Mountain lion makes peaceful visit to abbey chapel

CANON CITY, Colo. - At first, Ann Madone thought the animal that wandered into the chapel at Holy Cross Abbey Tuesday morning was a dog. A big dog.

It wasn't until the big brown creature turned to face her that she realized she was alone in the chapel with a mountain lion.

''He turned around and I saw his face,'' she said. ''I just sat real still and didn't dare move.''

Madone was praying after the 7 a.m. Mass, as she does every day, when the full-grown male padded past her, close enough to be touched, she said.

''I was sitting in the chapel and he just walked in the door,'' Madone said.

When the lion turned to face her, he let out a sort of growl before walking calmly up onto the platform, where he plopped down beneath the pew where the monks sit during mass.

At that point, Madone made her move.

''I went to get Father.''

The monks, at breakfast in the dining hall, were startled to learn of the unusual visitor. The visiting nephew of one of the monks ran to the chapel to confirm the sighting.

''We didn't believe him,'' said Paula Sheagley, Abbey events coordinator.

As several people peeked into the cool, quiet room, the big cat sat thumping his tail against the pews.

''He didn't seem vicious,'' Madone said. ''He just laid there the whole time.''

Sheagley, monks and others closed the chapel doors and called the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

''I've had a number of critters show up in buildings, but this is the first time I've had a lion in a chapel,'' District Wildlife Manager Dean Riggs said.

The sleek, golden cat moved to a landing, blending in against the polished wooden stairway.

Riggs shot it with a tranquilizing dart to allow workers to safely remove it from the building. After securing its plate-size paws with plastic-coated cables and looping a catchpole around its head, Riggs and two Fremont County Sheriff's deputies carried the sleeping lion from the abbey.

Riggs said the mountain lion appeared to be in good health.

''Looking at the teeth, it looks like a reasonably young male,'' he said. ''We're guessing he weighs 120 pounds or more.''

He theorized the big cat may have been hunting in the abbey's hay fields during the night and was caught by the morning light. The dark, cool cover of the chapel offered a perfect napping spot from where he could later return to the hunt, Riggs said.

Sheagley said there was evidence, including mountain lion hair and broken lamps, that the big cat had been sleeping in the abbey's parlor before he wandered into the chapel. The mountain lion apparently entered the building through a door left open for visitors.

''We're open to all visitors,'' she laughed. ''Someone said we've gone from museum to zoo.''

Riggs planned to return the lion to the wild, as far away from people as possible.

''When I was darting him, I was 10 yards away,'' Riggs said. ''He wasn't even laying his ears back. That's a pretty good indication that he was used to being around people.''