Editor’s note: this article has been changed to accurately reflect the area in which the Colorado Parks & Wildlife received reports of mountain lions the past two years.
Taulere and Arrone Appel were on their nightly walk with their small, white Cavachon dog on Friday. It was about an hour after sunset when their dog, Bodhi, stopped walking and looked off, as though he noticed something.
Within “two seconds,” Bodhi was dead, Taulere said. A mountain lion had pounced from a nearby bush to steal the dog.
Arrone started to approach the lion, not as sure that the lion had killed Bodhi, before Taulere beckoned him back. The couple was only about a half-dozen houses down from their home on Balsam Drive, where they would take Bodhi for his nightly walk.
“It was just, like, out of nowhere,” Taulere said. “We walked home in shock.”
The Appels have lived in Boulder since 1984. Taulere said she has never heard of such an attack on a leashed pet in a residential area.
Once they got home, the Appels called Boulder’s non-emergency line. Boulder Animal Protection; the city’s department of Open Space & Mountain Parks department; and Colorado Parks and Wildlife responded.
On and off starting at 3 p.m. Saturday, the three agencies came to Balsam Drive, knocking on doors to warn neighbors and looking for the mountain lion.
The CPW could not find the wild cat, said Kara Van Hoose, CPW’s Northeast Region public information officer.
Now, Taulere said, the couple is not as confident about going outside as they were before they lost their dog.
“It wasn’t afraid of us,” Taulere said. “But we’re afraid of it now.”
Mountain lions are common in Boulder, Van Hoose said. The Boulder area has one of the densest mountain lion populations in the country. That does not mean Boulderites will see them often.
The predator cats are territorial, solitary animals, Van Hoose said. They usually come out between dusk and dawn, traveling under the cover of darkness.
They have been known to prey on small animals such as dogs. Usually, though, those dogs are off-leash.
Van Hoose said young lions or older lions are more likely to go after easy targets such as small house pets. Small dogs, like the 10-pound Bodhi, can make an “easy meal,” Van Hoose added.
Mountain lions may also develop a pattern; if a mountain lion knows a certain prey to be an easy source of food, it might return and try again.
Van Hoose said Boulder is full of wildlife, whether mountain lions, deer or elk. People should expect to encounter wild animals when in the city. But, she said, there are ways Boulderites can protect themselves and their pets against attacks.
• If you must take your dog out at night, turn the lights on or bring a flashlight.
• Make noise before letting a dog out to scare off any nearby wild animal.
• Do not let a dog run around at night in the dark.
Mountain lions are far more likely to prey on a pet at night, when the dog is off-leash and nothing is making the cat think twice.
“They’re not necessarily very visible,” Van Hoose said. “And they want it that way.”
Anyone who sees a mountain lion in their neighborhood should call CPW, Van Hoose said. The state agency will assess the situation and figure out the best protective path forward.
Sometimes a cat creates a “cache” of food, rather than eating it all in one place. Residents are advised to leave them alone and call CPW. The agency’s main numer is 303-297-1192.
So far this year, Boulder County residents have reported mountain lions 28 times to the agency. By this time last year, county residents had called 24 times, of a total 43 reports in 2024.
Taulere said she wished there were a better warning system for the presence of mountain lions. She and her husband would not have taken Bodhi out had they known a mountain lion was in the area, she said.
The Appels’ dog had only been with the family for a year before he was killed on Friday. The couple got Bodhi while grieving their previous dog, who died from health complications last year.
“Bodhi was a really good dog,” Taulere said. “He wasn’t afraid of anything.”
