Update: A local veterenarian has solved the mystery. The feline seen roaming Georgetown is actually a huge domestic cat named Cookie. Read here for more on how the story unfolded.
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A huge cat spotted climbing up a Georgetown homeowner's fence has residents wondering what's lurking around their neighborhood at night.
Giulia di Marzo said she checked her Ring security camera footage Sunday morning to find video of what appeared to be a mountain lion crawling up their fence about 4 a.m.
Video shows the large feline crawl up the wooden fence door, walk along the top like a tight rope and then launch itself into their yard.
"This thing is huge and it has short hair. It is not any kind of domestic cat that I've ever seen before," di Marzo said.
But the video wasn't the only evidence the cat left behind. The wooden fence now has claw marks.
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The house is near a neighborhood park and Rock Creek Park. Di Marzo believes the animal could have come from there.
Wherever it came from, she said she and her boyfriend are not letting their cat outside anymore.
Di Marzo said she alerted D.C. Animal Care and Control and posted the video to the neighborhood blog.
Animal control officials confirmed to News4 they received calls about the animal. They said they notified the Smithsonian National Zoo to find out if there were any missing animals. The zoo responded that all of its animals are accounted for, an animal control spokesperson said Monday.
