Sheriff's Office takes down a cougar

Sleep well, Ms. Cougar.

Yesterday, members of the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office received a call about a female mountain lion in the vicinity of 26900 East Colfax Avenue, and home owner Francisco Guerriero made capturing it easy -- by trapping it in his shed. The photo above shows the critter after being given a little nappy-time shot. By now, it should be back in the mountains, no doubt looking for younger cats. Not that this one is ancient: It's just a year-and-a-half.

Read the ACSO release after the jump.

On August 9, 2009, at about 10:20 AM, the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office received a report of a mountain lion running loose at 26900 East Colfax Avenue. The reporting party, Mr. Francisco Guerriero, advised that the mountain lion ran passed him and entered a storage shed by unit #458. Mr. Guerriero immediately ran to the shed and closed the door.

Sheriff's Deputies responded to the scene and confirmed that a mountain lion was detained in the storage shed. The immediate area of the storage shed was sealed off by deputies. The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) was contacted and responded to the scene.

DOW officers were able to tranquilize the mountain lion, while still inside the storage shed, without incident. The mountain lion was a female, about 1 ½ years old and weighed approximately 65 lbs. The female lion will be evaluated by the DOW, tagged and retuned to the mountains later today.

For additional information contact Sheriff Grayson Robinson at 720.874.4165 or representatives of the Colorado Department of Wildlife.