A Mountain Lion In Georgetown? Video Sends Community Into Furor

GEORGETOWN, DC — A large cat was captured on video surveillance at a home in Georgetown, sparking speculation from locals that it could be a mountain lion from nearby Rock Creek Park -- but others say it's just a cat.

NBC 4 reports that the huge cat was spotted climbing up a fence in Georgetown at around 4 a.m. The feline makes it up to the top of a wooden fence and walks along it before jumping into the yard.

Its size and short hair makes neighbors suspect they have a cougar on their hands. The homeowner said they alerted D.C. Animal Care and Control, according to the report. The National Zoo says they have all of their animals, so it's not an escapee.

However, there are reasons to doubt that it's a cougar. For one thing, it's difficult to gauge just how big the animal is from the video, and its striped tail is uncharacteristic of mountain lions. Also, a Popville reader shared video of a cat that strongly resembles the animal in the video that was spotted in the same neighborhood.

Dr. Lee Morgan at Georgetown Veterinary Hospital says he was skeptical when he watched the video because there were stripes on the tail, which mountain lions typically don't have, and the paws were too small to be a mountain lion.

One of Morgan's clients called to say the video captured her rare cat, named Cookie. The pet is a Bengal Burmese Brown Tabby mix, which is a very long cat.

"I know Cookie, she takes up most of this table here when she comes," Morgan told NBC Washington.