This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Washington City family woke up Monday morning to find a mountain lion in their window well.
About 8 a.m., the children came upstairs and told their mother about the lion, said Teresa Griffin, wildlife manager for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources' southern division. She found they were right: a young male lion was in the window well, which is about four-feet deep.
The family lives on the edge of the Southern Utah city, with their home backing up against the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area, Griffin said.
The lion was about a year-and-a-half-old male. At that age, males typically leave their mothers and start figuring out how to survive on their own, Griffin said.
Wildlife officers arrived and tranquilized the young predator. After taking a four-hour nap, the lion awoke to find he'd been moved to a remote area of Washington County.
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