Save Water, Hot Tub With a Friend
Deadwood, Mountain Lion, Natural History, South Dakota
Marlene Todd of Deadwood, South Dakota nearly shared hers with an unwelcome visitor.
Despite sitting in a hot, bubbling Jacuzzi on her deck Thursday morning, Marlene Todd froze.
She had just eased into in the hot tub a little after 7 a.m. on the deck of her Spring Street home when she heard some rustling beside her.
There was a mountain lion, crouching less than a foot away.
The lion must have been equally surprised. It was cornered somewhat because the deck stairs blocked its retreat. It would have to go up and over the hot tub.
“It just took a leap. It jumped on the side of the hot tub,” Todd said. “We locked eyes, and it kicked off of the hot tub and ran away. When it jumped, it flipped my robe into the hot tub.”
Todd immediately cut short her soak and wrapped herself in her wet robe, slipped on her shoes, secured the lid on the hot tub and went inside her house.
She summoned Deadwood police, who surmised that the lion was stalking some deer that were in the neighborhood. Police also speculated that the mountain lion was staying near the warmth of the hot tub on the frosty morning.
“I didn’t need caffeine this morning, I know that,” Todd said.
