something caught my eye. Looked up, and that’s when I saw the cub.
“I have to admit, the shape of its face, I realized it was a mountain lion. Kinda freaked me out.”
An officer with Colorado Parks and Wildlife stopped by a little bit later, and told Whyard not to panic: the animal was likely left behind by its mother while she was hunting, and it would leave once she came back.
Of course, Whyard said, this had him worried there was an adult mountain lion by his property too. There was a silver lining, though.
“We were closed that day, we didn’t have to worry about customers coming up,” Whyard said.
He set up a camera on the porch and recorded the moment when the cub finally left late that night. After he posted it on the bar’s Instagram, multiple commenters expressed concern for the animal, saying it looked sick.
CPW spokesman Jason Clay watched the video, and agreed that the cub has a limp, but it’s not necessarily a huge cause for concern.
“Mountain lions often get injured, whether that be from a fight with another mountain lion or from being injured trying to prey on elk or deer,” Clay wrote in an email to 9NEWS.
Since the cub walked away from the tiki bar, Clay said there have not been any reported sightings of it or its mother in Estes Park – and he wants to keep it that way.
“We are hoping this lion moved on its way and will avoid town,” he said.
Whyard, who has lived in Estes Park for 15 years, said this is only the second time he’s ever seen a mountain lion. But, it isn’t the first wildlife encounter the patio has seen.
Once, he said a bear that was “causing a ruckus” in downtown Estes Park ran across the porch and climbed the nearby fence.
“It’s certainly a different type of wildlife than you’d find at your traditional sea level tiki bar,” Whyard said.
Encounters like these, according to Clay, are inevitable in this part of the state.
“It’s kind of a product of Estes Park,” he said.
If you find a mountain lion on your property, Clay said to call CPW as soon as possible. A wildlife officer will come and assess the animal and may weigh relocation for the safety of both the public and mountain lion.
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