Cougar camps under house, shrugs off efforts to move him

FILE - This Nov. 2014 file photo provided by the National Park Service shows the Griffith Park mountain lion known as P-22. The mountain lion that's a local celebrity has moved in under a Los Angeles home, and despite wildlife workers using a prod and firing tennis balls and bean bags at it, it appears unwilling to move. The animal, which has a red ear tag, is known as P-22 and normally lives in nearby Griffith Park. P-22 arrived in the area several years ago from the Santa Monica Mountains and crossed two freeways to get there. (National Park Service, via AP, File) FILE - This Nov. 2014 file photo provided by the National Park Service shows the Griffith Park mountain lion known as P-22. The mountain lion that's a local celebrity has moved in under a Los Angeles home, and despite wildlife workers using a prod and firing tennis balls and bean bags at it, it appears unwilling to move. The animal, which has a red ear tag, is known as P-22 and normally lives in nearby Griffith Park. P-22 arrived in the area several years ago from the Santa Monica Mountains and crossed two freeways to get there. (National Park Service, via AP, File)

By Associated Press April 14, 2015 3 min read

LOS ANGELES (AP) – A mountain lion certainly is acting like the Los Angeles celebrity he is: lounging under a home and refusing to be handled by wildlife officials who have used tennis balls, bean bags and prods in a failed attempt to dislodge the famous cat.

Jason Archinaco, the homeowner in the hilly Los Feliz neighborhood, told Los Angeles television station KNBC (http://bit.ly/1ypl8o3 ) that workers installing a home security system encountered the cougar in a crawl space around noon Monday. He was still there more than 10 hours later.

“I don’t think he’s going to come out,” Archinaco said. “He’s probably been living here for a while. … He thinks this is his den.”

The animal, which has a red ear tag, is known as P-22 and normally lives in nearby Griffith Park. It arrived in the area several years ago from the Santa Monica Mountains and crossed two freeways to get there.

National Geographic famously photographed P-22 in 2013 with the Hollywood sign in the background, and several sharp photographs from a remote camera in Griffith Park captured the cat last year.