HESPERIA (CBS) — Hesperia resident Michelle Taylor noticed her garage was torn apart and sent her husband in to investigate.

He scoured the area, expecting to find a raccoon or other small animal, and instead found himself within paw’s reach of one of California’s most dangerous carnivores.

A mountain lion had snuck into the family’s garage.

Officials say the wildcat was a year old, maybe younger.

“My husband thought it was a raccoon,” Michelle Taylor said. “He started shaking things and everything and then he got down on the ground and there it was hiding in a corner.”

The couple suspected the wildcat snuck into their garage Saturday night because their dogs had been barking incessantly for days before they discovered the mountain lion.

California Fish and Game, Hesperia Animal Control and San Bernardino County sheriff’s officials showed up, tranquilized the cougar and released it in the San Bernardino National Forest.